Tim Weldon, education policy analyst, and I had the opportunity to meet with Lt. Governor Garcia, state legislators, department of education officials and postsecondary education leaders to discuss innovative state action through policymaking.

Democrats in the New York Assembly are solidly behind a bill that would give illegal immigrants access to the state’s college financial aid programs, The New York Times reports.  If adopted, Assembly Bill 2597 would make New York the fourth state to enact the so-called Dream Act. Texas, New Mexico and Maryland have similar statutes offering financial aid to illegal immigrants who satisfy certain conditions. New York’s illegal immigrants have been allowed to pay in-state tuition at state universities in New York since 2002.

CSG Director of Education Policy Pam Goins outlines the top five issues in education policy for 2013, including college- and career-readiness, assessment and accountability systems, teacher preparation, college completion, and funding for post-secondary education. 
 

Policymakers know America’s educational system must transform to significantly increase the academic achievement of all students. A high-quality education, including content mastery and real world application, is critical to prepare students for college and careers. In order to ensure student success, leaders must tackle these top 5 issues facing states this year.

MOOC. The name alone sounds strange, almost extraterrestrial, and for anyone not familiar with trends in postsecondary education, the concept might seem equally alien. MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Courses, which can be delivered electronically to tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of students at a time. Actually, there is no limit to the number of students who can take a course through this model. Participants can either be students enrolled at the college or university hosting the MOOC, or the courses can be open to anyone with a computer, free of charge. The latter group – the ‘open’ students – would not receive credit and might receive little or no feedback from the instructor, but they could benefit from accessing and participating in these courses.

Many high school graduates mistakenly believe earning a diploma indicates they are ready to be successful in postsecondary education. That often is not the case. Nearly half of all college students, and 60 percent of students at community colleges, are required to enroll in at least one remedial course because they lack the skills to take credit-bearing coursework.

For the past five years, politicians and economists have been keeping a sharp eye on the mortgage default rate as the bellwether for how the nation’s economy is faring. Now there’s a new number experts say legislators should keep an eye on—the student loan default rate—and it’s going up.

Public funding for higher education has dropped off over the past several years but tuition continues to skyrocket, especially at public universities. The fiscal crunch has forced policymakers to make tough choices, and maintaining funding for higher education in many cases has been overshadowed by the short-term need to balance budgets since the Great Recession began. That’s a recipe for higher student debt and fewer options for underprivileged students.