- More ED political appointees
- Data on spring enrollments delayed
- Who should cover education, training costs?
More ED political appointees
The U.S. Education Department on Thursday announced more political appointees for its various offices, including a senior research scholar at the Community College Research Center (CCRC) at Columbia University.
Jordan Matsudaira will serve as deputy under secretary in the Office of the Under Secretary. He is an associate professor of economics and education policy at Teachers College at Columbia University in New York City. He is also a senior research scholar at CCRC, a visiting associate professor at the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and a nonresident fellow at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C.
Matsudaira previously served as chief economist of President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, where he contributed to higher education access and accountability initiatives and policies to support lower-wage workers and workforce development.
Jen Mishory will serve as chief of staff in the Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education. She most recently was a senior fellow and senior policy advisor at The Century Foundation (TCF), working on policies related to higher education finance at the federal and state level, workforce development and healthcare coverage. Prior to joining TCF, she co-founded and served as executive director of Young Invincibles.
Doralicia “Allie” Aguilera is now deputy chief of staff to the deputy secretary. Prior to working for the Binden-Harris campaign, she was a higher education and healthcare advocate at Young Invincibles. She also served at the U.S. Department of Transportation during Obama’s second term.
Blanchi Roblero, will be chief of staff in the department’s Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs. She started her career at ED in 2012, where she managed a range of policy and funding areas, including appropriations, civil rights policy, higher education policy and other key policy issue areas.
Kelly Leon is press secretary in the Office of Communications and Outreach. She most recently served as communications officer at the Kresge Foundation and previously was communications and advocacy officer at the Institute for Higher Education Policy. She also served at ED during the Obama administration as an assistant press secretary.
Data on spring enrollments delayed
The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center is going to take a few more days to process its data before it releases preliminary spring 2021 enrollment figures submitted so far by U.S. colleges and universities.
In an email to media, the center said it expects to release the data on March 10 or 11, a week later than the initially announced release date. The center’s data is a go-to to gauge trends in higher education, including transfers, credential attainment and enrollment, especially during the pandemic.
Who should cover education, training costs?
Americans feel that financing education and workforce training should be a shared responsibility among individuals, governments and employers, according to findings from on-going surveys by Strada Education Network and Gallup Education.
On average, survey participants said employers should cover 30% of education and training costs, with individuals and their families covering 35% of the costs, and state and federal governments 35%.
The surveys also found that seven in 10 Americans (69%) agree employers should hire job candidates who have the required skills and work experience, even if they don’t have a college degree. However, less than half of Americans (48%) say employers in their field are willing to hire skilled workers without degrees.
