News and perspective on public policy issues affecting Washington's economy and quality of life, brought to you by the Economic Opportunity Institute.
Middle- and low-income families are struggling to get by in this economy – and few are feeling the pain like students and their families, according to a new report by Dēmos. The culprit: states are shifting costs for higher education to students and families – and sadly, Washington state is a perfect example. From 1990-2010, Washington’s [...]
Fueled by a blitzkrieg advertising strategy and some questionable recruitment practices, for-profit colleges sporting billboard-friendly names like DeVry University, University of Phoenix, and ITT Tech have made big profits in higher education. But at what cost? Big gains come under big scrutiny While public and private not-for-profit institutions of higher education have historically claimed the [...]
This time of year, high school seniors who plan to go to community college or the University of Washington take a look at the actual price of admission — and then try to figure out with their parents whether they can make it work. It gets tougher every year. Just 10 years ago, UW tuition [...]
Here’s a little-noticed wrinkle in the Supreme Court’s consideration of the Affordable Care Act: college financial aid reform could also be at risk. The Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) was passed using a reconciliation – a special legislative process used to consider budget bills. The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act (HCERA), as it was [...]
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