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Austin Slaughter @austinslaughter.bsky.social · 40m

Phillies fans having to watch a 9pm playoff elimination game on a Wednesday has me fully on board with the proposals to eliminate AL/NL and do East/West conferences instead

Austin Slaughter @austinslaughter.bsky.social · 1d

I hate to (slightly) defend cosmetology programs--and I suspect most of them would fail the standard regardless of the methodology--BUT I feel compelled to point out over 90% of cosmetology students are women, and their earnings are being compared to the statewide median earnings of men and women

bar graph showing the share of students in the twenty largest fields in programs that fail the standard. cosmetology dramatically stands out, at 64%, while all other programs are below 15%.

Austin Slaughter @austinslaughter.bsky.social · 1d

I'm pleasantly surprised to see rural institutions doing okay under the new standard despite the methodology using the statewide median earnings of high school graduates

bar graph showing the share of institutions grouped by the percentage of their students in programs that fail the standard. schools in rural areas do a bit better than schools not in rural areas.

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Austin Slaughter @austinslaughter.bsky.social · 1d

This is a terrific paper looking at which programs are likely to fail the new earnings threshold established by the OBBA

www.american.edu/spa/peer/upl...

Bar graph showing the percentage of students in low-earning programs by credential type. Undergrad certificates: 24%; associate's: 3.9%; bachelor's: 0.6%; grad certificates: 3.1%; master's: 2.9%; doctoral: 0.3; professional: 4.7%; total (with undergrad certificates): 3.7%; total (without undergrad certificates): 1.8%.

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Reposted by Austin Slaughter

Robert Kelchen @robertkelchen.com · 2d

This is a really helpful summary of last week's negotiated rulemaking session on defining professional programs that get higher student loan limits, as well as looking forward to the committee's upcoming discussions.

ED Opens Door to Student Loan Cap Negotiations

The department made some progress toward its student loan overhaul in negotiated rule making, but big questions remain about borrower limitations and repayment plans.

www.insidehighered.com

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Reposted by Austin Slaughter

Robert Kelchen @robertkelchen.com · 2d

I shared a few thoughts on the concerns I see with cuts to the Department of Education's data and research capacity, although there are also a few green shoots that are worth watching.

Months After Deep Cuts, Education Researchers See Reason for Cautious Optimism

New hiring and talk of modernization led one researcher to say, ‘I am more hopeful than I was three months ago.’

www.the74million.org

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Reposted by Austin Slaughter

Amy Ellen Duke-Benfield @amyellen.bsky.social · 5d

Well, there you go!
www.gov.ca.gov/2025/10/02/g...

Governor Newsom: No state funding for sell-out universities | Governor of California

www.gov.ca.gov

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Austin Slaughter @austinslaughter.bsky.social · 6d

100%. Tuition freezes place a cap on sticker prices, which are often paid by higher-income students and not lower-income students. So capping sticker prices limits colleges' ability to generate revenue from higher-income students and subsidize lower-income students with institutional discounts.

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Austin Slaughter @austinslaughter.bsky.social · 6d

This paper by Rodney Andrews and Kevin Stange shows basically just that in reverse--that tuition deregulation in Texas led to more price discrimination that benefited low-income students
edpolicy.umich.edu/sites/epi/fi...

edpolicy.umich.edu

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Reposted by Austin Slaughter

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 6d

Trump's higher ed ransom note is here - everyone would have to acquiesce to their unprecedented demands or not be "given priority for grants," plus they can demand "reimbursement" for "violations" www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...

A mechanism to enforce fealty. An attack on academic freedom and democracy

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Reposted by Austin Slaughter

Jessica Blake @jessicablake.bsky.social · 6d

⛓️ Here’s your quick end of the day wrap up from @insidehighered.com re: student loan cap regulations.

Right after lunch, ED officials presented a new proposal that came from a long morning of negotiations behind closed doors. It was much appreciated but did not go without questions.

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Reposted by Austin Slaughter

Christina Weiland @weilanch.bsky.social · 7d

Welcome @edpolicyford.bsky.social to Bluesky!! Give a follow for research and happenings from our fantastic UMich faculty and students.

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Austin Slaughter @austinslaughter.bsky.social · 7d

Undocumented immigrants pay more in taxes than they receive in government benefits

The more likely scenario is the undocumented immigrants in the room are paying for the healthcare benefits of the citizens

www.cato.org/blog/fiscal-...

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 7d

Vance: "If you're an American citizen & you've been to the hospital in the last few years, you've probably noticed wait times are especially large & very often somebody who's there in the ER is an illegal alien. Why do those people get healthcare benefits at hospitals paid for by American citizens?"

Austin Slaughter @austinslaughter.bsky.social · 7d

For context, spending $134k per student puts the New College of Florida on par with some Ivy League institutions

Robert Kelchen @robertkelchen.com · 7d

After increasing spending to $134,000 per student (!!!) and facing retention problems, the New College of Florida is apparently having discussions about privatization or closure after DeSantis leaves office.

Spending Soars, Rankings Fall at New College of Florida

Student outcomes and rankings are slipping at the liberal arts college while spending is up. Critics believe the college is at risk of implosion, and some are calling for privatization.

www.insidehighered.com

Austin Slaughter @austinslaughter.bsky.social · 7d

Being on this list means your students can go $200k into debt. Not being on this list means they can only go $100k into debt.

That is a very big difference, one I expect is going to lead to a lot of distortions and unintended consequences

Jessica Blake @jessicablake.bsky.social · 7d

In summary, the dept drew a hard line, limiting the higher loan limit for professional programs to 10 degrees. But panelists were pushing back.

They held two caucuses and then proposed their own definition of who’s in and out at the end of the day. That’s likely what they talking about now with ED.

Austin Slaughter @austinslaughter.bsky.social · 7d

And an earnings threshold that assumes the same counterfactual for all students is going to disadvantage colleges that serve more students from disadvantaged backgrounds and/or with lower incoming ability 2/2

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Austin Slaughter @austinslaughter.bsky.social · 7d

I'm not opposed in theory to earnings thresholds for college programs to receive state or federal support, but I find the existing methodologies to be highly flawed

E.g., a threshold that uses the statewide median earnings of HS graduates is going to disadvantage rural-serving colleges... 1/2

Third Way Education @thirdwayedu.bsky.social · 7d

Students go to college to earn more—but are institutions delivering? 🎓💸 Congress is taking steps to hold schools accountable. Watch our latest animated video to learn more!

Third Way

buff.ly

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Reposted by Austin Slaughter

MDRC @mdrc-news.bsky.social · 7d

Strategies for Community College Success: A Replication of @cunyasap.bsky.social Yields Long-Term Academic and Labor Market Impacts www.mdrc.org/work/publica...

Strategies for Community College Success | MDRC

Three community colleges in Ohio implemented academic support programs based on the Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) model. This blog post summarizes findings—eight years after the progr...

www.mdrc.org

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Austin Slaughter @austinslaughter.bsky.social · 9d

An important warning here: student loan borrowers in default may get an unpleasant surprise next tax season when the refund they were expecting gets withheld by the government

www.newamerica.org/education-po...

Next Tax Season, Millions of Student Loan Borrowers Face an Unpleasant Surprise

The federal student loan system is barreling towards a cliff. Millions of borrowers are expected to default on their debts this fall, with over four million severely behind on their payments as of Jun...

www.newamerica.org

Austin Slaughter @austinslaughter.bsky.social · 9d

Maybe just maybe we are slowly inching back towards the equilibrium of bipartisan support for education research that was disrupted by the largely-unaccountable-to-the-public DOGE

Robert Kelchen @robertkelchen.com · 9d

After DOGE came through and took a wrecking ball to the Institute of Education Sciences, there are a few green shoots returning. But the future of the agency is very much in limbo.

Education Department takes a preliminary step toward revamping its research and statistics arm

The public has until Oct. 15 to weigh in

hechingerreport.org

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Austin Slaughter @austinslaughter.bsky.social · 9d

HCM Strategists has a new report out on how state policymakers can support the adoption and scaling of evidence-based higher education student success programs

static1.squarespace.com/static/62bdd...

static1.squarespace.com

Reposted by Austin Slaughter

Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 10d

Awarding scientific grants based on scientific merit? That pales in comparison to my strategy, giving grants based on political loyalty

www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

Wp EXCLUSIVE
White House considers funding advantage for colleges that align with Trump policies The proposal could potentially transform the government's vast research funding operation, which has long awarded university grants based on scientific merit.
Today at 6:00 a.m. EDT

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Austin Slaughter @austinslaughter.bsky.social · 11d

I haven't. I'll have to check it out!

Austin Slaughter @austinslaughter.bsky.social · 11d

Parent hot take: Sandra Boynton books are not good

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Austin Slaughter @austinslaughter.bsky.social · 13d

This aligns exactly with ED's old "first professional degree" definition that was discontinued after 2010

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