Clare McCann
@claremccann.bsky.social
420 followers 700 following 19 posts
#HigherEd policy @PEERresearch.bsky.social. Formerly at New America Education, US Department of Education, Arnold Ventures. Bucks County, PA native. A fan of chocolate and The Container Store. Posts are my own.
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claremccann.bsky.social
Our best estimates of the impact of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's accountability provision:

➡️For each credential level
➡️For each field of study
➡️For every state
➡️Across for-profits, non-profits, publics
➡️Across HBCUs, TCUs, HSIs, MSIs
➡️For every program at every college in the country
peerresearch.bsky.social
NEW from @PEERResearch.bsky.social: We estimated how #highered programs measure up against the accountability standard in the reconciliation law. Overall, few programs fall short, but low-earning programs are concentrated in some schools, fields. www.american.edu/spa/peer/one...
Reposted by Clare McCann
peerresearch.bsky.social
As @usedgov.bsky.social implements a new #highered accountability law, @PEERResearch.bsky.social urged officials to:

➡️ Provide radically improved transparency
➡️ Maintain an earnings test for certificates, a debt-based test
➡️ Release already-collected data

More: www.american.edu/spa/peer/rec...
Reposted by Clare McCann
peerresearch.bsky.social
As new grad. loan limits take effect, @PEERResearch.bsky.social dug into the data:

➡️ Health degrees account for nearly half of grad borrowing

➡️ High-debt fields typically have high median earnings

➡️ Typical borrowing varies, across schools and within programs

www.american.edu/spa/peer/upl...
claremccann.bsky.social
Excited to be at the @sheeoed.bsky.social conference on behalf of @peerresearch.bsky.social, catching up with old friends and learning more about all the #highered work happening in states across the country! Find me around the conference if you want to chat about PEER and our work!
Reposted by Clare McCann
peerresearch.bsky.social
@usedgov.bsky.social is planning a rulemaking on #highered accountability. Check out @peerresearch.bsky.social analysis of which programs fall short of the new reconciliation law's standards: www.american.edu/spa/peer/upl.... For researchers looking to get involved in the process, reach out to PEER!
claremccann.bsky.social
Staff reductions @usedgov.bsky.social will likely facilitate an uptick in institutional misconduct, as colleges are able to get away with not following the rules, a senior FSA official acknowledged to @insidehighered.com @jessicablake.bsky.social www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...
Reposted by Clare McCann
peerresearch.bsky.social
Congress just passed a reconciliation package that codifies a new standard for #highered programs -- check out our latest from @claremccann.bsky.social @tiacaldwell.bsky.social @jdmatsudaira.bsky.social to see which programs fall short and what the policy leaves out. www.american.edu/spa/peer/upl...
claremccann.bsky.social
@jdmatsudaira.bsky.social and @clibassi.bsky.social explain what new graduate loan limits will mean, not only for borrowers in medical school but across the graduate education landscape. Check out this thread/follow @peerresearch.bsky.social for more!
House/Senate are set to eliminate Grad PLUS, and put in place loan limits that would dramatically restrict graduate borrowing. Media coverage emphasizes impact this may have on very expensive programs like Medicine and Dentistry, but @peerresearch.bsky.social finds impact will be much(!) broader 1/
claremccann.bsky.social
The Senate just passed a new #highered accountability framework -- @jdmatsudaira.bsky.social, @tiacaldwell.bsky.social, and I analyzed what it will mean for colleges, who's off the hook, and how Congress can improve it going forward. www.american.edu/spa/peer/acc...
claremccann.bsky.social
A great, informative new piece from my colleague @srcellini.bsky.social about an under-noticed piece slipped into the House #highered reconciliation package, and what the evidence base tells us about why it could be a dangerous idea.
peerresearch.bsky.social
NEW via @srcellini.bsky.social @peerresearch.bsky.social: Congress might offer Pell Grants to #highered programs as short as 8 weeks -- including at unaccredited schools. Research shows that's likely to be both expensive to taxpayers and enormously risky for students www.american.edu/spa/peer/wor...
claremccann.bsky.social
(we read the House #highered reconciliation bill so you don't have to) 💅
peerresearch.bsky.social
Via @peerresearch.bsky.social: This is what you need to know about House Republicans' proposed #highered reforms -- including how income-driven repayment would change. h/t @jdmatsudaira.bsky.social @tiacaldwell.bsky.social @claremccann.bsky.social

Full piece: www.american.edu/spa/peer/hou...
Reposted by Clare McCann
peerresearch.bsky.social
This morning, @claremccann.bsky.social of @peerresearch.bsky.social urged @usedgov.bsky.social to maintain the financial value transparency rules for #highered, ensuring students & policymakers have access to high-quality info about how much students pay for college and the payoff of their programs.
Reposted by Clare McCann
peerresearch.bsky.social
Out today from @peerresearch.bsky.social: 22 states froze college tuition (or capped growth in tuition) at least once between 1990 to 2019. Here’s what happened. www.american.edu/spa/peer/upl... 1/
claremccann.bsky.social
What does this mean? Clearly, there are programs where graduates are left with too much debt. But uniform loan limits (like those Congress is debating) would have very different impacts on different fields -- a point worthy of deeper consideration as we think about the right limits to set. 7/
claremccann.bsky.social
There are also big differences in debt within fields, too. Some schools leave graduates with way more debt than others -- but not necessarily with similarly higher earnings. Take law schools, for instance: Of 197 law programs in the data, 17 had median debt levels at least $50k above the median. 6/
claremccann.bsky.social
Every year, about 60,000 grad school completers leave with $100,000+ in graduate debt. That includes about 90% of those in medicine, dentistry, osteo; the typical law school grad; and even some with social work, MBA degrees. Not all those fields lead to high earnings. 5/
claremccann.bsky.social
...But those aren't necessarily the highest-debt programs. MBAs account for as much annual graduate loan volume as dentistry programs (because there are five times as many MBA borrowers), but one-fifth the annual debt load ($18k for MBAs, $80-100k for dentistry). 4/
claremccann.bsky.social
The 25 largest fields of study enroll about 47 percent of all graduate loan borrowers -- and those students account for 60 percent of all annual graduate borrowing. Biggies are health, law, business, education, social work, and psychology... 3/
claremccann.bsky.social
This figure blows my mind a little bit: Almost HALF of annual graduate borrowing is for health-related programs.

In fact, *more than half* of the $3.8 billion increase in grad volume from 2016-2023 is in professional/doctoral medicine programs alone. 2/
claremccann.bsky.social
NEW REPORT: @jdmatsudaira.bsky.social knows the data on graduate student debt better than most -- and you should read his @peerresearch.bsky.social brief on the topic to learn more! www.american.edu/spa/peer/upl... 1/
claremccann.bsky.social
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