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Yesterday, Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) introduced The Degrees Not Debt Act. This legislation would create a state-federal partnership program with the Department of Education, states, and public colleges or universities in order to ensure college affordability becomes a reality for all Americans.

New Study Outlines the Crippling Costs of Climate Change to Millennials and Their Children

Data show that student loan defaults or delinquency are becoming the norm

Washington, DC – Next week, the Senate will vote on President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of the Department of Education, Betsy DeVos. Ahead of the vote, Mark Huelsman, Senior Policy Analyst and higher education expert at Demos, issued the follow statement:

Washington DC – In the closest confirmation vote for a Secretary of Education to date, Betsy DeVos was confirmed by the narrow margin of 51-50, with the historic tie-breaking vote coming from Vice President Mike Pence. Following the decision, Mark Huelsman, Senior Policy Analyst and higher education expert at Demos, issued the follow statement:

“The unprecedented level of uncertainty shown by both Democrats and Republicans surrounding Betsy DeVos’ ability to serve as Secretary of Education should have been enough to disqualify her from assuming this position.

Washington, DC – Today, Demos, a New York public policy organization, released a first-of-its-kind congressional college yearbook, which compares the cost of college tuition members of Congress experienced with the cost of college for today’s students. The yearbook, entitled When Congress Went to College, finds that the average student today paid nearly $20,000 a year more for college than current members of Congress.

Findings show declining investment in public college in 49 out of 50 states since 2001, and skyrocketing prices for the working class

Data Show Nearly 80 Percent of Americans Want to Ensure All Students Can Graduate Without Debt

Bill would ensure all students have access to an affordable college education

Washington, D.C. – On Wednesday, Mick Mulvaney, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), informed his staff that he would be shutting down the bureau’s Office for Students and Young Consumers and folding it into the Office of Financial Education. In response, Mark Huelsman, Senior Analyst and student debt expert at Demos, issued the following statement:

Today, Democratic members of the House of Representatives released the Aim Higher Act, a bill that would reauthorize the Higher Education Act, the federal law which authorizes a broad range of student aid programs and governs the federal role in higher education. 

Demos, a public policy organization based in New York, has this response:

With today's big higher ed speech, it's becoming clearer what President Obama's most important legacy may be: He could be the guy who finally stopped runaways costs for two of life's biggest necessities: healthcare and higher education. 

This would be a big deal, because -- quite apart from issues of access and fairness -- the United States is putting itself at a global disadvantage by squandering so many resources on grossly overpriced services in both sectors. 

Charles Lane is a smart guy, but his recent column in the Washington Post on higher education makes you wonder how much he has dug into that issue. 

"Millions of people anchored by the weight of student loan debt are drowning in pursuit of the American Dream."

Capitalism’s endless economic growth prioritizes the individual over community and creates extreme inequality. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Spending on our collective well-being helps people keep a roof over their heads, feed their families, and help grow our overall economy.

NEW YORK - As the Supreme Court hears oral argument in Fisher v. University of Texas case challenging the constitutionality of the school’s undergraduate admissions program on Wednesday, October 10, Demos stands with the United States Student Association (USSA) along with hundreds of other community, corporate, military and civil rights leaders, students and other allies in support of diversity in higher education.

Weill Cornell Medical College last week accepted $100 million from the Weill Family Foundation to help "translate research breakthroughs into innovative treatments and therapies for patients.” More precisely: A college dean who also served on the board of a big-pharma firm while it defrauded Medicaid, bribed physicians, promoted off-label use of anti-psychotics and sent a library full of FDA regulations out with the garbage allowed one of the

Quite like Hollywood's, the glitterati of the university depends on a semi-translucent support crew. There are papers to grade, lab-rats' necks to snap, low-level requisite classes to teach, exams to proctor, online discussions to moderate, etc. As U.S. college enrollment has nearly tripled between 1970 and 2010, this arduous and quasi-intellectual scut work has accumulated quicker than ever.