Advancing America's Economic Competitiveness
The Role of Student Loans
the American Enterprise Institute and the Project on Student Debt
About This Event

On line registration for this event is closed. Walk in registrations will be accepted.

Higher education produces large average economic gains for those who complete their degrees and improves productivity and competitiveness in the U.S. economy at large. To finance college and other advanced training, students and their families are increasingly turning to loans: two-thirds of baccalaureate degree recipients in 2000 had college loans, and their average debt was nearly 60 percent higher than the average debt of those who graduated in 1993 after accounting for inflation.

This conference will examine the role of loans in the context of federal financial aid and tax incentives for postsecondary education. Researchers and respondents will discuss ways to look at “debt burden” and its impact on different populations, both before and after college. Participants will suggest ways that federal loan and tax provisions might be redesigned to maximize the potential for federal aid to boost access and completion in higher education.

Agenda
9:45 a.m. Registration
10:00 Welcome: Kevin A. Hassett, AEI
10:15 Panel I: Investing in Human Capital—Are College Students Borrowing too Much, or Not Enough?
Presenters: Sandy Baum, The College Board
Alicia C. Dowd, New England Resource Center for Higher Education at the University of Massachussets Boston
Respondents: Tamara Draut, Demos
Allan Carlson, Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society
Moderator: Robert Shireman, The Institute for College Access and Success, Inc.
11:45 Luncheon
12:10 p.m. Panel II: Can the Federal Investment in Student Loans Accomplish More?
Discussants: Douglas J. Elliott, Center on Federal Financial Institutions
Sarah Ducich, Sallie Mae
Robert Shireman, The Institute for College Access and Success
Moderator: Kevin A. Hassett, AEI
1:30 Break
1:45 Panel III: Are There Solutions to Be Found on the Tax Side of the Ledger?
Presenters: Thomas J. Kane, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Susan Dynarski, Harvard Kennedy School of Government
Respondent: Tom Wolanin, Institute for Higher Education Policy
Moderator: Frederick M. Hess, AEI
3:15 Closing Remarks
3:30 Adjournment
the American Enterprise Institute and the Project on Student Debt
AEI Participants

 

Kevin A.
Hassett
  • Before joining AEI, Mr. Hassett was a senior economist at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and an associate professor of economics and finance at the Graduate School of Business of Columbia University, as well as a policy consultant to the Treasury Department during the George H. W. Bush and Clinton administrations. He served as an economic adviser to the George W. Bush 2004 presidential campaign and as Senator John McCain's chief economic adviser during the 2000 presidential primaries. He also served as a senior economic adviser to the McCain 2008 presidential campaign. Mr. Hassett is a columnist for National Review.

  • Phone: 202-862-7157
    Email: khassett@aei.org
  • Assistant Info

    Name: Veronika Polakova
    Phone: 202-862-4880
    Email: veronika.polakova@aei.org

 

Frederick M.
Hess
  • An educator, political scientist, and author, Frederick M. Hess studies a range of K-12 and higher education issues. He is the author of influential books on education including The Same Thing Over and Over, Education Unbound, Common Sense School Reform, Revolution at the Margins, and Spinning Wheels, and pens the Education Week blog "Rick Hess Straight Up."  His work has appeared in scholarly and popular outlets such as Teachers College Record, Harvard Education Review, Social Science Quarterly, Urban Affairs Review, American Politics Quarterly, Chronicle of Higher Education, Phi Delta Kappan, Educational Leadership, U.S. News & World Report, The Washington Post, New York Times and National Review. He has edited widely-cited volumes on education philanthropy, stretching the school dollar, the impact of education research, and No Child Left Behind.  He serves as executive editor of Education Next, as lead faculty member for the Rice Education Entrepreneurship Program, on the Review Board for the Broad Prize in Urban Education, and on the Boards of Directors of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, 4.0 SCHOOLS, and the American Board for the Certification of Teaching Excellence. A former high school social studies teacher, he has taught at the University of Virginia, the University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown University, Rice University, and Harvard University. He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University as well as an M.Ed. in Teaching and Curriculum.

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  • Email: rhess@aei.org
  • Assistant Info

    Name: Rebecca King
    Phone: 202-862-5904
    Email: Rebecca.King@aei.org
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