New Higher Education Accountability Paper Series Features Colorado

Author

Alison Griffin
September 10, 2025

Good afternoon!

This week, my friend and colleague Jeff Selingo released his latest book Dream School: Finding the College That’s Right for You, and I have been thinking about it through three very different – yet interconnected – lenses. As someone who has spent nearly three decades in higher education policy, serves as a public university trustee and is currently navigating college applications with my own high school senior, this book hits at the intersection of everything I care about.

Jeff’s research on 75 accessible, excellent colleges validate what those of us working in higher education policy have been arguing for years: the ‘Top 25 or bust’ mentality is not just wrong – it’s destructive. His data shows that students thrive at institutions that prioritize teaching, mentorship and genuine engagement over prestige metrics. Jeff’s emphasis on value over prestige also reinforces policy conversations I’ve been part of around student debt and return-on-investment. When we look at the data on employment outcomes, salary trajectories, and student satisfaction, the story is clear: a ‘dream school’ isn’t about a single name or ranking. It’s about fit, support, and opportunity.

Here’s where it gets personal: all my policy expertise and trustee experience doesn’t make the college search process any less emotionally fraught when it’s your own student.

My senior and I have had countless conversations about prestige versus fit, about debt versus opportunity, about staying close to home versus exploring new horizons. Even knowing what the data says about student outcomes, even knowing what the data says about student outcomes, even understanding how higher education financing really works, even having seen firsthand what makes institutions excellent – I still feel the pull of brand names and rankings.

Jeff’s book is a gift to parents and families because it provides language and frameworks for conversations that can otherwise get hijacked by anxiety and social pressure. When he writes about finding colleges where students ‘build confidence, find belonging, and launch into meaningful work and life,” he’s giving families permission to define success differently.

The 75 institutions he highlights aren’t hidden gems. They are campuses that are doing the work of higher education with intentionality and excellence. They just happen to be more accessible and affordable than the colleges that dominate our cultural conversations about prestige.

I found Dream School to be a call to think more clearly about what higher education could be doing and how we could be measuring its success. As both a policy professional and a parent, I am grateful Jeff wrote the book. You can find it here.

Mark your calendar: Join Jeff for an interactive discussion about “A College Guide for Kids Who Think Differently,” a resource written by former U.S. News and World Report reporter Lauren Camera for families and counselors who are looking for some of the most innovative new approaches to higher education. The webinar will be held on Tuesday, September 16 at 2pm MT. Register here.

Finally, congratulations to my friend and colleague Dr. Marielena DeSanctis who was officially appointed today as the next Chancellor of the Colorado Community College System (CCCS). Dr. DeSanctis will begin her role on October 1 and will be the first Latina to lead CCCS.

All my best for a great week ahead,

Alison

National Spotlight on Education and Workforce

book

The American Enterprise Institute commissioned six reports on higher education accountability from a bipartisan group of higher education accountability experts. I was pleased to participate as one of the contributing authors to this series. My colleagues come from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives and each has a unique approach to higher education accountability. The paper series, with generous support from Arnold Ventures, includes:

  • Risk Sharing: The Student Loan Reform Whose Time Has Come?, by Preston Cooper (read it here)

  • Accountability for Value: Smarter Risk and Better Results in Higher Education, by Michelle Dimino (read it here)

  • How Technology Can Transform the Higher Education Accreditation Process and Drive Continuous Improvement at Colleges and Universities, by Alison Griffin (read it here)

  • Militant Antitrust Enforcement Has Not Made College More Affordable. Let’s Try Something Else, by Robert Shireman (read it here)

  • Reimagining Higher Education Accountability: It’s Time for States to Lead, by Steve C. Taylor (read it here) – with a special nod to the work underway in Colorado

  • Commonsense Bipartisan Accreditation Reform: Improving Quality and Accountability in Higher Education, by Wesley Whistle (read it here)

The paper series comes at a time when new accountability measures have been imposed on colleges and universities by the Trump administration. Many believe the reforms in the most recent legislation – the One Big Beautiful Bill Act – should spark an ongoing conversation about the best way for policymakers to ensure that higher education consistently produces value for students, taxpayers and society.

What We’re Reading (and Listening To…)

Early Childhood & K-12 Education

  • Civics Education: The National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) released a new edition of its State Education Standard, which focuses on high-quality civics education as central not just to academic growth, but to sustaining a healthy democracy. The issue highlights practical examples of how states are strengthening civics learning, elevating student voice, and connecting classroom experience to civic engagement.

Postsecondary Education

  • Apprenticeships Having a Moment: Apprenticeships for America President Robert I. Lerman argues in Washington Monthly that apprenticeships are having a moment at the federal level as the Trump administration makes plans to support 1 million new registered apprentices yearly, per the president’s recent executive order. Dr. Lerman recommends that the federal government incentivize apprenticeship by launching a ‘pay-per-apprentice’ fund, create ready-made occupational frameworks for structuring apprenticeships, fund classroom learning opportunities for apprentices, and streamline the application process. He also recommends the government create new apprenticeships at the local, state and federal levels.

  • FAFSA Launch: In late August, Education Secretary Linda McMahon sent a letter to Congress to certify that the 2026-27 FAFSA will launch by October 1, the congressionally-mandated deadline per the FAFSA Deadline Act of 2024. This comes after ED’s Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) began a national beta testing phase for the form earlier this month, representing the earliest successful test launch of the FAFSA date. [The Hill]

  • AI + Community Colleges: To realize the promise of the Trump administration’s new AI action plan, the federal government should take advantage of community colleges to provide workers affordable, accessible AI training pathways, argues Shalin Jyotishi, founder of New America’s Future of Work & Innovation Economy Initiative, which seeks to maximize benefits related to emerging technologies and the workforce. He recommends the federal government focus on four priorities: build capacity for community college AI programs, enhance employer partnerships, promote work-based learning around AI, and upskill community college and AI faculty around AI. [DC Journal]

Future of Work

  • Teacher Shortages, Going Global: The United Nations says countries will need to recruit more than 44 million teachers by 2030 to meet student demand and replace those leaving the profession. A report released at the World Summit on Teachers in Chile found that attrition rates have nearly doubled in the past decade, with low pay, heavy workloads, and limited training cited as major factors. The U.S. faces particular challenges, including a wider pay gap compared to other professions and longer working hours than teachers in many countries.

Upcoming Events and Opportunities

Colleagues on the Move

  • Dr. Eric Dunker has joined Reach University as the Chief Engagement and Advancement Officer. He most recently served as Reach’s Chief Growth Officer and as Founding Executive Director of its National Center for the Apprenticeship Degree, which he will continue to support as a Senior Fellow.

  • Zach Boren has joined Apprenticeships for America as a Senior Vice President. He most recently served as a Senior Fellow at the Urban Institute, where he oversaw a $12 million portfolio of apprenticeship projects.

  • NEW! Associate Director of Proposal Operations with the College Board, Remote

  • NEW! Deputy Director of Financial Planning and Analysis with The Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA

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