Higher education advocates are pushing President-Elect Joe Biden to support policy change that would address issues of equity and student loan debt.
First, Inside Higher Education reports that several research organizations and think tanks have published papers that "recommended creating a tiered $800 million federal fund to help states implement practices that have been shown to succeed" at improving student outcomes, such as the City University of New York's Accelerated Study in Associate Programs.
Additionally, New America has recommended that the Biden administration's Department of Education use "the expertise of researchers" to "examine a number of questions, including determining what additional research is needed, to address issues like why access to higher education is inequitable and increasingly unaffordable, and why students of color often struggle to succeed," according to Inside Higher Education.
Finally, Inside Higher Education also reports that "[a] coalition of 236 mostly progressive groups, including close allies like the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association, called on the president-elect on Wednesday to cancel student debt using his executive powers on the first day he takes office."