Robert Shireman, the erstwhile deputy undersecretary of Education, who led the Obama administration’s efforts to reform American’s for-profit colleges, has a new job. According to an article by Josh Keller in the Chronicle of Higher Education:
The San Francisco-based group, California Competes, seeks to promote public support for higher education, rethink the roles of public and private colleges, and help the state produce more graduates in high-demand fields. It formed a bipartisan council composed of business and civic leaders, including the mayors of Chula Vista, Long Beach, Pasadena, Riverside, and Sacramento.
Mr. Shireman, who as deputy under secretary of education led the effort to end the bank-based system of distributing federal student loans, left the Education Department last year. He is the new group’s chief consultant and top staff member.
California is a state that recently cut funding for the University of California system by $500 million, after millions in cuts over the past several years.
California Competes, which is funded by grants from the Gates Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation, the Lumina Foundation for Education, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, will operate as a sort of thank tank for California higher education policy. According to the group, it aims to “provide Californians with non-partisan and financially pragmatic recommendations for improved policies, practices and financing.”
[Image via]
