Pullias Center Faculty Have High Hopes, and a Few Suggestions, for the Incoming Biden-Harris Administration

As the Biden-Harris administration heads to Washington DC, many across the higher education landscape are turning thoughts towards what the first priorities on President Biden and Vice President Harris’ education agenda will be. 

In the past, President Biden has been a tireless advocate for public education while Vice President Harris’ is an HBCU graduate and has expressed her unwavering priority to make college more accessible to all individuals regardless of race, income, or disability. We also can’t forget soon-to-be First Lady Dr. Jill Biden who has been an educator for more than 30 years and is a long-time member of the National Education Association. The faculty members at the Pullias Center have their own ideas on what President Biden’s first priority should be on his education plan.

“It is my hope that the incoming administration will place a premium on supporting public higher educational institutions, particularly community colleges, to help them through this devastating period of the COVID-19 pandemic,” says John Slaughter, Professor of Education at the Rossier School of Education. According to President Biden’s campaign website, Biden plans on supporting public higher educational institutions by ensuring all teachers will receive a competitive wage and benefits. “Biden will triple funding for Title I, the federal program [that] fund[s] schools with a high percentage of students from low-income families…dramatically increasing Title I funding [will] give teachers a raise [and] will allow school districts and educators to decide what the biggest need is for their communities instead of using a one-size-fits-all approach,” reads Biden’s campaign website.

Associate Professor, Tatiana Melguizo, voiced a similar hope. “This administration might be consequential for community colleges. Jill Biden will keep her job as a community college instructor, and she understands first hand the need for adequate and equal funding for this critical sector. I am hopeful about funding opportunities paired with equity-focused policies to close the historic opportunity gaps for minoritized populations,” says Melguizo. As Dr. Jill Biden says, any country that out-educates us will out-compete us. With that in mind, President Biden and First Lady Biden plan to build an education system that starts investing in children at birth while looking to help every student get some education beyond a high school diploma. President Biden plans to ensure that no child’s educational opportunities are determined by their zip code, parents’ income, race, or disability.

“I hope that the new Biden/Harris Administration provides a clear pathway towards citizenship for Dreamers and DACA-mented people who have completed a college degree, certificate, or other higher education credential. These community members deserve stability and have contributed to the fabric of this country.” expressed Assistant Professor, Adrian Huerta. Earlier this summer, former President Trump attempted to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, otherwise known as the DACA program. This program was created in 2012 by then-President Obama to shield certain undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children from deportation, giving them the opportunity to legally work in the United States. Joe Biden championed the creation and expansion of the program when he was acting Vice President. That said, Inside HigherEd reports that President Biden has pledged to reinstate DACA as soon as he is inaugurated into office on January 20, 2021.

“It is my hope that the new administration will work with Senators Warren and Schumer to pass pending legislation for student debt forgiveness. Just imagine the freedom this would breathe into America,” shares Associate Professor, Julie Posselt. Along those lines, Senator Elizabeth Warren just wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post expressing her belief that bold policies to improve opportunity for all Americans are broadly popular. She believes that lots of big changes can be achieved from day one of the Biden-Harris administration, starting with a plan to “cancel billions of dollars in student loan debt, giving tens of millions of Americans an immediate financial boost and helping to close the racial wealth gap.” Warren continues, “this is the single most effective executive action available to provide massive consumer-driven stimulus.” According to Inside HigherEd, President Biden has plans to eliminate at least $10,000 from all borrowers’ student debt during the pandemic, and he hopes to forgive debt accumulated to pay tuition for students making $125,000 or less post-graduation. 

Biden’s plan to reduce student tuition debt is one of his many priorities and commitments to investing in extra resources so that students can grow into physically and emotionally healthy adults. Additional funding will be provided to build cutting-edge, energy-efficient, and innovative schools with technology and labs to prepare students for the jobs of the future, a hope that our Research Associate Professor, Zoe Corwin has of the Biden-Harris administration. “I’d love to see the Biden-Harris administration empower the Department of Education to support bold, innovative research and programs that increase digital access, literacy, and learning for K-16 at-promise students – well beyond the pandemic,” she shares. Data shows that roughly 6 out of 10 jobs in the United States require education beyond a high school diploma, but too many parents don’t have access to the resources and support they need to ensure their children are developing healthily. To address this issue, President Biden plans to create a competitive program that will meet these changing demands of work and will invest in school vocational training and partnerships between high schools, community colleges, and employers. These programs and partnerships will be created in hopes to provide students with extra opportunities to earn an industry credential upon high school graduation, a credential that readies them for a good-paying career.

In summary, “there is so much important work to be done in the coming years to undo the Trump administration’s policies in higher education,” expresses Adrianna Kezar, Director of the Pullias Center. “First, we need to better support the regulations that were put in place under Obama (but dismantled under Trump) for overseeing for-profit higher education so that it does not exploit students of color and low-income students who attend them in large numbers. Next, we need to reinforce Title IX that has moved away from victim rights under Trump, and generally, there has been a move away from enforcement of the overall act. We need to restore the Office of Civil Rights to support violations on campus and not use it to undercut issues of equity and justice by focusing on protecting hate speech which has been a distraction on campuses. And finally, the new administration has to recommit to equity by providing additional funding for Pell Grants, support Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic Serving Institutions, and affirmative action.” 

As the Pullias Center looks ahead to all the positive change that will, hopefully, come out of the Biden-Harris administration, one thing that all our faculty members can definitely agree upon is that it all begins by undoing the policies that have been implemented by the Trump administration.