Accountability in US Education: Applying Lessons from K-12 Experience to Higher Education

Overview & Synopsis

The federal role in higher education has grown over the past two decades, and now a new administration has the opportunity to strengthen policies that support students and their colleges and universities. To help inform these decisions, the Urban Institute convened a bipartisan group of scholars and policy advisers to write a series of memos highlighting some of the most critical issues in higher education and recommending policy solutions. This memo suggests lessons higher education might learn from K-12 efforts and provides guidance for future efforts to build a college accountability system. [This is part of the "Memos to Congress and the Administration on Higher Education" collection. For a summary of the memos, see "A Principled Federal Role in Higher Education" (ED578885).]