Senate Confirms James Kvaal as Under Secretary of Education

HEADLINES

Statement from Secretary Miguel Cardona on the Confirmation of James Kvaal as Under Secretary of Education on September 14 (U.S. Department of Education News Release, September 14, 2021) "James Kvaal, the nation’s new Under Secretary of Education, has a deep understanding of the strengths, needs, and challenges in postsecondary education. This is critical at a time when increasing college access, affordability, and completion is key to helping America build back better."

Frederica Wilson Brings Back the Quality Higher Education Act (Florida Daily, September 9, 2021) “The bill enhances the accreditation system to ensure that colleges are graduating students with meaningful degrees and preparing them for workplace success and includes measures that would require accreditors to set rigorous standards and performance benchmarks based on completion and workforce participation for the schools they oversee; disaggregate student data to make it clear whether colleges are serving all students well, including minority students and those from low-income families; and require accreditors to be more transparent about how they evaluate schools.”

It's Time for Accreditation to Be Equity-Centered (Inside Higher Ed, August 30, 2021) "Earlier this year, I joined fellow engineering deans in submitting a letter to the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology recommending that they add diversity, equity and inclusion requirements for accreditation of engineering programs. Engineering must provide deep technical training, yes. But it must also require nontechnical training in fields such as ethics, social science, the humanities, history and matters associated with equity."