Michael Itzkowitz - Senior Fellow at Third Way - Higher Ed is Now a Literal Gamble

Over 16 million American students attend a higher education institution each year with the primary goal of obtaining a better paying job. However, more than 50% of higher education institutions left the majority of their students earning less than $28,000—the typical salary of a high school graduate.

On Episode 18 of Skill, Micah shares a conversation with Michael Itzkowitz, a Senior Fellow in Higher Education at Third Way, a center-left think tank that Reuters calls the “the future of think tanks”, and the New York Times calls a bunch of “radical centrists”.

Michael is responsible for shaping Third Way’s higher education advocacy agenda. He works to develop and implement policies to ensure that more low- and moderate-income students are earning degrees from quality programs that will equip them to succeed in the 21st century economy.

Prior to joining Third Way, Michael served as a Presidential Appointee for six years in the U.S. Department of Education, most recently in the Obama Administration as the Director of the College Scorecard. The Scorecard, announced by President Obama in September 2015, is the largest release of higher education data ever by the Federal government.

Throughout this conversation, Michael and Micah cover the following topics:

• How Michael first became interested in higher education
• The history of the DOE College Scorecard
• The reason why program-specific information is not included in the Scorecard and when we can expect this information
• A review of Third Way's recent report, Higher Ed’s Broken Bridge to the Middle Class.
• The shocking number of schools that provide certificates and associate's degrees that are failing students
• What's next for Michael and Third Way, in light of potential renewal of the Higher Education Act

Links:

• Third Way
• Higher Ed’s Broken Bridge to the Middle Class
• U.S. DOE College Scorecard

You can connect with Michael at mitzkowitz "at" thirdway.org OR on Twitter @MikeItzkowitz

You can connect with Micah at micah "at" meritmark.co OR on Twitter @MicahMerrick

Thanks for listening!