Alexander Bloom

Ex-Director of Research @EAB with focus on UG enrollment, pricing and aid, DEIJ, and higher ed policy.

"On Sabbatical"

[Alexander Bloom @AlexBloomEdu]

@James_S_Murphy @FAFSA Good thread - thanks for compiling.

Seems like this trend broadly mirrors declines in adult enrollment overall.

But it's interesting that despite growth in HS grads in this time period, that hasn't translated into more 18-year-old FAFSA filers.

[Alexander Bloom @AlexBloomEdu]

Important thread from @James_S_Murphy about what the imminent SCOTUS decision on race-conscious admissions is an *isn't* about.

[James S Murphy @James_S_Murphy]

Sometimes I feel pedantic insisting that the court is making a decision on race conscious admissions.

At others I read stuff like this and realize how little people are paying attention and what kind of misconstrued thinking talking about "affirmative action" leads to.

[Alexander Bloom @AlexBloomEdu]

@akilbello The “share of students awarded either this or that kind of aid” is a tough question to answer when the answers for “this” and “that” are different.

[Alexander Bloom @AlexBloomEdu]

@akilbello My previous post was overly specific - sorry about that.

[Alexander Bloom @AlexBloomEdu]

@AlexUsherHESA By outcomes measures, there are the sorta like flagships but not technically schools (Washington ST and Michigan ST). There are the public engineering schools (NMIMT, SD Mines, CO Mines). But “what is the best non-research-intensive, non-urban, public university” is really hard!

[Alexander Bloom @AlexBloomEdu]

Useful thread for those wondering about the impacts of the revised FAFSA!

[Alex Bloom @alexpbloom]

The existence of fencing programs proves universities can make up whatever ridiculous programs they want in order to get more of X kind of student.

Apologies to 🤺. It’s cool and all but it’s the quintessential thing anyone *might* do but only certain people *actually* do.

[Alexander Bloom @AlexBloomEdu]

(Compulsory, "most higher ed is not Harvard or other elite schools" caveat), but in this case I think it's important because of the disproportionate impact Harvard does have on who has access to the most powerful positions in society.

[Alexander Bloom @AlexBloomEdu]

Mostly not writing about higher ed at the moment, but the recent Harvard announcement ($100M to redress past wrongs) has much larger implications. It's the perfect example of a powerful institution focusing on the past to obfuscate its present.

https://t.co/ZV2rtTmvPa

[Alexander Bloom @AlexBloomEdu]

Maybe Harvard will prove me wrong in the coming years! I certainly hope so! But until such a time as they voluntarily or compulsorily (there is proposed legislation to this effect) remove legacy admissions, I think we ought to be skeptical.

[Alexander Bloom @AlexBloomEdu]

@BillDeBaun Thanks, Bill!

[Alexander Bloom @AlexBloomEdu]

@erichoov I assume the article will be only be available via virtual reality headset delivered by drone

[Alexander Bloom @AlexBloomEdu]

What we really need to address the affordability problem in higher education is greater government investment. More on that here: https://t.co/Rv11O9Ucph

[Alexander Bloom @AlexBloomEdu]

You probably don't need to be convinced that US #highered has an #affordability issue. But some still do, so here’s a thread about how lots of students struggle to afford even the lowest-cost four-year publics in their states. (Views my own.)

[Alexander Bloom @AlexBloomEdu]

This is a useful piece from @StacyCowley on the perils of racial discrimination in the ISA market: https://t.co/fIW6g8VajG?

[Alexander Bloom @AlexBloomEdu]

So ISAs are really a solution to a liquidity problem *after* the student has maxed out federal direct loan eligibility. They're a substitute for *more debt* not for *all debt*.