By Paul Basken, Kelly Field, and Brock Read
The broad story of this year’s elections was the Republican wave that tipped control of the Senate. What does it all mean for academe? Here’s what you need to know about the results.
Lamar Alexander gets his shot.
With Republicans taking over the Senate, leadership of the all-important education committee will transfer to the lawmaker who already has terms as U.S. secretary of education and as the University of Tennessee’s president on his CV. His main higher-education goal: “to deregulate it.”
As the man charged with driving the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, he’s certainly got cards to play. What should we expect out of Senator Alexander? Staunch opposition to President Obama’s accountability agenda, an attempt to shift accreditors’ focus away from regulatory compliance, and a push to streamline student aid—including, possibly, a simplified federal student-aid form.
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