President Biden’s executive order requiring all agencies to examine if they are perpetuating systemic racism is raising hopes for changes in higher education policies.
For years, researchers and higher education advocates have been frustrated by the lack of good Education Department data on how students of color and those with lower incomes are being let down by the nation’s higher education system.
“It’s hard to solve racial equity problems if you can’t see them,” said Clare McCann, deputy director for federal higher education policy at the progressive think tank New America, and formerly a senior policy adviser at the department during the Obama administration.
However, progressive advocacy groups say an executive order President Biden signed on his first day in office instructing the Education Department and all federal agencies to examine whether they are perpetuating systemic racism could have profound effects on the experience of students from underrepresented groups at colleges and universities.
In interviews, they said the order could eventually bring a range of changes, including the department providing data broken down based on race and income to allow researchers to pinpoint when, from applying for financial aid to dropping out or graduating deep in debt, the system is failing students.