Author Profile

Andrew Gillen

Andrew Gillen is a Program Officer at the Charles Koch Foundation and an adjunct professor of economics at Johns Hopkins University. Previously, he was a Committee Member of the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance and filled research roles for American Institutes for Research, Education Sector, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Florida State University.

Articles by Andrew Gillen

How to Stop Student Aid from Driving Up Tuition

Apr 6, 2018 · Andrew Gillen · No Comments

The Department of Education’s method for awarding college students financial aid has many perverse effects. It contributes to rising tuition, keeps students in the dark about their aid eligibility for too long, gives some colleges unfair special treatment, and does not incentivize colleges to improve. But a small tweak would address those problems: replacing the … Continue reading “How to Stop Student Aid from Driving Up Tuition”

The State of Private Higher Ed in North Carolina Jul 15, 2018
Private colleges and universities face challenges distinct from their public counterparts. For one, unlike public institutions, they are not the recipients of generous state funding. Instead, they rely heavily on revenue generated from tuition—as well as on the generous support of donors. Such a reliance on tuition revenue puts private institutions in a vulnerable position—especially … Continue reading “The State of Private Higher Ed in North Carolina”
Free College Is Just Another Middle-Class Entitlement Jul 9, 2018
Tennessee legislators received a shock in 2012 when a study from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce predicted that by 2020, 55 percent of Tennessee jobs would require some kind of postsecondary education or job training. To elected officials in a state where only a quarter of citizens possessed a bachelor’s degree and … Continue reading “Free College Is Just Another Middle-Class Entitlement”
A Worrisome Trend for Higher Education: Declining Enrollments Jul 6, 2018
A specter is haunting higher education—the specter of declining enrollments. University and college enrollment has fallen nearly 9 percent since 2011, according to the National Student Clearinghouse, and no one is exactly sure why. The decrease is not that obvious yet because the decline follows many decades of tremendous growth in enrollment. On a website … Continue reading “A Worrisome Trend for Higher Education: Declining Enrollments”

The State of Private Higher Ed in North Carolina Jul 15, 2018
Private colleges and universities face challenges distinct from their public counterparts. For one, unlike public institutions, they are not the recipients of generous state funding. Instead, they rely heavily on revenue generated from tuition—as well as on the generous support of donors. Such a reliance on tuition revenue puts private institutions in a vulnerable position—especially … Continue reading “The State of Private Higher Ed in North Carolina”
College Students’ Disability Claims Show Unintended Consequences of ADA Jul 13, 2018
Twentieth-century American sociologist Robert Merton popularized a term that is now a part of our everyday vocabulary. “The Law of Unintended Consequences,” often cited but rarely defined, posits that actions of people—and most especially of government—always have effects that are unanticipated or unintended. Since our government is prolific at enacting sweeping legislation, there are countless … Continue reading “College Students’ Disability Claims Show Unintended Consequences of ADA”
The New Head of the Office for Civil Rights Charts a Very Different Course Jul 11, 2018
Last month, the Senate voted to confirm Kenneth L. Marcus as assistant secretary for civil rights in the Department of Education. The vote was 50-46, with not one Democrat supporting him—a point I will return to presently. In that position, he will head up the Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). This is the second … Continue reading “The New Head of the Office for Civil Rights Charts a Very Different Course”