I am a big proponent of making data-driven decisions whenever possible, but sadly that isn’t the case among many policymakers. Recently, in an effort to reduce costs, Congress and the Obama Administration agreed to reduce the maximum number of semesters of Pell Grant eligibility from 18 to 12 (which is in line with the federal government’s primary graduation rate measure for students attending four-year colleges). However, this decision was made without considering the cost-effectiveness of the policy change or even without a good idea of how many students would be affected.
Today’s online version of The Chronicle of Higher Education includes a piece that I co-authored with Sara Goldrick-Rab on this policy change. We’re both strong proponents of data-driven decision making, as well as conducting experiments whenever possible to evaluate the effects of policy changes. We come from very different places on the political spectrum (which is why we disagree on whether the federal government can and should hold states accountable for their funding decisions), but there are certainly fundamental points that are just a part of an effective policymaking process.
Robert Kelchen 