Higher Ed in Today’s Political Climate: Key Podcast

Inside Higher Ed

Doug Lederman

May 2, 2023

In three decades as chief lobbyist for the American Council on Education, Terry W. Hartle had a front-row seat for just about every important federal policy discussion that affected colleges, their students and their employees. He retired this winter after 30 years as senior vice president for government and public affairs at ACE, the higher ed association that tries to present a coherent front in advocating for higher education.

In a recent episode of The Key, Inside Higher Ed’s news and analysis podcast, Hartle explored the partisanship and inertia that afflicts today’s politics, politicians’ increased questioning and oversight of higher education, and the implications for colleges, their employees and their students.

An edited transcript of that discussion follows.

Inside Higher Ed: Over your years paying attention to higher education politics and policy making from numerous angles, what has changed the most in the expectations and perceptions politicians and policy makers have regarding America’s college and universities? And what are the implications of those changes for the institutions and their employees and students?

Hartle: I should start by noting that while I am still a senior fellow at ACE, I am not speaking for ACE these days. So what you’re going to get is essentially Terry Hartle unplugged.

The first thing that occurs to me is the vast expansion of the federal role in higher education and scientific research. When I got to ACE, the federal government was spending about $5 billion a year on the Pell Grant program. Today we’re spending $25 billion to $30 billion on Pell Grants. When I arrived it was $14 billion or $15 billion in student loans. Today it’s almost $100 billion a year.