In February testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Skidmore College economist and College Board senior policy analyst Sandy Baum offered a cornucopia of ways to improve higher education financing.
Among other things, she urged Congress to use its leverage to influence how other partners in the higher education financing process spend their money. Baum noted that under the Leveraging Education Assistance Partnerships (LEAP) program, which is on the Bush chopping block, the federal government matches state dollars for need-based grant programs. She suggested Washington use a similar approach to influence institutional aid policies. "If Congress ...