In 2005, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings appointed a panel of academics, higher education administrators, and business leaders to assess the state of higher education and recommend reforms. The commission released its final report in the fall of 2006, calling for greater accountability from colleges and universities, expressing concern over the rising cost of college tuition, and advocating for greater Pell Grants and other financial resources. The report was criticized by some as being too harsh on higher education, while others felt that it did not go far enough in challenging colleges and universities to reform.

This event will feature a keynote address by U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, who will talk about the commission’s performance and detail the department’s plans for acting on the commission’s recommendations.

In the first panel, commission member and University of Pennsylvania professor Robert Zemsky, president of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation Judith Eaton, and former deputy secretary of education Eugene Hickock will respond to areas of the commission’s report and discuss whether the commission was successful in accomplishing any of its goals.

In the second panel, commission member and AEI visiting scholar Richard Vedder, Ron Ehrenberg of Cornell University, the College Board’s Sandy Baum, and AEI W. H. Brady Scholar Charles Murray will discuss the future of government financing of higher education. 

The final panel will examine central issues ignored by the commission—namely the need for a coherent core curriculum, a campus culture that fosters open debate, and informed trusteeship. President of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni Anne D. Neal, State University of New York trustee Edward Cox,  Mark Bauerlein of Emory University, and Harry Lewis of Harvard University will address these issues.