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The U.S. government is casting a skeptical eye on college policies that withhold academic transcripts and otherwise punish students because they owe the institutions money.
This week’s episode of The Key, Inside Higher Ed’s news and analysis podcast, explores why some institutions have those policies and why consumer advocates think they’re pernicious, even though they’re a tiny piece of the $1.7 trillion student debt problem in American higher education.
Martin Kurzweil, director of the educational transformation program at Ithaka S+R, discusses research on what it calls “stranded credits,” which colleges sometimes hold hostage from former students, and a promising experiment that could offer a way out for students and colleges alike.
Melanie Gottlieb, executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, explains why many higher ed officials oppose potential federal regulation to ban such policies, but she acknowledges the need for colleges to limit the kinds of debt they try to collect from students.
Listen to this week’s episode here, and learn more about The Key podcast here.
