LSU President F. King Alexander—already well known nationally in higher education policy circles—is increasingly influential in the growing debate over federal funding for higher education, according to an article in the September issue of Washington Monthly.
Alexander recently testified on Capitol Hill that the federal government should stop pumping so much money into student aid programs—which benefit private universities while burdening students with unsustainable levels of debt—and instead force states to fund their own public education systems.
In a flattering profile of Alexander entitled “Can this man save the public university?,” writer Alexander Holt says Democratic candidates in the presidential race are starting to give more credence to the ideas espoused by Alexander, and he predicts the LSU president will play a key role in the debates that will follow.
“Democratic presidential candidates have already started to appeal to their progressive base by talking about ‘debt-free college,’ and the emerging details of these plans all revolve around the federal government forcing states to fund public higher education,” the article reads. “To make their case, the candidates need allies knowledgeable enough about the complicated policy architecture of federal-state higher education funding to advise them, and credible enough to be spokespeople for the needed changes. More than anyone else, that person is F. King Alexander.”
Washington Monthly in collaboration with New America is holding a panel discussion on Wednesday, Sept. 16, on the issues discussed in its September issue, which, in addition to the Alexander feature, includes national college rankings and a list of the most innovative college presidents. Alexander is headlining the discussion, which will also include Cheryl Hyman, chancellor of City Colleges of Chicago; Jamie P. Merisotis, president and CEO of Lumina Foundation; Paul Glastris, editor in chief of Washington Monthly; and Kevin Carey, director of the education policy program for New America. You can watch the event via a live online stream from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. on Sept. 16.
—Stephanie Riegel
