The leader of Indiana’s community college system says he came away from a White House meeting last week optimistic that the Obama Adminstration wants to address the soaring cost of higher education and rising student debt.Ivy Tech President Thomas Snyder was appointed to the Roundtable of Affordability and Productivity in Higher Education. The panel met a week ago with the president and Education Secretary Arne Duncan.Snyder says there was a sense of urgency at the meeting "that college affordability was going to be a barrier to increasing attainment as we re-engineer America."Snyder compares the current higher education system to the U.S. auto industry in the 1970s and 80s—not focused on competition or the needs of its customers.Also on the ten-person roundtable was Berea College President Larry Shinn.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.
