The Institute for Higher Education Policy

Mission:

The Institute for Higher Education Policy is a non-profit, non-partisan organization whose mission is to foster access and success in postsecondary education through public policy research and other activities that inform and influence the policymaking process. These activities include policy reports and studies, seminars and meetings, and capacity building activities such as strategic planning. The primary audiences of the Institute are those who make or inform decisions about higher education: government policymakers, senior institutional leaders, researchers, funders, the media, and private sector leaders.

The major goals of the Institute are: improving higher education access and success by reducing financial and other barriers to higher education for low-income, minority, first generation, and other disadvantaged groups; assisting governments to advance access and success in higher education; building the policy capacity of organizations and institutions committed to access and success, especially those that serve minority and other underrepresented populations; and advising and informing institutions of higher education on strategies and methods for advancing institutional goals and priorities.

History:

Since its founding in 1993, access to postsecondary education has been the central focus of the Institute for Higher Education Policy. The genesis of the organization grew out of a desire to explore questions of access to postsecondary education from an independent perspective, building on the previous experience of founders Jamie Merisotis and Colleen O’Brien at The National Commission on Responsibilities for Financing Postsecondary Education.

Since that time, the organization has grown in terms of its substantive areas of expertise, and correspondingly, in size and stature. The Institute’s current staff combines a wealth of knowledge and experience with exceptional research and analytic skills.

Website: http://www.ihep.org/