Carnegie Postsecondary Commission
The aim of the Carnegie Postsecondary Commission (CPC) is to identify the most powerful levers to propel millions more low-income, underrepresented, and first-generation students through postsecondary education into purposeful careers.
The Commission will amplify the highest leverage methods: scalable, affordable, career-aligned postsecondary models; technology-powered teaching and learning modalities; pathways that disrupt the Carnegie unit and blur borders between secondary, postsecondary and work; and essential public policy ideas to accelerate progress.
VISION PAPER
Revitalizing Higher Education: A Blueprint for Transformative Change
The CPC’s vision is ambitious, calling for innovations and disruptions from pre-college preparation to post-graduation success. By catalyzing transformative change, the Commission aims to create a postsecondary system that effectively prepares millions more students for healthy, dignified, and fulfilling lives.
We commissioned the HEA Group to provide three primers on college access, college affordability and economic outcomes. These papers were intended to inform the Carnegie Postsecondary Commission’s work to produce transformational change within the US higher education system as we know it.
Postsecondary Commission Members
Composed of diverse leaders in higher education and K-12 aiming to identify the most effective ways to help millions of low-income, underrepresented, and first-generation students achieve their postsecondary education goals and secure meaningful careers.
Co-Chairs
Shirley M. Collado
PRESIDENT AND CEO, COLLEGE TRACK
Dr. Shirley M. Collado is the President and CEO of College Track. Prior to this role, she served as the ninth president of Ithaca College, and was named president emerita at the conclusion of her tenure. She is the first Dominican-American to serve as president of a four-year institution of higher education in the United States.
Jorge A. Aguilar
Superintendent, Wonderful College Prep Academy
Prior to becoming the current Superintendent at Wonderful College Prep Academy in Sacramento, California, Jorge A. Aguilar served as the Superintendent at Sacramento City Unified School District’s, which encompasses more than 40,000 students and seventy-five schools. He brings over twenty years of K-12 and higher education experience with a strong focus and background on issues of equity, continuous improvement and student achievement.
Luvelle Brown
Superintendent, Ithaca City School District
Dr. Luvelle Brown is an experienced educator who has held positions as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, school CIO, and Superintendent of Schools. Currently, He is serving as the Superintendent of the Ithaca City School District (ICSD) in Ithaca, New York. During his tenure in Ithaca, the Ithaca City School District has experienced unprecedented levels of success.
Nancy Cantor
President, Hunter College
In August 2024, Cantor was named the 14th president of Hunter College. Prior to her appointment, Cantor served as the chancellor of Rutgers University-Newark for ten years. She is recognized nationally and internationally for emphasizing the role of universities as anchor institutions in their communities, especially by forging diverse, cross-sector collaboratives and leveraging publicly engaged scholarship to advance racial equity and equitable growth.
Mildred García
Chancellor, California State University
Recognizing her dynamic leadership and expertise, the California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees has appointed Dr. Mildred García as its 11th Chancellor. This appointment makes her the first-ever Latina to lead the nation’s largest and most diverse four-year university system. In her most recent role as AASCU’s president, Dr. García advocated for public higher education at the national level, working to influence federal policy and regulations on behalf of nearly 400 member colleges and universities. She was the first Latina to lead one of the six presidentially based higher education associations in Washington, D.C.
Timothy F.C. Knowles
President, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
Dr. Timothy F.C. Knowles is the 10th president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Prior to joining Carnegie, he served as founder and managing partner of the Academy Group, an enterprise designed to reduce economic disparities and prepare extraordinary young people from under-resourced communities for wealth-building, purposeful careers.
Ted Mitchell
President, American Council on Education
Ted Mitchell has served as president of the American Council on Education (ACE), the major coordinating body for the nation’s colleges and universities, since September 2017. Mitchell and his team work closely with Congress, the executive branch, and the private sector to develop policies and innovative practices that serve our country’s postsecondary learners.
Juan Sánchez Muñoz
Chancellor, University of California, Merced
A California native whose parents immigrated from Mexico and whose father worked in the fields of the San Joaquin Valley, Dr. Juan Sánchez Muñoz has deep roots in the UC System and the Central Valley region. He earned his B.A. in psychology from UC Santa Barbara.
Jay A. Perman
Chancellor, University System of Maryland
Dr. Jay Perman was named the fifth chancellor of the University System of Maryland (USM) in January 2020. The USM comprises 12 public universities and three regional higher education centers across the state, enrolling 163,000 students.
Monte Randall
President, College of the Muscogee Nation
Dr. Monte Randall is Muscogee (Creek) from the Apekv-Tvlledegv Tribal Town and Deer Clan. He is a veteran of the United States Navy and the Oklahoma Army National Guard. Dr. Randall is a graduate of Haskell Indian Nations University, the University of Oklahoma, and Oral Roberts University, where he received a doctorate in educational leadership. He resides in Glenpool, OK, with his wife Lauren and three children.
Aaron Rasmussen
Co-Founder, MasterClass; Founder, Outlier
Aaron Rasmussen is an entrepreneur, inventor, and game designer. He’s best known as a founder of educational platforms MasterClass and Outlier.org, the latter known for creating impactful for-credit online college courses with the aim of promoting affordable, equitable education.
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Students at Outlier receive transcripted transferable credits from the University of Pittsburgh. Outlier recently launched associate degrees with Golden Gate University that cost less than the average Pell Grant award enabling students to receive an education at zero cost to them. At MasterClass, Rasmussen was both Creative Director and CTO, creating courses taught by notable experts. The video game he co-wrote, BlindSide, has won multiple awards and is being adapted into a film.
Ronald S. Rochon
President, California State University, Fullerton
Dr. Ronald S. Rochon is currently the president of California State University, Fullerton. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Rochon was the University of Southern Indiana’s fourth president in July 2018, after eight years serving USI as provost. In his first four years as president, he successfully secured over $250 million in state funding for capital projects and operations from his first two biennial budget presentations to the Indiana Legislature.
Félix V. Matos Rodríguez
Chancellor, City University of New York (CUNY)
Félix V. Matos Rodríguez is the eighth Chancellor of CUNY, and the first educator of color and the first Latino to lead the nation’s largest urban public university, which serves 243,000 degree-seeking students across 25 New York City campuses.
Michael J. Sorrell
President, Paul Quinn College
Dr. Michael J. Sorrell is the longest-serving President in the 151-year history of Paul Quinn College. During his 16 years of leadership, Paul Quinn has become nationally celebrated for its ability to reimagine higher education to better serve the needs of today’s students and their communities.
Astrid S. Tuminez
President, Utah Valley University
Dr. Astrid S. Tuminez (pronounced too-MEE-nez) was appointed the seventh president of Utah Valley University in 2018. Born in a farming village in the Philippine province of Iloilo, she moved with her parents and siblings to the slums of Iloilo City when she was two years old, her parents seeking better educational opportunities for their children
Lori S. White
President, DePauw University
Lori S. White was appointed the 21st president of DePauw University on March 4, 2020, and began her term on July 1, 2020. Most recently, she was the vice chancellor for student affairs and a professor of practice at Washington University in St. Louis. At DePauw, she also holds the rank of professor of education. She is the first woman and the first person of color to serve as DePauw’s president.