Fighting for (E)Quality: The Political Development of Higher Education Policy at Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), 1968–1999

• In Event: A National Agenda for Student Access and Success

Abstract

In postsecondary education, the federal government’s social-equity work has been largely limited to ensuring educational access; but rarely attends to what happens after students enter college. Given the persistence of inequity within the walls of postsecondary education, what explains this disparate focus in postsecondary politics? This study analyzes the political history of the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), which was founded in 1972 to administer a competitive grants program to address inequities in postsecondary success rates for minoritized students. This paper asks: 1) Under what political conditions was FIPSE was founded to address racial and other forms of inequity within postsecondary education? and 2) By what political processes was this purpose ultimately converted into a race-neutral policy?

Authors

• Heather N. McCambly, University of Pittsburgh

• Quinn Weber Mulroy, Northwestern University