APLU Statement on U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s Announcement That He Will Step Down This Year

Washington, DC – Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) President Peter McPherson today released the following statement regarding U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s announcement that he will leave the agency later this year.

“For Secretary Duncan it has always been about students and opportunity. I have enormous respect for Secretary Duncan’s deep commitment to improving K-12 and higher education.

“Under Duncan, the Department of Education maintained an open door and sought advice and feedback from the higher education community as it developed policies and initiatives. The Department’s announcement that it will link to Student Achievement Measure data on the new College Scorecard in order to show better progress and completion data is a recent example of how the agency doesn’t just listen, but also acts, on some of that feedback.

“The public university community wishes Secretary Duncan and his family the very best as they move on with the next chapters in their lives. We also wish Deputy Secretary King well as he prepares to lead the Department forward, particularly at a time when Congress is working on reauthorizing the Higher Education Act and No Child Left Behind.”