“I am so happy to be joining the Optimal team as an advisor. Optimal is performing an important job of erasing ignorance that often prevents seekers of a college education from ‘optimizing’ this costly investment so important to their futures,” said Vedder. KIRKLAND, Wash. (PRWEB) June 28, 2021
Higher education research publisher, Optimal, is proud to welcome Richard Vedder to the team as a content advisor and op-ed author. Vedder’s impressive tenure of advocating for change in the higher education space makes him an ideal fit to support Optimal’s core mission of adding data-driven information to the college and careers landscape in order to set students up for success.
“I am so happy to be joining the Optimal team as an advisor. Optimal is performing an important job of erasing ignorance that often prevents seekers of a college education from ‘optimizing’ this costly investment so important to their futures,” said Vedder.
“We are at a time in history where we can no longer afford to see higher education as a passion-seeking, coming-of-age pursuit. We need to know outcomes, and Optimal provides the filter between the emotional aspirations of college and the data-based realities.”
Vedder is an esteemed figure in the higher education sector, writing for numerous notable outlets including Forbes, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Opinion, and Inside Higher Ed. He has also authored several books regarding issues within the higher education sector, including Going Broke by Degree: Why College Costs Too Much and Restoring the Promise: Higher Education in America. Much of his writing challenges the current American higher education system and proposes solutions for economic, societal, and institutional changes.
Outside of writing, Vedder has taken action to improve higher education in America and reduce college costs. Vedder ran the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, an organization dedicated to researching public policy and economic issues relating to postsecondary education. Its mission was to facilitate a broader dialogue that challenges conventional thinking about costs, efficiency, and innovation.
“We are ecstatic to have such a notable higher education change advocate on-board. Richard’s belief in Optimal further confirms the importance of our mission and fuels our efforts to improve the college decision- making process. We look forward to leveraging his knowledge to help set students up for success without burdening them with loads of debt,” said CEO of Optimal, Sung Rhee.
Vedder also served on the Spellings Commission on the Future of Higher Education, a group charged with recommending a national strategy for reforming post-secondary education, with a particular focus on how well colleges and universities are preparing students for the 21st-century workplace. He is currently a Senior Fellow at The Independent Institute, a public-policy research and educational organization that creates transformational ideas for today’s most pressing social and economic challenges.
About Optimal™
Optimal helps prospective students make informed, data-driven decisions to improve their collegiate experience and their post-college careers. The company provides over 85,000 in-depth student reviews, as well as college and bootcamp rankings for every major through its three major products, OnlineU, GradReports, and SwitchUp. Optimal’s tools and services provide accessible and transparent financial data regarding cost and earning potential that give students educational paths that lead them to success, without burdening them with insurmountable debt. https://www.optimal.com
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