The Education Trust Welcomes Michael Dannenberg as Director of Higher Education Policy and Education Finance
WASHINGTON (October 9, 2012) Michael Dannenberg will join The Education Trust as director of higher education policy and education finance on Oct. 10, it was announced today.
Michael comes to Ed Trust from the U.S. Department of Education, where he was a senior policy advisor in the Office of the Under Secretary. In that role, he led an intra-agency task force on teacher education reform, assisted in the development and advocacy of the presidents postsecondary education budget, and drafted the departments College Completion Tool Kit for governors and other state leaders.
Previously, he served as the director of New America Foundations education policy program, where he launched its influential education policy blogs and mini-think tank, the Federal Education Budget Project. Michael was a long-time senior education counsel to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), and prior to that to Sen. Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.). He had a significant hand in drafting the No Child Left Behind Act, the Education Finance Incentive Grant program, the Taxpayer-Teacher Protection Act, the Improving Americas Schools Act, and Goals 2000: Educate America Act
Michael is a first-generation college graduate who relied on Pell Grants, student loans, scholarships and work to pay for his own education, said José Cruz, Ed Trusts vice president for higher education policy and practice. At a time when too many conversations in Washingtons higher education circles fail to focus on real-world implications, his personal experiences allow him to draw upon both strong policy expertise and a keen understanding of how issues of college affordability directly impact students themselves.
Michael is a graduate of Yale Law School and earned a master’s degree in education policy and administration from Stanford University.
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