Shireman to Leave Education Department July 1

WASHINGTON -- Robert Shireman, the deputy under secretary of education who led the Obama administration's efforts to overhaul the student loan programs and has spearheaded its increased scrutiny of for-profit higher education, will announce tomorrow that he is leaving his job July 1. Shireman's decision, which was confirmed by several people familiar with his situation, was expected in many ways; he had to be persuaded to return to Washington to join the administration and made clear from start that he would be a short timer. (His family has been entrenched in the San Francisco Bay area for years, and he was reluctant to have them pull up roots.) Shireman achieved his primary goal in coming to Washington: legislation enacted this spring to shift the origination of all federal student loans to the federal government's Direct Loan Program, which he played a role in creating and building in his previous jobs on Capitol Hill and in the Clinton White House. The legislation also expanded the income-based repayment program that Shireman helped create. So on those counts, the timing of his announcement makes sense. But it is likely to cause a stir nonetheless among Wall Street analysts, who have been watching his every move because of the Education Department's aggressive regulation of for-profit colleges. Shireman is expected to return to California with his wife and children.
More on Shireman's departure -- including the fact that word of his resignation drove up stock prices for publicly traded higher education companies -- on Inside Higher Ed tomorrow.