A leading expert on college access and financial aid, Robert Shireman previously served as a congressional appointee to the Federal Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, an advisor to U.S. Sen. Paul Simon and as part of President Clinton's White House National Economic Council. Shireman is founder of the Institute for College Access and Success and the Project on Student Debt. He holds a bachelor's degree in economics from University of California at Berkeley and masters' degrees from Harvard in education and the University of San Francisco in public administration.