Brandeis Alumni, Family and Friends
Martha Kanter ’70 Keeps the Promise of College
September 17, 2024
The lifelong educator and Obama under secretary of education receives 2024 Alumni Achievement Award.
It’s fitting that Martha J. Kanter ’70 studied under Brandeis professor Abraham Maslow, creator of the well-known Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
His theory—that people must meet their basic needs for survival, safety, and social community before they can develop self-esteem and self-actualization—aligns perfectly with Kanter’s lifelong commitment to education.
In fact, throughout her career, Kanter has worked tirelessly to help students realize their full potential—as a teacher, a college chancellor and president, federal government official, and now, as a nonprofit leader.
She is one of three Brandeis alumni to receive this year’s Alumni Achievement Award. The university’s highest honor, the award is bestowed annually on graduates who have made outstanding contributions to their chosen fields, and to society more broadly, while embodying Brandeisian values. Kanter joins fellow 2024 winners Adam Cheyer ’88, inventor of Siri and co-founder of Change.org, and Leroy Ashwood ’71, social entrepreneur and president of the nonprofit BRAVE for Veterans, Inc.
From the classroom to Capitol Hill
After graduating with a bachelor of arts in sociology, Kanter landed her first job thanks to another Brandeis psychology professor, Dick Katz, who hired her to run a family community program for a multicultural center in Lowell, Mass.
She later earned a master’s in education from Harvard University, with a concentration in clinical psychology and public practice, and a doctorate in education from the University of San Francisco.
After decades of teaching and advocacy at the community level, Kanter marshaled her considerable talent and passion to further the cause of equity and access in higher education. Her remarkable career trajectory brought her all the way from teaching at an alternative high school in Lexington, Mass. to serving in the Obama administration from 2009 until 2014.
Serving the nation
Kanter’s pedigree caught the attention of President Barack Obama, who nominated her to serve as under secretary of education. Following Senate confirmation, she worked alongside then-secretary of education Arne Duncan to fulfill President Obama’s goal for the U.S. to have the best educated, most competitive workforce, as measured by the proportion of college graduates, in the next decade.
“My goal then, as it remains to this day, is to reduce college debt and make higher education affordable for every American,” says Kanter.
As under secretary, one of her priorities was to make federal student loans more affordable and available. In her first two years in the position, these efforts resulted in a 50-percent increase (from 6 to 9 million )in college enrollment for low-income students.
Still going strong
After serving in the Obama administration, Kanter taught at New York University. Today, she serves as chief executive officer of College Promise — a national, nonpartisan nonprofit that builds local and state programs to fund the first two years of post-secondary education. “We launched in 2015 with one state, Tennessee, making the promise. Today, we have 37, including Massachusetts. That is tremendously exciting.”
Kanter bristles when asked about the current narrative that college is no longer the key to a better, more financially secure future. “I see the data; I see the charts,” she says. “College, or training beyond high school, is still critical. And it should be accessible to all Americans.”
Kanter adds her work is all about the impact that it can have on society, making it more equitable by providing opportunities for those in need.
“The sense of pride and joy you feel when you realize that you have made a big difference in someone’s life,” she said. “That is the ultimate reward.”
