During his college tour on August 22 and 23, President Obama unveiled his plan to tackle the issue of rising college tuition and the increasing debt load it imparts to students. President Obama framed his proposals as a way to keep higher education-- a "pathway to the middle class"--open for all Americans. Higher education is one of the surest ways to attain economic security, Obama said.
One aspect of his proposal in particular drew the attention of higher education professionals: the development of a rating system that will rate [colleges] on who's offering the best value┬" in terms of both cost and education--a metric that will, the President said, eventually be tied to the amount of federal aid a school receives.
The President's plan was outlined in four visits, through Buffalo, Syracuse, and Binghamton, New York, and Scranton, Pennsylvania. In addition to the ratings system, it includes:
- Using common and robust prior learning assessments and competency-based learning credits.
- Increasing competition among schools to reduce cost and boost innovation.
- Developing systems to help students manage their existing or potential debt-loads (including expanding access to the Pay as You Earn plan, where borrower's loan repayments are tied to their income and capped at 10% of their annual income).
Ratings fall short
The idea of linking federal aid to a rating system has raised some concern within AACRAO. "One of the challenges with the President's proposal is that the federal government does not finance institutions directly, they finance student aid. The plan could end up penalizing students who are not involved in how the institution is rated," said Executive Director Mike Reilly. "It makes more sense to have such a plan implemented at the state level, since they directly fund public institutions."
The exact metrics for the new rating system have not yet been determined. However, the president cited a few indicators that will likely be central to the system--such as how much debt the average student leaves with, how well graduates do in the workforce, and how many students enrolled use Pell Grants. He has tasked Secretary of Education Arne Duncan with nailing down details. Duncan will hold a series of public forums around the country to get input from colleges and universities on the rating system. Neither the dates nor the locations of these forums have been announced.
The Washingon Post polled university presidents to gauge national reaction to the news. An attempt to measure [a school's value] with a single yardstick will run the risk of further masking the actual institutional richness and variety that is a distinction and a strength of American higher education," said Cornell University President David Skorton.
"Students make choices based on what is right for them and for their families," said Johns Hopkins University President Ronald Daniels. Transparent, easy-to-access information is what they need, not a ˜one-size-fits-all' rating system.┬"
However, some school leaders feel that tying funds to performance is a necessary step. "Without the linkage [to federal aid], the federal rating system is toothless," said Wallace Loh, President of the University of Maryland at College Park. "If the purpose is to change institutional behavior, there must be incentives and disincentives to bring about that change.┬"
The President's plan is attempting to solve a real problem within higher education, but there are legitimate concerns regarding its potential effectiveness. Aside from the proposed starting year for the ratings, 2015, there is scant detail on how the various components will function. Based on the information that has thus far been released, AACRAO members and other higher education officials must be active in shaping such a system for the benefit of both students and the institutions that serve them.