In August 2013, President Obama announced a set of proposals to promote college affordability and improve educational outcomes. The plan includes the implementation of a federal ratings system that would improve the information available to the public, enabling prospective students and their families to make better decisions about which colleges and universities to attend and how much to borrow.
The president’s plan is ambitious. First, it would create a new rating system by 2015 that would evaluate colleges based on measures of access, affordability, and outcomes. Second, the proposal calls on Congress to tie federal student aid to college performance by 2018. The idea is that students who enroll at high performing colleges would receive larger Pell Grants and more favorable rates on student loans. Third, the proposal aims to expand programs and options to help struggling borrowers repay their debt. Fourth, the plan challenges institutions to enhance the range of affordable, high-quality options, such as competency-based learning, course redesign, the use of technology for student services, and recognition of prior learning.
Important details about the president’s proposal remain unknown, including what the ratings will measure and how the policy will work. AACRAO recently hosted a 3-day webinar sprint January 27-29th to discuss the administration’s plan and what it means for higher education. AACRAO has prepared a summary report of each day’s discussions. On the first day, Jamienne Studley, Acting U.S. Under Secretary of Education, and David Bergeron, Vice President Postsecondary Education Policy at the Center for American Progress and former longtime Education Department official, described the agency's extensive college affordability outreach efforts and discussed some proposed solutions. The U.S. Education Department is gathering stakeholder input on how to develop a Ratings System that would help students make informed college choices, incentivize institutions to improve, and increase access.
The second day featured a panel with David Hawkins, Director of Public Policy and Research at NACAC; Megan McClean, Managing Director of Policy and Federal Relations at NASFAA; and Michelle Mott, Associate Director of Government Relations and Communications at AACRAO. The group discussed what President Obama’s plan means for higher education professionals.
The webinar sprint concluded with LeRoy Rooker, AACRAO Senior Fellow and former head of the U.S. Education Department’s Family Policy Compliance Office, discussing how reverse transfers can be handled in compliance with FERPA.
Webinar participants made several important observations about the new rating system:
- Rating systems are only effective if they are well designed and maintained. Although outreach is underway, there has not been extensive research into what information students and families would truly find valuable. Unfortunately, ratings are often inaccurate and misleading unless the underlying data are updated.
- Data availability is a source of concern. The data inputs for the rating system may not measure what is desired. For example, post-secondary data at the federal level focuses only on first-time, full-time students. Information about Pell Grant recipients provides only limited view.
- How data is interpreted may lead to unintended consequences. If peer institutions are categorized too broadly, it will lead to inaccurate comparisons. Also, excessive emphasis on outcomes can create perverse incentives. To increase graduation rates, for example, institutions may become more selective, reducing student access.
- There are pros and cons to linking federal student financial aid with college ratings. On the positive side, tying financial factors to ratings could incentivize institutions to improve their quality over time.
- Institutions are looking at non-traditional ways to boost degree attainment and make education more affordable. One strategy is reverse transfer—the process where academic credits for coursework completed at a four-year institution are transferred back to a community college to satisfy associate degree or certification requirements. This approach, while effective, must be done in compliance with FERPA.
To read a copy of the Executive Summary from the Webinar Sprint, click here.