Last month the Obama Administration unveiled its long-awaited and much-criticized plan to rate colleges and universities. While the overall intent is admirable, the details are causing much consternation among college and university administrators and trade union representatives. However, students, consumer groups and critics of higher education have applauded the Obama Administration for proposing the new college-ratings system.
The idea for the plan was first announced by President Obama in his State of the Union address three years ago. He put colleges and universities on notice stating that his administration would not continue to subsidize rising tuition costs. A year later, in an August of 2013 speech at the University of Buffalo, as part of a three-campus tour, he denounced the high cost of a college education and promoted his plans to make colleges more affordable. The initial plan, or proposal as it was called, was to rate colleges based on measures of access, affordability and student outcomes, and to allocate federal aid based on those ratings. Thus for example, students attending higher-rated institutions could obtain larger Pell Grants and more affordable loans.
As part of the plan, the U.S. Department of Education announced a series of forums that were be held to discuss the plan and gather feedback on the new ratings system. At each of the forums, criticism was abound about the pitfalls of a one-size-fits-all system of rating colleges. Concerns were raised about a large number of issues: the diverse nature of colleges and universities; how to account for the differences in institutions’ missions and profiles; how retention and graduation rates, employment and continuing-education rates, and loan-repayment and default rates will be used. Other concerns included the data collected by the U.S. Department of Education is deeply flawed; would the new ratings system discourage colleges and universities from enrolling minority and low-income students since they tend to have low success rates; and finally, it will be impossible to please everyone. One national organization of university administrators proposed a simple system of rating colleges based on "social responsibility" by assigning a silver, gold or platinum rating.
The Obama Administration’s new plan has proposed looking at measures such as a college’s average net price, its students’ completion rates, the percentage of its students receiving Pell Grants, labor-market outcomes, and loan-repayment (or rather loan-default) rates. The last two metrics were very controversial during the lengthy fight over the "gainful employment" rule, which was released at the end of last year.
However, the new plan has been condemned more for what it didn’t include than for what measure were included. For example, critics denounce the plan because it doesn’t assign weights to each metric nor does it offer a plan for how similar institutions will be grouped. It also doesn’t provide a specific format for the ratings and it doesn’t clarify whether the department will publish a single, composite rating, or a series of ratings.
University administrators have expressed concern that the plan will punish colleges and universities that serve low-income students and those that prepare graduates for much-needed but low-paying professions. The worry is that a rating system that doesn’t adjust for student demographics and institutional mission, could force colleges to turn away at-risk students, perhaps relax their graduation standards, or even drop degrees in low-paying fields in order to receive higher ratings in the new system.
Additional criticism has focused on how federal data is collected and reported. Specifically, the U.S. Department of Education considers only first-time, full-time students in calculating graduation rates. It does not take into account part-time students or students who stop-out for one reason or another, but return at a later date to complete their degrees. It seems unfair to rate colleges and universities on partial or flawed data. This could certainly mislead prospective students and their parents into making decisions about institutions without knowing the all of the facts.
The overall goals of the new plan are to help colleges improve, to help students make better informed decisions about which college or university to attend, and to allow policy makers and the public to hold institutions accountable for their outcomes. And the carrot on the stick is to tie the awarding of federal aid to how institutions are rated.
Administration officials, however, are quick to point out that they have listened to the input and the new ratings system will be divided into separate categories for two- and four-year institutions. The new system may also include the differences in institutional characteristics such as degree offerings, program mix, and selectivity. Officials in the department are also considering whether to adjust the metrics to account for student demographics, students’ parental income, first-generation status and college standardized test scores.
One measure administration officials will not include in the new plan is the debt-to-earnings ratio. This caused much criticism in the debate over the controversial gainful employment rule. Another major concern has been over labor-market outcomes of college graduates. Officials have stated that the new plan will not compare colleges on which of their graduates earn more money. Instead it will set a threshold that salaries of graduates much meet. For example, it could be multiplier of the minimum wage or possibly earnings over the poverty line. The goal is to have colleges prepare graduates for employment at a level that will enable them to pay their bills.
One important key factor will be whether Congress will support the administration’s new college-ratings plan. Republicans, who now have control over the Senate and the House, have previously stated their opposition to the new plan. They feel that the federal government has no business rating colleges and universities and they have threatened to cut off funding for this effort.
Despite the threat by Republicans, Administration officials have said that the department will still be on track to release the first ratings by the start of the 2015-16 academic year. The department will continue to take public comments on the new plan through mid-February. This means that the new college-rating system will be in place in eight months.
A system to rate colleges and universities is an excellent idea, in theory. A new college-ratings system would benefit everyone, but most importantly it would benefit the consumer, our students. However, the devil is in the details. If the new system could take into account all of the various aspects of the diversity that exits in higher education institutions across the county, then I am all for it. If it were that simple, it would have already been created. But it is not a simple matter. That’s why the Obama Administration and the U.S. Department of Education are struggling to come up with a new college-ratings system. Will the new college-ratings system please everyone, I don’t think that going to be possible, but I hope I am proven wrong.
