For decades, colleges have been famously ranked on a national level by entities such as US News, The Princeton Review, and Forbes, with the impact of such rankings rarely extending beyond the families navigating the college selection process. However, in an address to the University of Buffalo this Thursday, President Obama proposed a new college ranking system that would be responsible for determining federal financial aid allocation.
Stating that “It is time to stop subsidizing schools that are not producing good results,” Obama suggested that schools be rated based on criteria such as average tuition, student debt burden, graduation rates, graduate earnings, so that schools that do a better job of educating low and middle-income students, would be rewarded with government subsidization.
Obama’s “personal mission,” to make college more affordable is an ambitious one, as the price of higher education has proven to be problematic for the average American for decades. Since the mid 1980’s, the rapidly increasing cost of higher education has far exceeded inflation rates. In the past thirty years, tuition for public universities has increased 257 percent, according to the College Board, while average household income has remained stagnant since the 1980s.
But its not only students of average income who rely on financial aid; Universities are dependent on the government for federal grants for their survival, as “every year the U.S. pumps more than $150 billion into the higher-ed pipeline while states kick in roughly $70 billion.” However, colleges have historically been provided with federal financial aid without having to reciprocate. By encouraging schools across the nation to improve their performance, and to be held accountable for their students’ success, the quality of education should improve nationally, respectively benefitting the people, the workforce, and the government.
The proposal received largely mixed reviews from both the colleges and lawmakers responsible for approving any plans to link such a rating system to federal grant allocation. Most criticism came from the feasibility of the plan and the means by which data would be collected. Molly Corbett Broad, president of the American Council on Education, which is an umbrella organization for U.S. colleges and universities, explained that “while IPEDS has accurate information in some areas, it does not have enough information in enough areas to make this plan a remote possibility.”
With the proposal’s goal of implementing this rating system in time for the 2015 school year, it’s possible that we will be seeing quick changes in the country’s higher education system, that hopefully can live up to their expectations to maximize the potential of both colleges and collegiettes country-wide.