An eerie quiet in recent weeks seems to have enveloped the proposal – floated by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and the Obama administration – to saddle colleges and universities with an unworkable federal college ratings system.
In the minds of its creators, the program grants the federal government an arsenal of sticks and carrots for prodding schools to accomplish the higher education Holy Grail trifecta: greater accessibility for at-risk students; tamping down tuition costs, and better outcomes. The measurements for success are primarily reduced dropout rates and increased graduate incomes.
We in the higher education community have been debating this proposal for more than a year. Procedurally, the administration says it is still committed to implementing the program in the next fiscal year, which means it needs to begin right away, but another development could overshadow the implementation.
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., who chairs the Senate Education Committee, is pushing a comprehensive measure to overhaul the way the federal government handles all aspects of higher education, including the ratings system as a tiny footnote. My concern is this ratings system regulation will quietly slip under the radar or gain traction in Alexander’s bill in the behind-the-scenes political horse-trading.
I do not object in theory. Clearly, there are areas that warrant federal government leadership – including overseeing and maintaining the world’s greatest higher education system and finding more ways to improve the quality and availability of higher education.
But this wrong-headed, proposed ratings system is tone deaf to the contexts and settings in which many colleges and universities serve. Schools in areas traditionally underserved by higher education often draw students who are first-generation, minority and low-income. That group has a 90 percent dropout rate, compared with 50 percent for all students who enroll.
My institution, Brenau University, maintains its 137-year-old undergraduate Women’s College in a region that lags the nation in equal opportunities for women. The university also offers coeducational undergraduate and graduate opportunities for a diverse student population in areas underserved by higher education. The latter group primarily comprises nontraditional students who may have “day jobs” while squeezing in the pursuit of degrees around busy family and work schedules.
Likewise, religiously affiliated universities and colleges as well as historically black schools also offer unique contexts and settings that have served communities well for generations. A one-size-fits-all ratings system can never reflect adequately the unique missions, important roles and historical challenges faced by hundreds of these schools.
The great news is programs and resources already exist to hold colleges and universities accountable and guide students as they select the institution that best suits them. The U.S. Department of Education recognizes six regional accrediting bodies, one of which is the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
These bodies technically already rate colleges and universities on all the criteria in the Duncan-Obama proposal, and they do so within the context of the unique nature of each institution. The DOE certainly could address any access or quality concerns through closer collaboration with these organizations.
As a university president, I can assure you this system serves the higher education community and its students well. Accrediting bodies conduct regularly scheduled and intense reviews of each institution – touching all aspects of academic and administrative operations – with cadres of dispassionate professionals from other, unrelated institutions who are experts in their respective fields.
If the federal government wants to see this coveted advantage continue and expand, it should simply step aside from this misguided ratings effort where it has no expertise or resources. It should focus instead on areas of higher education where its leadership and expertise will make a great system better.
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