Barack Obama’s plan to tie federal higher education funding to a new school ratings system is not winning over fans among college provosts.
A full 60 percent of provosts disagreed or strongly disagreed that the proposal would help prospective students and their families make meaningful comparisons among colleges, according to a new study by Inside Higher Ed.
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Under Obama’s plan, the Department of Education would create a highly sophisticated matrix to rate colleges before the 2015 school year based on such measures as tuition, student debt, the subsequent earnings of graduates, and the percentage of lower-income students who graduate.
The proposal would pit colleges against their peer institutions and would provide a basis for the federal government in distributing federal grants for higher education. Students attending highly rated colleges and universities would presumably qualify for larger grants and more affordable federally insured loans compared to those attending lower-rated schools.
Only 12 percent of provosts agreed or strongly agreed that their institutions’ strength would be reflected in the ratings, and only 9 percent of provosts agreed that their weaknesses would be represented, Inside Higher Ed reports.
The poll found that provosts believe their institutions are taking appropriate steps to help their students land good jobs, and are helping students minimize their debt load. Last week, dozens of college officials attended a White House summit aimed at expanding efforts to help students in financial need.
Federal student loan debt currently totals more than $1 trillion, making it second only to mortgages in household debt.
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