"The rating system is in fact a radical new effortby the federal government to hold America’s 7,000 colleges and universities accountable by injecting the executive branch into the business of helping prospective students weigh collegiate pros and cons. For years that task has been dominated by private companies like Barron’s and U.S. News & World Report.
Mr. Obama and his aides say colleges and universities that receive a total of $150 billion each year in federal loans and grants must prove they are worth it. The problem is acute, they insist: At too many schools, tuition is going up, graduation rates are going down, and students are leaving with enormous debt and little hope of high-paying jobs.
White House officials said the government rating system would provide new incentives for colleges to hold down costs and broaden access to a more diverse student population — and provide an alternative to the private rankings, where colleges often battle for spots by erecting lavish new athletic centers and libraries and by becoming more selective in whom they admit. The officials said Mr. Obama’s system would not rank schools numerically but would give them grades or ratings like “excellent,” “good,” “fair” or “poor.”"
Does this new ranking system by the government, according to this article, sound like a good idea to you? There are many flaws in the ranking done by the private companies. I don't think building a building a lavish structure should push the rankings by a considerable amount. The presidents of various colleges do not like this idea, however Obama is keeping a very strong opinion on the issue.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/26/us/colleges-rattled-as-obama-presses-rating-system.html?hpw&rref=education&_r=0
Mr. Obama and his aides say colleges and universities that receive a total of $150 billion each year in federal loans and grants must prove they are worth it. The problem is acute, they insist: At too many schools, tuition is going up, graduation rates are going down, and students are leaving with enormous debt and little hope of high-paying jobs.
White House officials said the government rating system would provide new incentives for colleges to hold down costs and broaden access to a more diverse student population — and provide an alternative to the private rankings, where colleges often battle for spots by erecting lavish new athletic centers and libraries and by becoming more selective in whom they admit. The officials said Mr. Obama’s system would not rank schools numerically but would give them grades or ratings like “excellent,” “good,” “fair” or “poor.”"
Does this new ranking system by the government, according to this article, sound like a good idea to you? There are many flaws in the ranking done by the private companies. I don't think building a building a lavish structure should push the rankings by a considerable amount. The presidents of various colleges do not like this idea, however Obama is keeping a very strong opinion on the issue.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/26/us/colleges-rattled-as-obama-presses-rating-system.html?hpw&rref=education&_r=0
I think this is a great idea. The current rankings are notoriously cyclical--very difficult to dislodge T25's because of methodologies. More importantly, they don't always value things that students really should be looking at. Anything ranking system that scares college presidents should be seen as a good thing: if they expect to be well ranked, what are they afraid of?
ReplyDeleteThat said, more needs to be done to reduce tuition costs at the outset.
I like this idea. What's wrong with ranking schools based on graduation rates, student debt accumulation, and post-graduate earnings? It seems like a good way to hold colleges and universities accountable. I'm interested to see how K ranks.
ReplyDeleteOn a moral level, I think it makes sense for colleges and universities to be more transparent and to provide more evidence to the public that they are putting taxpayer money to good use, since they are the ones receiving federal loans and grants. I also like how the government is pushing colleges and universities to lower tuition costs for students.
ReplyDeleteI think the pressure from the government to reduce college education costs will increase the number of students attending and graduating from college. Also, the government's' demand for transparency on federal loans and grants given to universities has the potential to push those schools to invest in projects that advances their students' learning experience.
ReplyDeleteJoe, you make a good point about those factors as useful rating criteria. The problem that arises for K students, which has been noted in an article about post-grad earnings, is that many of them go on to graduate school immediately after or go on to programs such as Teach For America, Peace Corps, etc. So it might be a better statistic to look at post-graduate earnings after 5 years or so.
ReplyDeleteI agree with many of the previous comments. It is wild to see so many people spending so much on college only to put themselves in debt, and to some it may seem like a waste of time, money and energy. Schools should show that they are spending the money productively.
ReplyDeleteI have heard from many admissions officers that applicants should generally take rankings (e.g. US News) with a grain of salt. The federal rankings would really shake this up though, and I think that is a good thing. I'm guessing many colleges are opposed to it because it puts their credit line with the government at risk, and in my opinion that is very good. I agree with Rasheed - why should colleges complain if they know they are good? Of course, anything the federal government develops will by necessity be a simplification but at least it is yet another factor an applicant can consider when looking at schools.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea and you guys have pointed out many good points. If you are truly good and your students/alumni are truly happy, you should not be worried. One thing I notice at K is that bad publicity quickens the decision-making process and causes the College to change and meet students' needs rather effectively.
ReplyDeleteThe article does not seem to clearly say how the rating is gonna be conducted. Would there be room for lobbying?