Obama proposes college-rating system that could increase affordability By Philip Rucker and Nick Anderson, President Obama on Thursday will unveil a broad new plan that aims to make college education more affordable by overhauling the college ranking system and allocating federal financial aid based on those results. The plan, which Obama will roll out on a two-day campus bus tour that starts Thursday in Buffalo, N.Y., would create a new ranking system beginning in 2015 to evaluate colleges on tuition, the percentage of low-income students, graduation rates and debt of graduates. Eventually, as an incentive for schools to make improvements in these areas, federal financial aid would be awarded based on those rankings. Obama aims to create the rankings through executive action, but the plan to reallocate federal aid based on the rankings would require congressional approval. The president aims to make college more affordable in two ways. First, the rankings would reward colleges that offer “value.” A school that holds down average tuition and student loan debt could rise in the rankings, which means that the new system would act as an incentive for schools to keep those costs as low as possible. In addition, higher-ranking colleges would qualify for larger federal grants, making them more affordable to students. Obama’s proposal comes as the White House prepares for battle with House Republicans on a series of fiscal issues this fall, and it is not at all clear whether he can succeed in convincing lawmakers to back this or any other initiative. Still, the president says he is on “a personal mission” to combat soaring tuition at the nation’s colleges and to make higher education more affordable for middle-class families. “Just tinkering around the edges won’t be enough,” Obama wrote in an e-mail to supporters earlier this week. “We’ve got to shake up the current system.” Obama’s plan could face opposition from entrenched interests in academia. In the e-mail to supporters, Obama acknowledged that his proposals “won’t all be popular with everyone — including some who’ve made higher education their business — but it’s past time that more of our colleges work better for the students they exist to serve.” Obama also plans to discuss plans to promote innovation and competition at higher education institutions and to ensure that student debt remains affordable. The president sees the college affordability plan as part of a broader economic agenda aimed at helping middle-class families. The average tuition at public four-year colleges has increased by more than 250 percent over the past three decades, while incomes for typical families grew by only 16 percent, according to College Board and Census data highlighted by the White House. One factor contributing to rising tuitions is the sharp decline in recent years of state funding for higher education — a trend that Obama has little power to reverse. The president will try to rally support for the plan in a series of speeches in New York and Pennsylvania. His bus tour will begin at the University of Buffalo, then go on to Henninger High School in Syracuse, N.Y. later Thursday. On Friday, he will hold a town hall at Binghamton University in New York and visit Lackawanna College in Scranton, Pa., where Vice President Biden was born. Biden is scheduled to join Obama at Lackawanna. Nick Anderson contributed to this report. wapo.st/1762rVq bit.ly/176Gp5d
Posted on: Thu, 22 Aug 2013 18:35:49 +0000
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