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Obama Seeks New System For Rating Colleges

Posted by samzenpus on from the good-bad-and-party dept.

PolygamousRanchKid writes "Targeting the soaring cost of higher education, President Barack Obama on Thursday unveiled a broad new government rating system for colleges that would judge schools on their affordability and perhaps be used to allocate federal financial aid. But the proposed overhaul faced immediate skepticism from college leaders who worry the rankings could cost their institutions millions of dollars, as well as from congressional Republicans wary of deepening the government's role in higher education. The new rating system does not require congressional approval, and the White House is aiming to have it set up before the 2015 school year. But Obama does need support from Congress in order to use the ratings as a basis for parceling out federal financial aid. In addition to tuition, schools will also be rated on average student loan debt, graduation rates and the average earnings of graduates. Under Obama's proposal, students attending highly rated schools could receive larger grants and more affordable loans."

6 of 302 comments (clear)

  1. Forget ratings, measure ROI. by robbo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What is the median salary, divided by total cost of education, one year and five years after graduation? That is really the main thing a prospective student needs to know. Everything else is window dressing.

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    1. Re:Forget ratings, measure ROI. by Anne_Nonymous · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The value of an education does not reside solely in earnings potential.

    2. Re:Forget ratings, measure ROI. by Fluffeh · · Score: 5, Interesting

      What I simply don't understand is why US universities are so expensive. It's gotten to the point where it seems that any sort of education can only be gotten my pretty much taking on so much debt that you will be lucky to pay it back - which then forces the government to start putting in copious amounts of scholarships/funding to keep students there.

      Degree Costs in Australia

      Over here, a degree (not counting the really expensive ones like medicine) costs $15-30k and a masters $20-37k.

      The average cost (excluding the notoriously expensive universities) in the US is $28k per year.

      Seriously, why?

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    3. Re:Forget ratings, measure ROI. by tipo159 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The cost of college will expand to consume the available student loans, grants and financial aid. This has been true since the invention of student loans.

      The cost of college (at a state colleges) here has expanded because "we will cut your taxes" politicians kept getting elected, so the state cut their support of the colleges (20-odd% here from 2006-20011), so the colleges are now getting the money from the students.

    4. Re:Forget ratings, measure ROI. by paulpach · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Just for one example, it was the deregulation of the housing and mortgage industry that allowed "free market" to destroy the economy in 2008. You should take a world history class, fool. Hell, just get up to date on current events! Competition and free markets are also the cause of much evil in the world today.

      1997 the government decided that people should not pay capital gain taxes on houses but should pay capital gain taxes on everything else
      2001 to come out of the recession, the government (via the federal reserve) artificially lowered interest rates to 1% and kept them there for 3 years. Fueling a borrowing spree
      You have monsters like Fannie mae and Freddy mac, which are entities created by government with an implicit government garantee now made explicit. That bought mortgage securities from anyone capable of fogging a mirror. Creating a massive wave of creative loans such as ARMs. Banks hurried to finance anyone, so that they could turn around and sell the mortgage to government backed Fannie Mae and Freddy mac.
      CRA (community reinvestment act) forced banks to give loans to lower income brackets that they would not have done otherwise
      FHA provided garantees to mortages that allowed people to get a loan with 0% down. This meant that the minute houses went down even a little, a lot of people would end up underwater, which further fuels foreclosures creating a massive snowball effect.

      Wake up, there is nothing free about the housing market, there is no deregulation. Please tell me what housing related law was struck down?. The bubble was made entirely courtesy of massive government distortions (which are still at full force). The minute the free marked tried to correct the misallocation in 2007 - 2008, and get rid of all these wasteful activities, the government doubled down on distortions (called them stimulus), fueling yet another bubble that will be sure to burst sooner or later.

  2. Re:How about get rid of student loans? by subanark · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Want the potential of college without the risk of massive debt due to picking the wrong major or flunking out?

    Try Oregon's new College tuition bill "Pay Forward" (bill passed, but not yet implemented). The government pays for the full cost of tuition over 4 years. You pay them 3% of your salary for 24 years. Is it more expensive for the student? For good jobs, sure. But it gives a peace of mind that you aren't going to be hurt too badly financially, and reduces the penalty if college just didn't work out for you.