Quote:

 

http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-college-ratings-cost-plan-affordability-speech-syracuse-buffalo-2013-8

Here's Obama's Ambitious New College Ratings Plan To Make College Cheaper
BRETT LOGIURATO AUG. 22, 2013


President Barack Obama on Thursday will unveil a broad plan to lower the cost of college, the highlight of which involves a new ratings system that ties the federal government's allocation of financial aid to the ratings system.
Obama's plan would instruct the Department of Education to rank colleges with their peers, according to new measures that evaluates their success and affordability.

Some of these measures, according to the White House, include the following:

Access, such as percentage of students receiving Pell grants;
Affordability, such as average tuition, scholarships, and loan debt; and
Outcomes, such as graduation and transfer rates, graduate earnings, and advanced degrees of college graduates.


Obama will talk about this plan during two stops on a bus tour in Buffalo and Syracuse, N.Y., on Thursday.Obama wants the ratings system to be in place by the 2015 school year. If all goes well, the government would start allocating financial aid according to the system by 2018 — a time span that would give colleges opportunity to adjust for the new system. Students attending higher-performing colleges could receive larger Pell Grants and more affordable student loans, the White House said.

It's clear that Obama wants major changes in the cost of higher education. In an email to supporters on Wednesday night, he emphasized that the U.S. needs to "fundamentally rethink" its approach to the cost of higher education.

"Just tinkering around the edges won't be enough: To create a better bargain for the middle class, we have to fundamentally rethink about how higher education is paid for in this country. We've got to shake up the current system," Obama said in the email.

The administration can produce its ranking system on its own, but the power to enforce it and change the way federal aid is allocated would require Congressional approval.

As has become customary with Obama's recent economic-themed speeches, the backdrop looms of a showdown with Congressional Republicans over raising the debt ceiling and avoiding a government shutdown.

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Aug 22, 7:45 AM EDT

OBAMA TO PROPOSE NEW SYSTEM FOR RATING COLLEGES
BY JULIE PACE
A P WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT

WASHINGTON (A P) -- President Barack Obama on Thursday will unveil a sweeping new plan for rating colleges based in part on affordability, with the goal of eventually linking those ratings to federal financial aid awards.

The new rating system, which the president wants implemented before the 2015 school year, would evaluate colleges on a series of measures, including average tuition and student loan debt, graduation rates, and the average earning of graduates.

[So where do the traditionally minority colleges fit in? I imagine their average earnings are less than the earnings of graduates from Harvard. So does Harvard qualify for more money, and Morehouse college
for less?]

Obama is also seeking legislation to link the new rating system to the way federal financial aid is awarded, with students attending highly-rated schools receiving larger grants and more affordable student loans.

(snip)

"We have so many universities trying to do the right thing," Duncan added. "We have states starting to invest more. We want to incentivize the good actors and say to those that aren't serious about containing costs, `You have to change your behavior.'"

[IE, more government oversight of college education. And doubtless that will eventually involve oversight of the curriculum.]

(snip)

The president will also propose legislation to give colleges a "bonus" based on the number of students they graduate who received Pell Grants. The goal is to encourage colleges to enroll and graduate low- and moderate-income students.

[This will do absolutely nothing to help those students, if those students have not been prepared for university-level work. See Mismatched, by Stuart Taylor, for examples.]

The administration will also seek to require colleges with high dropout rates to disburse student aid over the course of the semester as students face expenses, rather than in a lump sum. The aim is to prevent wasting grant money by ensuring that students who drop out do not receive funds for time they are not in school.

Obama is also renewing his call for a $1 billion college "Race to the Top" competition that would reward states that make significant changes in higher education policies while also containing tuition costs.

(snip)

Quote:

 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/08/20/press-briefing-principal-deputy-press-secretary-josh-earnest-8202013

Press Briefing by Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest, 8/20/2013

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

1:12 P.M. EDT

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Q Josh, since you’re talking about the President and the college tour, well, the tour that he’s having and college is one of the issues, and how college makes many persons middle class, within the middle-class status, there is an issue right now where HBCUs [Historically Black Colleges and Universities] are very concerned and have petitioned the President for a meeting and petitioned the Department of Education about something called the Parent PLUS Loan. It’s a federal loan that has -- now has strict requirements where parents are now being rejected. And many schools are losing money. Apparently if you have a blemish on your credit report over the last five years, you are not getting that loan. What is the President saying about this? Is he planning on meeting with these university presidents? And what is the Education Department going to do about this?

MR. EARNEST: Well, I’m not aware of the specific meeting request, but I can certainly take a look into it.

The President and this administration have been strong supporters of historically black colleges and universities all across the country. Funding for those colleges and universities has increased under President Obama. And the President was pleased to have the opportunity earlier this spring to speak at the commencement at Moorehouse College down in Atlanta. So the record -- the President’s record on these issues -- he has a bias in favor of historically black colleges and universities because of the service they provide and because of the quality education that they provide to their students.

[But how does his new program of "ratings" deal with the disparity between standards, graduation rates, and wages of graduates, between the HSBUs and the Ivies?]

In terms of this issue with the Parent PLUS Loan, I’m not familiar with this specific policy issue. But we can try to find somebody here at the White House who is a little more conversant in the issue who can talk to you about it.

Q Let me clarify something. It’s not just HBCUs as well. We understand a million students from mainstream colleges are not able to go back to school because their parents have blemishes on their credit report, and they're not getting this loan. And it’s a couple hundred thousand kids from HBCUs. So this is an across-the-board issue. HBCUs are really being hurt by it.

MR. EARNEST: Okay. Well, let’s -- let me have somebody in DPC get in touch with you, and we can walk through where we are on that issue.


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Thanks, everybody. Have a good afternoon. Enjoy the Dolphins.

END
2:00 P.M. EDT