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By the start of next school year, the federal government plans to rate colleges on access, affordability and student outcomes — possibly relying on graduates’ employment and earnings data.</p>
<p>Schools could be rated as high performers, low performers, or “in the middle,” according to a “draft framework” of the ratings plan that the Obama administration is releasing Friday ...
<p>My first thought when I heard about this last year was along the lines of, "Oy ... just what we DON'T need ... more ratings." I've certainly had many questions over the past months about the value of these proposed ratings. </p>
<p>BUT ... if this new tool helps to drive disadvantaged and middle-class students away from accruing high debt at institutions--especially private ones--that aren't likely to position them to get out of debt in a timely and reasonable way, then perhaps this will be a worthwhile endeavor indeed. </p>
<p>@Sally_Rubenstone: I rather doubt the institution alone (whether public or private) is principally responsible for massive, sustained, and unmanageable post-Bachelor’s debt. The individual’s major certainly is also critical. To illustrate, two kids both graduate from Stanford with identical debt, but one is a mechanical engineer and the other concentrated in dance. Whose debt will likely be a perpetual and onerous burden? Further, decisions appropriately have consequences, and the “artist” was not compelled to major in a discipline with few financially viable options. While I’m sure this new rating system will be helpful, there has never been a dearth of readily available information relating to probable educational costs, potential debt, and likely career income.</p>
<p>I’m not as worried about students who graduate from Stanford with debt (which is commonly manageable due to the generous finaid policies at “elite” college) as I am about students who take out gigantic loans to attend costly colleges that don’t have a good history of job placement and debt-repayment, regardless of major (though, of course, some majors are certainly more in demand than others).</p>
<p>What I hear over and over again is the common belief that, “If a college is private it must be better.” And private college admission officials (who, at some places, have a background in sales rather than in education), can play into that belief. I have worked with many low- and middle-income students who boast about the big merit scholarships that they have been offered by some little-known private college. Then I point out to them that they are also admissible at a well-regarded public college where the median GPA’s and test scores are higher and where there are other benefits as well. Above all, I point out that the Cost of Attendance will be lower for them at the public college than at the private college, even after the private school’s merit grant is deducted. You might be surprised by how many light bulbs I turn on with that explanation, even if it seems obvious to a lot of folks. So perhaps these new government ratings will also point a finger at pricey colleges where the typical student is not getting bang for the buck.</p>
<p>@Sally_Rubenstone: I appreciate, understand and agree with your reply. I would additionally comment, however, that the many “light bulbs” you illuminate exist ONLY because the most concerned individuals – students, parents – opt to remain uninformed (the germane data is readily available) in this crucial arena. I have little sympathy for such indolent ignorance. </p>