Feds to the Rescue?

Accuracy in Academia ^ | December 7, 2010 | Malcolm A. Kline

[Academiadotorg]

Professors still believe that the woes that afflict higher education can be solved through federal intervention. “Data should be collected on employment rates, salary information, and in acknowledgement that income is not a complete measure of a school’s return, alumni satisfaction rates,” Harvard’s Bridgett Terry Long writes in a December 2010 report published by the Center for American Progress (CAP).

Most might agree on all of the above but Long wants the feds to do it. “The role of the federal government would be threefold,” Long writes in the CAP report, which is entitled “Grading Higher Education: Giving Consumers the Information They Need.” “First, it must spearhead data collection and assembly.”

“Second, it must construct the tools necessary to translate this information with the goal of informing consumers and stressing the information believed to have the greatest public benefits.”

“Finally, the government should provide the raw data to others for their own use, possibly including tools for specific types of students or fields of study.”

She acknowledges the pivotal role that the federal government already plays in collecting such data but wants to pump up the volume. “Generally speaking, government informational resources should be bolstered and branded as the central clearinghouse for higher education information to prevent the exploitation of families by companies that charge for what should be free information,” she writes.

As well, she suggests a possible new source of federal revenue: “Finally, the government should also implement procedures to audit the information to ensure the quality of the data, similar to the way U. S. News & World Report handles its ranking system. This may involve penalties for infractions.”

Doing so would be “less costly than direct government intervention,” she predicted at a December 3, 2010 CAP seminar.