Penn hopeful with new federal college ratings system
The White House is launching its own metric for college ratings before the start of the next academic year, and Penn is hopeful that some of its initiatives will be reflected in the rankings.
In December, President Obama announced that the White House was working to develop a new federal college ratings system to measure the value of universities in light of the increasing price of higher education, with metrics including “access,” “affordability” and “outcomes.”
“We’re creating a new college ratings system that will give parents and students the kind of clear, concise information you need to shop around for a school with the best value for you — and gives us the capacity to recognize schools that offer a great education at a reasonable price,” Obama said in a speech in Tennessee on Jan. 9.
Over the past year, the government has been soliciting feedback on the system from colleges and universities nationwide. In a letter submitted last year on Jan. 30, Penn President Amy Gutmann urged the government to avoid implementing a system with limited numerical ratings, highlighting many of Penn’s initiatives that are difficult to quantify.
For example, Penn’s policy of providing exclusively need-based financial aid to recipients is relatively unique, and cannot be easily compared to the policies of institutions that provide aid based on scholarly or athletic merit, the letter reads.
Additionally, Penn argued that such a numerical ranking cannot fully represent its outreach programs, which aim to serve students from underrepresented areas and diverse backgrounds.
Since many details of the federal ratings system have yet to be announced, it is unclear whether Penn’s feedback will line up with the system’s structure. However, regardless of what the final system looks like, it will affect federal funding for colleges and universities everywhere — including Penn. Higher-rated institutions will receive more federal funding.
Despite Penn’s criticism, the rating system’s metrics parallel many of Penn’s primary objectives.
“Access” incorporates information like the percentage of students receiving Federal Pell Grants, while “affordability” considers net price and loan debt. “Outcomes” measures everything from graduation and transfer rates to earnings of graduates.
Vice President for University Communications Stephen MacCarthy supports the program and is confident that Penn will be ranked highly once the system is enacted.
“We applaud the attention the White House is giving to issues of access and affordability in higher education,” MacCarthy wrote in an email statement. “Regardless of the criteria used in any ranking system, we are confident Penn will continue to be recognized as a national leader with its no loan financial aid program.”
Dean of Admissions Eric Furda discussed the importance of having a ratings system that measures the value of universities as the cost of education continues to rise. “Higher education needs to be accountable,” he said.
However, Furda hopes that applicants’ decisions will not be overly influenced by one set of rankings.
“You have to be careful about what comes from this,” he said, warning against using the system as an “exclusive measure.”
Like MacCarthy, Furda is optimistic that the new ratings will reflect positively on Penn.
“We’re in an incredible place,” Furda said.
The Department of Education continues to gather feedback from universities, students, families and college experts as it moves closer to finalizing the system. Although there has been considerable resistance from Congress, the system’s release is scheduled to occur before the start of the 2015 to 2016 academic year.
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