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 The U.S. Education Department will rate institutions on their
performance, intake of low-income students, completion rates,
affordability, employment prospects and student loan repayment
rates.
"Relatively simple metrics like the percentage of students repaying
their loans on time might be important as consumers weigh whether or
not they will be able to handle their financial obligations after
attending a specific school," the Education Department said in the
document released Friday.
President Barack Obama in 2013 announced the move to start rating
colleges as part of a plan to curb the growing cost of higher
education and runaway student loan debt and to improve job prospects
for college students.
 The college rating system would classify colleges as high-, low- or
middle-perfoming.
Congressional Republicans and education trade groups opposed to the
plan say it is a form of government overreach that would hurt
colleges serving low-income students.
"If after nearly a year and half of work, this is all the Department
can muster, it seems to support the long held belief by many in
higher education that while a college rating system is admirable in
theory, it is not feasible to create metrics that definitively
assess the quality of so many institutions across the country,"
Steve Gunderson, president and chief executive of the Association of
Private Sector Colleges and Universities, said in a statement.
The federal government provides more than $150 billion in student
aid annually.
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Supporters of a ratings system would hold institutions accountable
and help prospective students weigh the pros and cons of choosing a
particular college.
"Right now, prospective students and their families lack access to
comprehensive and useable information for one of the biggest
financial investments they’ll ever make. Taxpayers should not write
a blank check to schools that fail to serve students," Jennifer
Wang, policy director at Young Invincibles an organization focused
on issues affecting 18 to 34-year-olds.
The Education Department is seeking public comments on the plan and
expects to have a final rating system by the 2015-2016 academic
year.
(Reporting by Elvina Nawaguna; Editing by Eric Walsh)
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