Clear the ivy on academia

Colleges should welcome a federal role in judging their success.

from the April 9, 2007 edition

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In a yearly drama, millions of high school students received letters in recent days telling them if they can go to the college of their choice. But this spring, colleges themselves faced a kind of acceptance or rejection – by the US Department of Education.

The department began closed-door meetings earlier this year with officials of institutions of higher education to discuss possible federal rules that would open up the schools to regular public scrutiny on the quality of their teaching and learning.

If the project goes through, it could be either a heavy-handed government intrusion into the finest education system in the world, or it could bring needed accountability and lower tuition to a creaking system that's failing many of its graduates. (For one view on this proposal, see today's Opinion page.)

While US universities are the envy of the world, only 4 in 10 graduates have the comprehension skills to compare viewpoints in editorials such as this one. And despite their pivotal role in keeping the American economy competitive, only about half of seniors are asked to write lengthy research papers.

Leading this effort is Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. Building on President Bush's No Child Left Behind law that put standardized testing into public K-12 schools, she wants to make sure the billions of taxpayers' dollars that support colleges and universities are well spent. More than that, she sees government as a protector of education "consumers."

This puts a cold wind in the ivied halls of higher ed. Educators are already upset at the influence of annual college rankings by U.S. News & World Report, which many dismiss as looking mainly at the reputation and "inputs" of schools rather than "learning outcomes."

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