By Dorothy Augustyniak
Daily Bruin Contributor
The Bush administration is currently considering a proposal to
strictly monitor college graduation rates, and some higher
education officials do not like the way the plan is developing.
In February, the U.S. Department of Education released its new
“strategic plan” draft. It consisted of an outline of
the Bush administration’s policy goals for improving
elementary, secondary and higher education over the next five
years.
A final version was scheduled to come out earlier this month,
but its release has been postponed, according to the American
Council of Education.
The section of the draft concerning higher education said,
“although American institutions of higher education are among
the best in the world, the public and many policy makers are
especially concerned about the effectiveness of postsecondary
institutions” and are concerned about universities graduating
students “in a timely fashion.”
Currently, colleges are required to report their graduation
rates each year to the Education Department’s National Center
for Education Statistics and have them available upon request.
The proposal under consideration would make states serve as
agencies to the federal government by keeping track of the
graduation rates of colleges at all levels: community, public and
private.
There not yet specific details on how the plan would be
implemented, nor are there specifics as to how the federal
government might keep states accountable for their schools’
graduation rates.
The issue of monitoring college graduation rates is more of a
concern because of the expected increase in college students over
the next ten years, according to the Department of Education and
the American Council of Education
“The number of college students is expected to grow within
the next ten years,” said Paul Hassen, assistant director of
public affairs of the American Council of Education, a group that
advocates the interests and goals of higher education.
“The major concern is whether or not we will be able to
accommodate all of them,” he added.
Some college lobbyists and leaders in education object to the
administration’s proposal, saying it is inappropriate for the
federal government to dictate to states how they oversee college
graduation rates, especially private ones.
“The quality of higher education is the responsibility of
the institutions, accrediting agencies, and for public
institutions, state governments, and this approach has served the
nation well,” wrote Terry W. Hartle, senior vice president
for government and public affairs at the American Council on
Education, in a letter to the Department of Education on behalf of
his organization.
But Hassen said that, given enrollment increases, tougher
regulatory measures are necessary.
The number of students going to college will increase because
more and more students from underrepresented and minority groups
will consider going to college, Hassen said.
He also mentioned that it’s a “good problem,”
but the concern is how the administration will handle the number of
students from university to university if the proposal is not
adopted.
The average amount of time it takes for a student to obtain the
Bachelor’s degree is 5.5 years, according to the American
Council on Education.
Some universities are already making an effort in accommodating
large amounts of students and getting them to graduate in four
years.
For example, UCLA’s new requirement for being a full-time
student is having 13 units as a freshman rather than 12 units.