College-Rating System Will Go Forward

This entry was posted on 05.6.14, in Assessment, Faculty, National, Postsecondary, Public Policy, Students. Bookmark the permalink.

The U.S. Department of Education plans to continue its push for a college-rating system, even if Congress doesn’t shell out the $10-million the agency is requesting to develop the program and put it in place.

The Obama administration requested $82.3-billion for the department in the 2015 fiscal year, which begins on October 1. The amount is $1.3-billion more than the current year’s budget, an increase that is second only to the Department of Veterans Affairs. A line item in the department’s request says it would use $10-million to support “further development and refinement of a new college-rating system.”

When Education Secretary Arne Duncan appeared before a Senate subcommittee that oversees appropriations for education on Wednesday to discuss the department’s proposed budget, Sen. Jerry Moran asked what the agency would do if it didn’t get the money.

“In the absence of that $10-million to be included in our appropriations bill, do you have the money and the authority to pursue this program?,” Mr. Moran, a Republican from Kansas, asked during the hearing.

Mr. Duncan responded by saying the department would move forward with the initiative, but the money “would be very, very beneficial.” <Read more.>

Via Mark Keierleber, The Chronicle of Higher Education.