Dive Brief:
- Instead of debuting a new college ratings system this summer, the U.S. Department of Education, will launch a consumer-oriented website to allow students and families to compare schools across multiple metrics.
- The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the customizable approach will let families compare institutions based on what is most important to them, including total cost and student outcomes.
- Though the tool will not include specific ratings of individual universities, the department still expects it will create greater accountability among schools by giving more information to consumers.
Dive Insight:
The federal college ratings plan has been criticized since it was first announced in the summer of 2013. Originally, the plan was to tie federal student aid dollars to a portion of the ratings. Later, the Education Department said it was considering two parallel ratings — one that would be based on raw data, and another weighted to account for school characteristics. Both plans were almost universally opposed by colleges, and others worried that the department would not be up to the task of creating a working tool. Very little information about the new iteration of the plan is public yet, but the department seems to be sticking to the late summer launch date it has quoted for some time now.