New Report Calls for Accountability in Higher Education

Leadership is needed to create more productive and accountable higher education system that meets the needs of a new economy, according to a new report from the National Commission on Accountability in Higher Education. Accountability for Better Results: A National Imperative for Higher Education calls the current system "cumbersome, over-designed, confusing, and inefficient" and offers recommendations for a new approach to accountability.

National Governors Association (NGA)

Citing an increase in the number of citizens graduating from U.S. nation’s colleges and universities as a vital national interest, the Commission bases urgency to act on key facts:

* Four out of ten students in colleges and universities fail to graduate within six years; one of those four is still enrolled.

* One-fourth of low-income students in the top quartile of academic ability and preparation fail to enroll in college within two years of high school graduation. While more minorities and low-income students are enrolling, the "majority" of minority students do not graduate.

* Both the price students pay and higher education costs have grown persistently faster than the consumer price index. State support and federal programs like Pell Grants are increasingly falling behind enrollment demand and inflation.

* A large percentage of the U.S. workforce in science and technology comes from international students. Other nations are competing more successfully for scientific talent.

The Commission offers a number of recommendations to governors, legislators, state boards, and executives. These include:

* Create statewide data systems across all levels of education to help inform policy and budgetary decisions that will close achievement gaps and promote greater equity in allocating resources;

* Make the critical transition from high school to college a focus of accountability: colleges must help shape K-12 standards; college placement exams should be offered to high school juniors; and dual or concurrent early college programs should be encouraged;

* Recognize that significant investments and improvements in teaching at every level must be a higher priority in order to improve college preparation and student success;

* Assess the learning of college-educated students statewide through professional certification and graduate school admissions exams, and other assessments administered to a sample of students;

The National Commission is comprised of governors, legislators, educators, and private sector leaders from every region of the country. The report is supported by the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO), a nonprofit nationwide association of the chief executive officers serving statewide coordinating and governing boards for postsecondary education.

Several states, including Arkansas, Minnesota and New Mexico, have made higher education accountability a priority. An Action Agenda for Improving America’s High Schools encourages states to strengthen their higher education accountability systems.

Related Links:

* Accountability for Better Results http://www.sheeo.org/account/accountability.pdf

* Action Agenda for Improving America’s High Schools http://www.nga.org/center/divisions/1,1188,C_ISSUE_BRIEF%5ED_8035,00.html

http://www.nga.org/center/frontAndCenter/1,1188,C_FRONT_CENTER%5ED_8150,00.html