Grading Universities – For Inspiration in Creating College Ratings, Look to Health Care

The Obama administration is preparing a system of college ratings that it hopes will improve college quality and hold down tuition by arming consumers with better information.

While the details are still uncertain, discussions so far indicate that the new system would evaluate colleges using dropout rates, earnings of graduates and tuition prices. Eventually, the ratings would be used to reward high-quality colleges with more federal aid.

Creating any system of incentives is tricky. For inspiration — and caution — the administration should look to another sector where it has tried mightily to curb rising costs: health care.

Susan Dynarski

Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/16/upshot/for-inspiration-in-creating-college-ratings-look-to-health-care.html?hpw&rref=education&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=HpHedThumbWell&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0&abt=0002&abg=0