Federal College Ranking System Could Score Better, Receives ‘A’ For Effort

ELTON HO
Copy Editor

In September, the U.S. Department of Education released a new online College Scorecard, a website that provides data about national colleges to help students assess their college choices. President Obama first proposed a government college ranking system in his 2013 State of the Union Address, seeking to rate colleges based on their opportunities for students of all economic backgrounds, rather than the subjective factors that private ranking systems such as the Princeton Review may consider.

The College Scorecard allows users to search for schools based on the programs/degrees offered, locations and size, among other factors. For each college, the website emphasizes data relating to students’ possible future success, such as six-year graduation rates, average annual cost for each family income range, typical amount of student debt and median salary earned ten years after graduation. It also provides tools to estimate prospective costs for a college based on one’s family income and available grants.

Since its release, the College Scorecard has been met with mixed reactions. Although it provides a variety of useful info, the scorecard does not account for nuances between colleges and should not be used to make direct comparisons, according to the National Public Radio. Another issue is that the statistics only account for students with financial aid, a fact that skews the numbers, as reported by the Huffington Post. Moreover, the average salary data accounts for neither the differing fields of study pursued by students nor the per capita wealth and cost-of-living for the area surrounding the college.

“[Money] plays an important role, but it shouldn’t stop you from going to the college you like. I look at factors like how close the college is, [if it is in a] comfortable environment and [has a] diverse student body. I would want the government to release other data [such as] the crime rate [of schools],” senior Kathryn Lee said.
The Obama administration has since announced that it will modify and improve the College Scorecard based on the feedback received from students, parents and colleges.