College Accountability

The articles this week dealt with debates surrounding institutional accountability. The readings argue that funding for institutions of higher education does not necessarily benefit both student and school equally, but instead favors the former. As mentioned in “The New Performance Funding in Higher Education” by Mary McKeown-Mark, there has now been a push for performance-based funding in schools, which will help provide educated citizens with greater earning power and the ability to pay more in taxes. Additionally, the federal government has been searching for new ways to ensure greater accountability in the higher education system. One such method is the new “college scorecard” as proposed by President Obama, which will provide ratings of colleges throughout the Untied States in an attempt to make the decision to attend college more transparent for students and parents. What I found particularly interesting about this proposal was the division amongst those it is meant to serve in regards to its efficacy. While reading through the comments at the bottom of the Bloomberg article, it seems as if there are many people who are not in favor Obama’s proposal, and refer to it as a waste of time and money. There are, however, a number of people who point out that the study will examine degrees to wages, and their growth over a thirty-year period, which is beneficial when deciding what field you want to go into. I do see the merit in both sides of this argument; on the one hand, “rating” a university may unintentionally translate to “ranking” a university, thereby creating even more stratification between elite and smaller schools. On the other hand, however, the rating system may reveal that elite schools are not as great of an investment, and may force them to become more accountable if they want to remain as highly sought out.