Nov. 29, 2006

Right Under Her Nose?

It’s part of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings’ stock speech on higher education, explaining why she appointed a commission to study what’s wrong with colleges — and why it’s time to change the accreditation system and make other changes to promote more accountability and document student learning, as the panel suggested.

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“The absence of information means we can’t answer basic questions families have during the college selection process,” Spellings said. “For example, how long will it take to get a degree? Will this institution prepare me for the field I want to work in? And how much is this education really going to cost? When my daughter applied to college two years ago, I found it challenging to get the answers I needed. And I’m the secretary of education!”

That sounds pretty damning. The secretary of education has a tough time finding out how long it would take a student to graduate or how much college costs? Spellings frequently refers to her daughter’s college search when making these points, so we decided to see what Spellings or any parent could find today. Is that information difficult to get? Spellings’ daughter enrolled at Davidson College, a liberal arts institution in North Carolina. According to Davidson, the top “overlap” colleges in applications to Davidson are Duke, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest Universities, and the Universities of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Virginia.

It turns out that a parent whose child was looking at those institutions could find out how long it would take a student to get a degree and how much college would cost — and a lot of information suggesting whether college prepares students for careers — all in one place, available at no charge: the Education Department’s Web site.

COOL, the acronym for the College Opportunities Online Locator, isn’t the best known Web site. If you type in “college information” or “college search” to Google, you get a bunch of commercial sites first. Even on the Education Department’s Web site, it doesn’t merit inclusion on the home page or the main page for parents. But with a few clicks or a search, parents can find it — as well as answers to most of Spellings’ questions.

Before writing a tuition check to Davidson, for example, she could find out quite a lot. If worried about how many years she would be paying tuition, Spellings could check out the “retention/graduation rates” section, and learn the year-to-year retention rates, the graduation rates after four, five and six years, and breakdowns by gender, race and ethnicity. (Davidson’s rates are impressive, so the odds are in favor of just four years of undergraduate tuition checks for the secretary.)

What about cost? Figures are provided for tuition, books, and room and board. Of course, what colleges charge is only part of the picture, but the Education Department’s Web site (all in this same database — no jumping around into the deep recesses of the education statistics division) will tell a parent what percentage of students at a college receive aid, the percentage receiving various kinds of grants and loans, and the average size of various grants and loans.

The COOL site doesn’t report on whether students are being prepared for their desired careers, although there is definitely information that might help someone concerned about the issue. Degrees by major field are provided, so a parent could see that at Davidson, students are much more likely to graduate with a degree in the social sciences or history than mathematics or the physical sciences. The site also includes information about default rates — and it’s a good guess that Davidson’s new alumni, with only one borrower in default in the last three years, are either employed or in graduate school at very healthy rates.

All of the above data is totally comparable among institutions — so a parent can compare any of these things, with comparable data, courtesy of the Education Department.

On the question of whether students are prepared for jobs — which relates to broader questions Spellings and others have asked about whether the education students receive is strong enough — a sampling of the Web sites of colleges that a Davidson applicant might look at yields plenty of information that isn’t on the COOL site. At Davidson, for example, the career services department maintains a Web site in which each major has a careers section identifying career-related skills, the kinds of employers who hire Davidson graduates with that major, and the jobs of recent graduates in the field. Recent classics graduates, for example, are working as a librarian, a platoon leader, a paralegal, a teacher, and an investment banker, among other job titles.

There is less comparability across institutions with this kind of information — at least for competitive colleges that enroll traditional age undergraduates. At the same time, career services has become one of the ways colleges compete with one another — and the colleges with which Davidson competes for students reflect this. Wake Forest University has full descriptions of the career-related services it provides — and a special section for parents, including an invitation for parents to submit questions.

The most detailed information about job placement tends to be available from community colleges and other vocationally oriented institutions — institutions that aren’t part of the admissions frenzy Spellings cites in explaining the need for more information for applicants and parents. In Washington State, for example, a database for all vocational programs in the state provides information on recent graduates’ rates of employment and median, high, and low wage levels, among other information.

No one in higher education would deny that there are serious problems facing academe — and all kinds of criticisms can be made of colleges, accreditors and other players. And the COOL database doesn’t provide information on what individual students learn.

But a review of available information does raise the questions: Is it fair for the education secretary to say that parents can’t find “basic” information about costs and graduation rates when much of that information is on the department’s Web site and much more is available with just a few further clicks? Is it fair to call for major changes in higher education, citing the alleged lack of information about such things as costs and graduation rates, when a speedier way to share this information might be to, say, put a link on the Education Department’s home page?

Samara Yudof, a spokeswoman for Spellings, said via e-mail that the secretary stood by her contention that “more data is needed to help students and their families make more informed decisions about their futures.” Even though there is “some information” available on potential college costs and graduation rates for first-time, full-time traditional students, the spokeswoman said, “education is not a one-size-fits-all enterprise.”

Yudof repeated the secretary’s contention that parents aren’t able to get answers to “basic questions” such as “How long will it take to get a degree? Will this institution prepare me for the field I want to work in? How much is this education really going to cost? How much are students learning?”

She also said students should be able to compare public and private institutions, two-year and four-year institutions, and in-state vs. out of state. (In fact, the Education Department’s Web site does include data for two-year and four-year institutions, and for public institutions, it provides both in-state and out-of-state tuition rates — see this example from North Carolina.) Yudof did not respond to whether it was fair to say basic information wasn’t available, given how much information is available on the department’s Web site.

One area Yudof noted that is not covered by the department’s Web site is the cause of tuition increases. “As the secretary has noted, her daughter’s college costs went up this year ... for what?” Yudof said. “And, this is not unique to her. As you know, for most families, this is one of the most expensive investments they make — yet there is little to no information on why costs are so high and what they’re getting in return.”

— Scott Jaschik

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Comments

Which then begs the following question

What took IHE so long to post this info on COOL?

Why not six months ago?

One could easily argue, if COOL has been running for six months at a cost of $500,000 (gub-mint ain’t cheap) without significant usage — there’s been a huge amount of financial waste.

Oh — that’s the second-day story. Sorry.

L.L., at 6:45 am EST on November 29, 2006

The question above is not why now.

This is a great article, regardless of when it was published. The Secretary’s claim, like many of the other things she has claimed, is specious. That does not mean that higher education should not think carefully about how to put its already abundant information into a more user friendly format. In the era of Sarbanes in the corporate sector higher education needs to be sure its information is transparent.

Jonathan Brown, President at AICCU, at 7:46 am EST on November 29, 2006

Why is Spellings making these speeches? I blame the IHE and the gub-mint for not bringing these facts to her attention six months ago.

All IHE Trolls Combined, at 7:55 am EST on November 29, 2006

Well done IHE...I can only hope that other media outlets pick up your story so that it gets the full attention it deserves.

C.S., at 8:16 am EST on November 29, 2006

COOL

COOL has been running for years — long before Spellings became Secretary. IMHO, COOL is not an example of government waste, but rather is a fairly good system of comparing colleges and universities, and even of finding colleges or universities or proprietary institutions in a particular area. Why doesn’t Secretary Spellings know what is available? Because she doesn’t want to, since it doesn’t support her contention, perhaps.

Mary, at 8:16 am EST on November 29, 2006

Maybe this is about accountability...who is accountable in the college search process? Who is accountable for getting information into the hands (minds) of prospective students?

Students make choices, they decide what and where they are going, maybe by using information and maybe by watching a television commercial about the “good life”

I beleive students need to be accountable, there is ample information out there for parents and students to make informed decisions.....ask question of your “choice” schools. My advice to parents is to treat colleges and universities as you would your insurance agents...write everything down, ask question...you might ask what questions...every college site that I am aware of has a section called “frequently asked questions” that is a great place to start..But again the responsibility is on the student and parent.

but maybe its better if the federal government gets more involved and dictates what schools of higher education must do, then maybe we can get the prospective students to use the information that is available because is becomes a non funded federal mandate......

Jim, at 8:21 am EST on November 29, 2006

Misses the point entirely

I think the issue is that the information provided on the COOL web site is simply not enough. Anyone can get this kind of info on glossy viewbooks or by looking at colleges’ institutional research web sites. But “basic information” is still lacking: exactly how much does it cost to get a degree from an institution (cost vs. price), and what makes a $50,000/year institution better than a $8,000/year institution?

AC, at 8:26 am EST on November 29, 2006

Misplaced Complaints

It is those of us administrators in higher education—including myself—that should bear the blame for not raising this issue with the Secretary months ago. For several years now the NCES has had those of us who were its trainers teach higher educational administrators throughout the country not only about IPEDS but about COOL. Thus, we all should have been aware of this tool which is specifically designed for prospective college students and their parents.

The considerable data presented in COOL is drawn directly from the IPEDS reports and therefore represents the most accurate and comparable data on colleges and universities available to students and parents.

Many of us have long asked why COOL is not better publicized to high school counselors, PTAs, etc., but obviously getting information to parents and students in the past has not been a priority of the Department of Education.

For those of you who have never looked at COOL, I strongly suggest you do so soon and start publicizing it yourself.

Old Curmudgeon, Registrar at Mount Union College, at 8:31 am EST on November 29, 2006

NCES-Spellings-Communication Gap

One could argue that Spellings should have known about these resources, however, in my opinion this article misses the point completely.

I would argue that the focus of this article should be on the fact that many Americans are unaware of the National Center for Educational Statistics, what it does or the services it provides?

What I was able to glean from this article is that there remains a significant communication gap between the government, institutions of higher education and the general public. Even if Inside Higher Education had published a piece highlighting the benefits of the NCES COOL program, what percentage of the general public would be reached by their message?

In short, the general public knows very little about Higher Education overall, let alone where to find information regarding questions concerning cost, placement rates, student to faculty ratio’s, four-year graduation rates etc.

In stead of blasting Secretary Spellings for what she should know, educational media outlets, government and institutions of higher education should join together to develop better lines of communication with the public.

Kevin P. Leonard, Regardless-American People Unaware at Michigan State University, at 8:36 am EST on November 29, 2006

The Tip of the Iceberg

COOL is one of many systems that packages the plethora of available data on postsecondary institutions. As Herbert Simon noted, the problem is not a lack of information. It is that the overabundance of information creates a poverty of attention. Rather than finger pointing and blaming, the best thing “all sides” can do is take appropriate responsibility for their role in contributing to constructive advancements. The Feds can and should tackle financial aid and investments in research; states need to rebuild their investments in higher education; institutions need to sharpen focus, make clear their goals, and track their progress; faculty must take more responsibility for the craft of teaching and integrity of the curriculum; and more students should take responsibility for investing appropriate time and energy in their learning.

VicB., at 8:55 am EST on November 29, 2006

Great article

Thank you Scott Jaschik and IHE. Her comments were ridiculous when she first uttered them and they are even more ridiculous now. Just think, if her family got good college counseling a few years ago, higher ed might have been spared these attempts at micro-mismanagement.

Brad MacGowan, College Counselor, at 9:05 am EST on November 29, 2006

Accountable?

The notion of limited reporting and oversight is limited at best. The federal gov’t oversees the reporting of aggregate statistics in the IPEDS system and ties this reporting to the eligibility of an institution to disburse federal aid. State agencies track state institutions and hold them accountable using metrics devised at the state level. Accreditation agencies review programs of study at institutions of higher education to ensure programs are properly designed. Boards of Trustees also oversee most institutions in the country as well. Then the private sector surveys institutions and students and publishes these findings in magazines, on the internet, and in guides.

After all this, students and parents have the choice as to which of over 3000 institutions in the US they can attend. If an institution is not preparing students properly then students will no longer expend resources to attend there. The reality is that choosing an institution and a field of study is more complicated than buying a car or house or anything else and that a large part of the decision has to do with student-institution fit, something that is not readily measured.

I hope that the higher education community stands up and acknowledges all of these forms of oversight and rejects the notion that the Department of Education should serve is a final say in education outcomes. Remember higher education as an industry grew to be the best in the world before the Department of Education ever existed and I doubt the DOE can add any value with unfunded mandates for reporting that add to the ever growing bottom line that students and tax payers will have to pay.

Researcher Too, at 9:10 am EST on November 29, 2006

COOL too hard to find

It should have been given to us. We dont like working hard. We expect government to take care of everything.

We’re too busy, watching ESPN, drinking Thirst-day night, and throwing pies at Horrorwitch, to look up stuff. Set it up on MySpace.

Its not our fault. Its never our fault.

Not Our Fault — ever, at 9:15 am EST on November 29, 2006

I think the problem is that parents cannot get those “basic” information when they speak to college officials. Yes, web site can answer many questions but why the same info could not be obtained when parents asked to a person? Are we demanding all parents should check college web site before they make the call?

Tommy, at 9:15 am EST on November 29, 2006

How long will it take to get a degree?

What a stupid question. I mean, hello, Ms. Spellings: do the math! Can you add up to 120? If your daughter takes 15 credits per semester, and she pays attention to the catalogue, it will take her eight semesters to graduate. If she screws around and spends too many weekday mornings puking her guts out onto the green lawns of Fraternity Row, she’ll flunk enough classes that getting that degree will take longer. If she decides she just has to supplement her allowance by waitressing 20+ hours in town, it might take longer. If she catches fire intellectually and starts hankering after classes like The Anthropology of NASCAR or Modernism’s Critique of the Nicomachean Ethics, or if she decides at some point to change her major, it might take longer. The point is that her own time-to-graduation has NOTHING to do with whether some document supposedly secreted way back in the president’s vault says the average figure at Davidson is 4.4 years and at Slumville State College is 5.7 years. It has NOTHING to do with any college’s specific policies, much less with any college’s putative “lack of transparency” and “resistance to reform” or any other silly bogeyman conjured up by conservative hacks like Spellings. Young Ms. Spellings, I can assure you that your time-to-graduation has EVERYTHING to do with your socio-economic circumstances and your own choices and behaviors. In your case, young lady, since your mama’s rich, it will be a matter of your own choices and behavior. Anyway, for the Secretary of Education to claim that she “found it challenging to get the answers” to a question like “how long will it take to get a degree?” is so astoundingly Orwellian and insulting we should all be calling for her resignation. Instead we (at least our administrators) suck it up and say things like “The report, while flawed, raises legitimate questions about X and Y....” We say things like “In the era of Sarbanes...higher education needs to be sure its information is transparent,” as if Davidson College were Enron, keeping two sets of books, as if the public catalogue said it takes 120 hours to graduate but the Real Catalogu, known only to upper management, detailed all the ways that unsuspecting undergraduates are tricked into taking 145. Are you there, Jonathan Brown? When Spellings tries so cynically to exploit the climate of mistrust fostered by Enron et al, the proper response is NOT to confirm the implicit equation of college administration and corporate corruption. The proper response is to challenge it. Have some backbone, people, and just say it: Spellings is a hack. She and her ilk represent the values of Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling. She gets paid to sully the critics of those values. That’s her role, and we should stop helping her out. Her report is part of a propaganda campaign, and we should be calling her on it. We should be saying loudly that it’s NOT TRUE that colleges need to become more like corporate America. It’s NOT TRUE that we are hoodwinking the public by withholding information. Our values are just fine, thank you very much. What needs to happen is that corporate America needs to become more like US.

Eveningsun, Small Public College, at 9:15 am EST on November 29, 2006

Kevin, I’m sorry but I wholeheartedly disagree. This story is right on target in blasting Spellings. This was not one speech, as the article points out, but a platform that she’s preached on for months. She simply got caught currying public favor (by pandering to the lay public with her “oh, woe’s me” stories) at the expense of looking absurdly disconnected from the very department she’s been tasked to lead. Insisting she’s still right, even in the face of direct contradictory evidence provided by her own department, shows she cares more about her public image than the goals of the US Department of Education.

C.S., at 9:20 am EST on November 29, 2006

Accountability Gap

Spellings is right. It is the lack of information that characterizes the accountability gap.

Flip it around, and ask this: WHAT INFORMATION ARE COLLEGES WITHHOLDING FROM THE PUBLIC? about their graduates, and about their faculty? The answer to this question is the solution to the accountability gap in higher education. If the taxpayers knew what they were actually getting as opposed to what they thought they was paying for, the repercussions would reshape American HE.

Glen McGhee, Dir. at FHEAP, at 9:25 am EST on November 29, 2006

college visit & rapport with staff & students more useful

Campus visits more often than statistics are more likely to help a student choose a higher ed school. Choosing a school is more likely to be determined by the comfortable feelings of being accepted and potential for success. Let’s remember what many students are still looking for... a successful career and personal life.

Also, the community colleges may be serving as a transfer agent or as a fill in for students. That ability to be assessable and affordable should be recognized as connecting to the student to the educational system at any stage of life. Work schedules and costs are the great factors that discourage retention not the institution.

Diane Gallagher, Trustee at Highland Community College, IL, at 9:45 am EST on November 29, 2006

Right under Her Nose?

The most salient point regarding this lack of information is not the great dearth of avaliable information, but that there was not an accounting done by the Secretary before launching out on what is a political platform.It is emblematic of how this administration approaches all topics—-if it is not in our realm, it does not exist, or does not warrant acknowledgement. Only when this stops can there be a real assessment of what is available, and what needs to change.

Gregory E. Thomas, Rev. Dr., at 9:45 am EST on November 29, 2006

I agree with Not Our Fault-Ever. Have we become so extremely lazy that we want the government to hand us everything we need to make an informed decision? The excuse of “choosing a college is more difficult then other major decisions” is simply that, an excuse. Choosing a college is not the most difficult part. I believe from working with students that most students know where they would like to attend. I also believe that most colleges are working hard to make their information as available as possible on their web sites (although not always easily understood, I agree). Yes, high school counselors probably could do a better job (if there were enough of them to cover all the students in their schools). Yes, the government could always become even more involved in all our decision making processes. But ultimately in America, a country built with a foundation of free choice, our choices require parents and students to take more responsibility to find the information they need. Thanks for the article IHE, like Spellings, many things are right under our noses if we will spend some time looking.

SMurF, at 9:50 am EST on November 29, 2006

Ms. Gallagher, I disagree. Campus visits are a waste of time. Most visitors come away with little knowledge of the graduate rates, grad-school attendance rates, or what it takes to “succeed” at a school (which differs from school to school).

Whatever the case, despite the grousing on this board, the general public is in love with higher education. People are not forgoing college educations, and people that do not attend college are looked down upon. Unless that starts to change, no large-scale changes will or should occur. Of course, like everything, institutions should engage in serious critique, but to say that there is something systemically wrong with schools is, not born out by the tradition of sending Americans to school.

Larry, at 9:55 am EST on November 29, 2006

Higher Ed information

Margaret Spellings should have known about COOL, IPEDS, and NCES. It’s her job to know such things. Period! Lord knows that schools spend millions to comply with these federal reporting requirements. The least that the person who runs the show could do is to know that these resources exist and to promote them to the general public.

I do agree that many schools make it very difficult to find accurate, reliable cost information on their websites. I think this is done to avoid the sticker shock that accompanies the knowledge that your school of choice will cost $40,000 per year, bottom line!

Postsecondary schools should be federally mandated to prominently display the Cost of Attendance on their webites and to include other consumer related information such as retention rates, and job placement rates by course of study.

For example, it is not generally known that the national graduation rate for all of higher ed is only about 67%. Parents should know that when their children decide on going to college. And the public should know that when comparing schools and programs. One out of three students never finish college..think about the enormous resources we could save by cutting that rate in half!

feudi pandola, at 10:25 am EST on November 29, 2006

Coloring 1101

Ahhh, the answer is simple: college admissions representatives need to provide much more elementary information to prospective students and their parents.

Yellow crayon = no major changes, no part-time jobs, partying <3 nights per week, studying 3-5 hours per credit hour, no pregnancies, no transfering from college to college = degree in 8 semesters.

Green crayon = working <20 hours per week, one change of major, no transfering, no pregnancies, partying <5 nights per week, studying 2-4 hours per credit hour = degree in 9 semesters.

We can all see where this is going; right where “It’s Not My Fault — Ever” suggested. If deciding on a college and figuring out WHY sonny or suzy should go to college for their vocation/career is so difficult, perhaps those students and their families need another year in remedial high school (including Ms. Spellings).

Dr. F. Gump, at 10:25 am EST on November 29, 2006

Elephant

What concerns me is the bit that no one is mentioning. It’s ludicrous to think that Spellings couldn’t get information she needed, or thought it was too hard to obtain — that reflects on her, not higher ed. The information gap is, generally speaking, only real for certain people, especially low SES first-generation applicants. Those who don’t have computers in their homes cannot access COOL. Those without computers in their homes are several times more likely to be in a high school where teachers and counselors are unaware how to access complete information on colleges. For middle class families in well-supported schools, there is little reason to complain. But if we want to claim that everyone has equal access, then we need to be smarter in how we offer information to students in certain situations. It is frustrating to see Spelling pander to the pampered, when there are so many who could truly benefit with little effort or cost.

no-nothing, PhD Student at SU, at 11:10 am EST on November 29, 2006

As A College Student...

and a former employee of my university’s admissions department, a journalist and editor, and someone who had to make a college decision just two and a half years ago, I can tell you that campus visits are EXACTLY what sways the average student.

I agree with the comment that Ms. Spelling’s daughter’s degree will take as long as she wants it to. And frankly, I agree that she either is pushing an agenda she doesn’t believe in for politial gain OR she is astonishingly short-sighted. I found all of the information she claims to be looking for, and much more, by doing my research ahead of time. During my campus visits, I (and my parents) quizzed students and admissions representatives on the truthfulness of a statistic, how it played out or the context surrounding it. I also ended up at a state school that has earned three times more “Professor of the Year” awards than any other institution, public or private, in my state. No wonder Ms. Spelling is concerned about accountability—she’s paying a ridiculous price. Maybe her college search would have been easier if she hadn’t been concerned with prestige. My heart goes out to her daughter, who at best is chafing from the attention and at worst is her mother’s pawn.

Jessica Gasch, at 11:10 am EST on November 29, 2006

Preparing for what?

Ms. Spelliings’ concern about her daughter’s preparation for her “chosen field” is at best antiquated. These days most college graduates can look forward to three or four careers [i.e., “chosen fields"] during their productive lifetimes. Preparing a novice for ONE chosen field is narrow minded; the real measure of a college education should be how well it prepares a student for multiple careers — and for a graceful transition from one career to another. Measuring the effectiveness of a college education requires a perspective of about FORTY years rather than four or five years.

Robert B. Glenn, Retired Professor, at 11:55 am EST on November 29, 2006

$50,000 and $8,000

I have to say this is a good article in that it provie a good counter arguments to that of Spellings’ and I say Spellings has some homework to do.

But. I like to pay attetion to AC’s view. The problem raised these days are the cost of the higher ed and the quality of the higher ed. The COOL info is not enough to tell you the differences of quality of $50,000 and $8,000 and we went back to square one that the cost is based on reputation. To change that, consumer need be able to tell the differences between $50,000 and $8,000. Just think about why consumer price can be so competitive — the product’s feature are so objective. You look at the feature you want and go for the low price — I am in no way suggest the apple to apple comparison between the higher ed and consumer market. But there are something to think about. We need to eliminate the differences between the pure cost of given features and the price charged. The system we have now is, at best, a beefuped products that leave customer little choices.

I hope people really think about it. Let’s assuming that there is a company that was able to ‘train’ students with very low cost, say with a retired Professor and with no campus or even physic location, and their students were able to find respectible jobs. Should the school be accredited? In my view why not? If their product meet the specific standard, why will you care how they achieve that low cost.

Without this kind of thinking, the college price will NEVER be cost effective!!

Duncan, at 11:55 am EST on November 29, 2006

Life in a Bubble

Like her boss at the White House, maybe Ms Spelling should find the time to make more use of “the Google.”

Jane, at 12:30 pm EST on November 29, 2006

Higher education is NOT overpriced!

It’s true that some people are paying $100,000 or more in college tuition. But that does NOT mean that higher education in general is overpriced, or that there’s some problem in higher ed, just as the fact that some people pay $100,000 for a Jaguar does not mean that cars in general are overpriced or that there’s a problem with the automobile industry. Anyone who cannot pay (or does not want to pay) $100,000 to drive a Jag can pay $9,000 for a used Honda and still get where they need to go. If a good, solid education is what you want and you’re not hung up on social prestige, you can get that good, solid education at any of a number of state colleges, including my own, where in-state tuition is $1,300 per semester. (If people find social prestige so valuable they’re willing to pay through the nose for it, that might well be a problem, but it’s certainly not a problem Margaret Spellings is going to fix.) And no, I’m not saying my own institution is as good as Harvard, or that I’m as good as my colleagues at Harvard. On the other hand, the text of Plato’s Republic my students read here at Small Public College is exactly the same as the one the kids are reading at Harvard. If a student applies herself honestly, she can grow intellectually here almost as much as she can in Cambridge. People make the mistake of thinking that the education is coming from Harvard, or from the professor, and not from Plato. Well, 90 percent of the educational “value added” comes from Plato. Ten percent of it comes from the professor, and NONE of it comes from “Harvard.” (What the student gets from Harvard is the prestige, not the education.) I repeat what I said above: Margaret Spellings is full of it. She’s offering up a Big Lie, and we need to call her on it. We also need to call out the higher-ed types who ought to know better but end up lending her ideological cover.

Eveningsun, Small Public College, at 12:45 pm EST on November 29, 2006

All the COOL places

I wouldn’t be surprised if COOL suddenly disappeared, following the pattern of political machinations on the websites of the EPA and CDC. Then Spellings can have non-accountable accountability, and continue to disingenuously claim to not know anything.

As others have said, she is a hack in, I would add, a clearly criminal administration that makes Nixon look like Mary Poppins, so any angle emerging from her office should be taken with a huge grain of salt. Unfortunately, her “difficulty” traffics in the anti-intellectualism already prevalent in our popular culture and this administration in particular ("Reports? Studies? Who needs that? God is on our side!"), so I would also say that yes, we intellectuals and academics need to rise to the challenge and defend ourselves, while simultaneously pointing out the ridiculousness of Spelling’s claims, the speciousness of her arguments, and the sheer partisan politics of her “critiques.”

Oso Raro, Assistant Professor at Cold City U., at 12:50 pm EST on November 29, 2006

Lack of information? HA!!!

I work in higher education at one of these elite schools often mentioned — or blamed — for the problems with higher education. The statement that universities and colleges are hiding information about their finances, students, faculty, tuitions, expenditures, etc is completely ludicrous. I know of no other industry that is as transparent as high education.

A quick search on Amazon reveals dozens of guide books (e.g, US News, Peterson, Princeton Review, Fiske, College Board, College Prowler, and Yale Daily News) full of data, information, and opinions on hundreds of schools. There are specialty guides for student-athletes, minority students, international students, LGBTQ students, students with physical and learning disabilities, students interested in careers in nursing, journalism, arts, engineering, and business. Concerned about financial aid? There are dozens of guide books on financial aid.

Can’t afford to buy a book, then turn the web. Most of these guide books also publish school profiles on their web pages. Check out The College Board web site for a great web tool (http://apps.collegeboard.com/search/adv_typeofschool.jsp)

Do you want to know the salaries of faculty at different schools? – The Chronicle of Higher Education publishes an annual survey of faculty salaries (http://chronicle.com/stats/aaup/).

Wonder how a school stacks up in terms of gender equity and graduation rates for athletes? Go to either the NCAA or The Chronicle of Higher Education for details on 1,900 schools (http://chronicle.com/stats/genderequity/). How about tuition? (http://chronicle.com/stats/tuition/ ). Or presidential salaries? (http://chronicle.com/stats/990/) Interested in diversity? The Education Trust (http://www2.edtrust.org/edtrust) has an amazing amount of data including information about minority graduation rates and enrollments at over 1,350 schools.

And this is before we turn to the Secretary Spelling’s Department of Education COOL web site which has all of the above data and much more (http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cool/)

I would also add that all the above are FREE!!!!

What other industry publishes this much data? Where is the web site that allows me to compare with only a few clicks on my mouse the number of minority employees or the salaries of senior executives at Ford, GM, Toyota, and Honda? Where is the web site that gives me ten years of salaries for the long-term employees (i.e., faculty) at Walmart, K-Mart, JC Penny, and Sears?

Where is the lack of data on higher education? It seems only to exist in stuporous sound bites.

Steve, at 1:20 pm EST on November 29, 2006

No shortcuts in College Selection

As a former admissions officer, I wince at the notion there is “not enough basic information” out there for students and parents. In my experience, there is a lot of information, but the problem is people want easy, standardized answers spoon-fed to them. Then they scream about wanting to be viewed as an “individual” in the college selection process (but that’s another rant).

The bottom line is that the college search and selection process is not easy. You can’t short cut it by just looking at statistics and rankings and you cannot standardize it. You have to do research and pound the pavement if you want to find the best matches for you.

How long does it take to get a degree? You can find basic information in graduation percentages, but any thinking person can quickly figure out that it depends on how prepared you are when you enter, how hard you work in your classes, how many times you change your major, what type of academic counseling you receive, if you take time off to do independent study, etc.

How much does it cost? Here again, you can find basic info on room, board and tuition, but there may be other factors such as public vs private, dorm vs off campus, owning a car, etc. Also the way financial aid is estimated can vary by institution, so you need to check in to how each qualifies families for aid and the type of aid they have available (merit vs need-based aid).

And please PLEASE take the time to research public vs private institutions before you ask about $5,000 vs $50,000. You’ll find that the COST to educate a student is fairly consistent. Who shoulders the cost is what determines the “sticker price". Public means governement is subsidizing most of the cost so the sticker price to the family is lower.

If students aren’t willing to do this type of rigorous homework when it comes to the college selection process, they are going to be in for a rude awakening when it comes to college-level work.

Anon, at 2:16 pm EST on November 29, 2006

Amen, Steve, Amen!!!!!

Anon, at 2:18 pm EST on November 29, 2006

That this article prompted so many comments indicates it has touched a nerve. I would like it to be published in newspapers as an op-ed piece all across this country. Thanks, Scott.

Elizabeth Ivey, Provost Emerita at University of Hartford, at 2:18 pm EST on November 29, 2006

Spellings Exhibits Generational Problem

Mrs. Spellings must be taken to task for not being able to obtain the information she wanted about her daughter’s college choices. But not necessarily for the reasons stated in the comments so far. She is a product of a generation that has little web experience. Her ability to use search engines and locate information is more likely limited by her age. At the same time, the government website is notoriously just as ignorant about how users want information to be provided, thus making it difficult to navigate. This is in no way an excuse for the lack of simple research she could have done, and it is equally outrageous that no one on her staff could have provided the details. Equally ridiculous and maybe even more telling is the defensive response provided by her department. And probably even more important, she would have had more success in her queries had she turned over the task to her daughter. Not only might her daughter have more web sense, but it seems like the kind of task that ought to be carried out by prospective students, not their parents.

Rey Carr, Chief Learning Officer at Peer Resources, at 2:35 pm EST on November 29, 2006

Misleading the public for the Administration agenda???

Shocking! And this is just to make a point about accountability in higher education. Imagine if this way of making policy was extended to dealing with international affairs.

We could end up in a war that...

Oh, right. Did that.

This story isn’t about higher ed, it is about an administration that will say and do anything and has no accountability visa vis congress, the courts, the international community or much of anything else.

Islandroom, at 3:45 pm EST on November 29, 2006

Another great story, Scott.

Seems the mantra, “When in doubt (or wrong), stay the course” applies to all departments and levels of government.

Christine, at 5:05 pm EST on November 29, 2006

Look at COOL as a tool and not the toolbox

The overall college search, selection, and admissions process is a complex one. It takes time and effort along with a lot of research to find the right match and at the right price for the student. Everyone would like a quick answer and unfortunately one site cannot accomplsh this.

When looking at the average grants for a student, what does that really mean in terms of what one will actually pay? Will the family or student qualify for need based aid? Will there be any merit aid by being gifted in scholastics, athletics, music, etc.? Are loans truly aid-whether they are subsidized or unsubsidized? The four year graduation rates begin with 1999 so it would be beneficial to know what happened for the years starting in 2000 and 2001.

Based on the Trends in Student Debt, federal loans are showing a 10% increase from the prior year. The figure for private loans is even more alarming. These loans are up 30% from the previous year.

The bottom line is that one resource is not the answer and the entire process needs to be started early in high school. The process needs to begin with an understanding of what the end result will be. The end result is having the student thrive in school, get a good jump on their career, and at an affordable cost to all involved.

Michael Lopata, The Education Path, at 6:45 pm EST on November 29, 2006

your article and the responses

Bravo, Scott!!!!!

john merrow, at 12:50 pm EST on December 4, 2006

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