The U.S. Education Department has budgeted more than $4 million to develop the Obama administration’s college ratings system, reports Inside Higher Ed and The Chronicle of Higher Education.
The Department has a contract with the nonprofit research company, Research Triangle Institute (RTI), and has paid the firm $1.8 million so far.
The agreement, obtained by Inside Higher Ed through a Freedom of Information Act request, shows the costs associated with the rating systems as well as officials’ thinking about the system. As Inside Higher Ed reported, the department has considered a formal panel to analyze the technical integrity of the rating system, create a formal process for colleges to challenge their data, and allow colleges to provide a narrative statement with their ratings.
Opponents argue that federal data about colleges’ performance on many metrics are too incomplete to contribute to meaningful ratings. Critics have used the funding as a means of blocking the department from carrying out the project.
The contract shows that officials plan to finalize a ratings methodology this summer with a Sept. 1 public release date for “version 1.0” of the ratings website.
Related Links
Inside Higher Ed
The Chronicle of Higher Education
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