House Panel Discusses College Transparency
April 25, 2013
On Wednesday, the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training held a hearing on college transparency, focusing on the tools currently available to help students and families obtain information about their post-secondary education options.
Information is crucial to help families understand their higher education options and the financial investment that comes with earning a post-secondary degree, according to a press release from the subcommittee regarding the hearing, but many students have difficulty accessing and understanding the relevant data.
“The Internet has greatly helped to democratize access to information,” Dr. Donald Heller, Dean of the College of Education at Michigan State University, told the subcommittee. “What it has not done as successfully, however, has been to help people get access to the right information to meet their needs. And it is critical that we help prospective students to get the right information in their hands at the necessary times.”
Witnesses, including Heller, said that they doubted that information on students’ salaries after graduation was enlightening, although requiring colleges to provide those data has received bipartisan support in Congress in recent months. Students need “better information, not just data,” Heller said.
The Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training will continue to examine policies and proposals to improve higher education transparency through additional hearing in the months ahead.
“As we approach reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, we must discuss ways to improve data without placing additional burdens on institutions or creating more confusion for students and families,” House Subcommittee Chairman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) concluded. “We should also explore opportunities to better align federal transparency initiatives with state and accreditors’ reporting requirements.”
Related Links:
U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training Press Release
https://edworkforce.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=331449
“Keeping College Within Reach: Enhancing Transparency for Students, Families and Taxpayers” Hearing
https://edworkforce.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=330710
Michelle Cormier Mott
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