AS MORE and more studies conclude that Americans are being passed by better educated foreigners, higher education is being placed under the microscope. This past week a federal commission approved a report that calls on standardized testing for college students, and for drastic changes in financial aid. Though the commission's recommendations are made in good faith, their suggestions are completely misguided, ignoring many of the complex constraints colleges face.
The federal commission was created by U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. The 19-member panel includes a mix of businessmen, former and current college presidents, education researchers, etc. By Spellings's order, the commission assessed issues of access, affordability, accountability, quality and innovation in higher education. Now that the report has been written, commission members hope that President Bush incorporates their findings into congressional agenda and that eventually their recommendations become national policy.
Unfortunately, this eclectic commission lacked the expertise to make insightful recommendations and too often settled for the simple minded and unsubstantial. The commission diagnoses that higher education too often is a system based on reputation, rather than performance. In response, the commission recommended that states measure student learning through standardized testing then make these results public.
Such a plan would destroy one of the greatest aspects of higher education: its variety. The commission ignores the fact that it is impossible to test what students are learning in college, given the diversity of majors and concentrations. At the level of higher education, students begin to specialize, destroying the value of meaningful standardized testing.
Even standardized tests for high school students have been questioned. Studies have shown that standardized testing does not indicate future achievement. A study by the College Board showed that SAT scores correlated with freshman year grades by less than 0.50 and that high school GPA and class rank showed stronger correlation. If standardized tests have proven to have little value to students in high school, standardized tests will have even less value at the college level.
If standardized testing became required for college students, standardized testing would have to be at a low level in basic subjects, allowing for two possible outcomes. One, these tests would be so low level they would basically be a repeat of state-administered high school achievement tests, which a college student has already passed. The test would be a waste of time for the student and money for the taxpayers. Second, the test could be slightly higher level, forcing colleges to pay attention to it. In response, colleges would likely need to develop courses designed specifically in preparation for the exam. Because the information is released to the public and affects future enrollment, preparation courses for standardized testing could come to dominate the curriculum. It is this narrowing of curriculum that closes doors for students, perpetuating the problem the commission is trying to alleviate in the first place.
The commission also criticized the current system of financial aid. They came to the unremarkable conclusion that the federal government, states, and institutions should significantly increase need-based student aid. Ignoring the fact that education funding has decreased rather significantly the last several years, the commission does not offer many suggestions on how student aid could be increased. One of the few suggestions they do offer is to increase Pell Grants to cover 70 percent rather than just 48 percent of public college tuition. According to the New York Times, such a plan would cost billions.
The commission also recommended replacement of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) with a simpler and shorter form that analyzes student need "through a simple criterion such as family income." While the simple form the commission desires would be ideal, it is not practical. Once again, the commission seems to settle for what is simplest, not what is best. Many factors go into whether a student needs financial aid, and the FAFSA website includes a list of necessary forms for filling out the FAFSA.
By reducing the application into something too simple, aid would not be distributed correctly. How many other children does the family have? Are they also attending college? Is the family in debt from the purchase of a home or a small business? All these sorts of questions are relevant and paint a much more complete picture than just the family's income. Further, a simple form would make it easier for families to hide money and valuables, increasing the potential for fraud. All told, a simpler financial aid form would take money away from the families that really need aid the most.
Undeniably, improvement is necessary. United States colleges and universities could use improvement, but each in its own way. The use of one approach across all colleges and universities, regardless of size, location, concentration, and resources, will help no one. One can only hope a poor report does not lead to poor legislation, damaging colleges from the northeast to the west coast to our own University.
Rajesh Jain is a Cavalier Daily associate editor. He can be reached at rjain@cavalierdaily.com.
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