While there is bipartisan agreement that there should be a stronger system of accountability in higher education, there has been disagreement on how to reshape accountability as lawmakers tussle with reauthorizing the Higher Education Act (HEA).
According to a recent report published by New America, “a new accountability system, albeit imperfect, is desperately needed, not to punish, but to drive system-wide improvement while weeding out the worst performers to protect federal investments in student aid, and by extent, students, families, and taxpayers.”
The importance of accountability in higher education is underscored by the $1.5 trillion in national student loan debt, the 1,200 colleges that have shut down in the past five years — the majority of which were for-profit institutions — and the fact that two out of five students fail to graduate within six years from either a two- or four-year institution, New America reports.
While lawmakers on either side of the aisle tend to lean one way or the other, the report argues that the best form of accountability in higher education includes both transparency methods and system of standards for rewards or consequences.