The National Commission on the Future of Higher Education has yet to issue a final report, but that hasn’t stopped the U.S. Department of Education from making plans to debate and implement its recommendations later this year.
The Bush administration has already scheduled public hearings and organized committees to review the panel’s final recommendations, starting with a hearing Tuesday the same day the commission submits its final report.
Among education advocates, this quick timetable for action has generated surprise and some questions. But some see the hearings as another opportunity to push ideas and proposals the commission did not specifically endorse.
The department’s interest in the report is encouraging, says Barmak Nassirian, deputy director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. But he questions whether the commission will provide enough specifics to warrant such fast attention.
So far, he says, “The commission has provided a very generic essay on higher education. You don’t regulate essays.”
In mid-August, the commission approved a final draft report calling for major changes in higher education that included spending more money on Pell Grants by consolidating other programs. However, the panel did not specify what programs should be cut or consolidated to increase Pell spending.
Other recommendations in the draft report include streamlined federal rules and regulations, new accreditation measures, more public information about higher education and increased investment in science and technology programs.
