DENVER ― The Obama administration’s announcement of a proposed college ratings system has set off alarm bells at minority serving institutions across the country. At a town hall meeting at the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) conference, higher education professionals discussed how the rollout of the ratings system may impact Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs).
Though the administration has said that the proposed ratings system will be designed to reward institutions that successfully serve minorities and low-income students, representatives from HSIs nevertheless expressed some misgivings about the plan at the meeting on Monday afternoon.
The administration’s current objective is to have the ratings system in place by the academic year 2015.
HSI representatives had the opportunity to publicly voice their concerns, though the majority of the meeting centered around a panel of three experts moderated by Dr. Michael V. Martin, chancellor of the Colorado State University System.
On the panel representing the views of the Department of Education was Jamienne Studley, former president of Skidmore College and current deputy under secretary of education. She stressed that the ratings system is still in its inception phase and that the department is and will remain open to dialogue with institutions and students.
In her words, the objective of the ratings system is to assess which institutions are worth the investment.
