The U.S. Department of Education will be holding a forum on Nov. 21 at the University to gain input on President Barack Obama’s education proposals about solving rising tuition costs and implementing ways to make college more affordable.
DOE representatives will visit four universities across the nation: California State University, Dominguez Hills; George Mason University; the University of Northern Iowa; and LSU.
LSU was chosen because it ranks on top of the Department of Education’s College Affordability and Transparency Center’s College Scorecard in terms of students graduating without debt, overall costs of tuition and fees and outcomes, said LSU President F. King Alexander.
“LSU is the only school in the South that identifies to top ranks on the College Scorecard,” Alexander said.
Obama announced a three-step plan in August during the College Affordability Tour to ensure college will become a viable option for students by connecting financial aid to school performance, supporting academic innovation and competition and making college affordable, according to The White House Blog.
“One of the best ways to address the challenges to our higher education system is through shared input,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in a news release. “We plan to engage as many stakeholder groups and individuals as possible to help us develop proposals that are useful to students and take into account the diversity of America’s colleges and universities.”
Reforming college costs is not the only item on Obama and the Department of Education’s agenda. According to a news release from the Department of Education, experts will gather data and research to develop a college rating system. Three metrics will be used in the rating system: access, affordability and outcomes.
Access is the percentage of students receiving Pell Grants and other forms of aid, affordability is the average net price of tuition and the average loan debt and outcome is defined by graduation and transfer rates, earnings of graduates and completion of advanced degrees, according to the Department of Education website.
Alexander said the White House and the Department of Education’s plan to reform the higher education system is the first step in measuring universities in new ways that don’t matter to private magazines.
The rating system will be published annually beginning in 2015 and will coincide with the College Scorecard.
While the Obama Administration is working diligently to reform higher education, Alexander said it would be wrong to politicize this issue and that students should not be biased against the White House releasing a ranking system in spite of their political views.
“The talk about college affordability started with the last administration, not President Obama” Alexander said. “More information about college affordability and transparency is a good thing. The fact of the matter is, students will pay attention and parents will listen.”
Specifics about who will be speaking at the University is yet to be released, but it will be a senior administration official, according to the Department of Education. The forum is free and open to the public, but attendees must register at least three days in advance if they wish to provide comments and feedback for the Department of Education.
“It is an honor [the Department of Education] is coming to LSU. It highlights that we are doing the right thing,” Alexander said. “It is important for [LSU] to be a player in the national discourse about higher education.”
“It is important for [LSU] to be a player in the national discourse about higher education.”