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Re "Obama's Plan Aims to Lower Cost of College" (front page, Aug. 22):
President Obama's proposal for linking federal aid to a ranking system typifies the approach of so-called educational reformers. From the perspective of someone who has taught at a large state university that enrolls a large number of students of modest means, the proposal fails to come to grips with the roots of the problem.
My students, many of whom are first-generation college students, face stagnant levels of financial aid and declining state funding, forcing many of them to work full time and/or take fewer courses to make ends meet. This leads to delayed graduations and periods out of school.
But instead of admitting that lack of funding has produced this state of affairs, reformers seek to vilify universities. After 20 years of stagnant wages, cuts in benefits and declining faculty numbers, there is nothing left to cut.
In a final twist, the president suggested consulting university administrators for cost-cutting measures. As my colleagues in the academy will no doubt confirm, the one growth sector in universities has been in the number and salaries of administrators — along with the expensive vanity projects that administrators embrace, like recreational facilities and athletics.
Finally, unless a rating system accounts for the considerable differences in student backgrounds and resources available to them, it will simply mirror the vast inequalities within higher education. Thousands of my students have gone on to successful careers in a variety of fields despite the challenges they faced. It would be unfortunate if future students are punished to satisfy some ill-formed notion of accountability.
KARL ITTMANN
Houston, Aug. 23, 2013
To the Editor:
On my morning commute, I gaze at the college ads that blanket the subway's walls: beaming faces of graduates who have landed their dream jobs. President Obama's proposal for college ratings would enable consumers to see the hard facts behind these smiling faces: tuition costs, graduation rates, job placements.
These numbers might have given me pause before I paid the $56,000 yearly bill at my daughter's liberal arts college. Many in her graduating class are still struggling to find meaningful paying work of any kind.
As a teacher, I believe fervently that the benefits of an education go beyond that of job placement. But shamefully overpriced tuition costs and the precarious nature of the current job market force one to reconsider. With Mr. Obama's plan, students and parents would get a far more realistic sense of what might await them after four years of crippling expenses.
CATHY BERNARD
New York, Aug. 23, 2013
The writer is an associate professor of English at the New York Institute of Technology.
To the Editor:
President Obama should be applauded for his proposal to tie federal aid to universities' cost-cutting efforts and to students' graduation rates and future salaries. But his formula leaves out the most important outcome of all: student learning.
Most universities — including my own — have not made any sustained, comprehensive effort to measure the skills or knowledge that our students obtain at college. And until someone forces our hand, we won't.
JONATHAN ZIMMERMAN
New York, Aug. 23, 2013
The writer is a professor of education and history at New York University.
To the Editor:
In response to President Obama's plan to rate colleges based on how much money their graduates earn rather than on how much they contribute to society, I can't help but ask: What would Socrates say?
A good liberal arts education could help one answer that question.
JOHN KUSIAK
Arlington, Mass., Aug. 26, 2013
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