The University of California could potentially gain or lose future federal funding depending on how its campuses fair in a new ratings system proposed by President Barack Obama on Thursday.
The president’s proposal aims to tie the federal funding that universities receive to their performance and affordability.
His speech at the University at Buffalo Thursday morning confronted the ballooning cost of attending a public four-year university in America, which now costs about $15,000 per year on average, according to CNN.
“Higher education should not be a luxury. It is a necessity, an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford,” Obama said in his speech.
Under Obama’s proposal, the federal government will appropriate funding for scholarships or financial aid based on the graduation and dropout rates of a university’s students and how it keeps costs for students down.
How a college innovates with education techniques, such as online courses, would be another factor in deciding funding.
The performance, affordability and innovation factors would be combined into an objective rating under his plan, making comparisons between various colleges easier for prospective students and their families.
UC President Mark Yudof released a statement praising the president’s proposal, and he thinks the UC will fare well in the ratings system.
“We have embraced making public higher education more accountable and affordable,” Yudof said in a statement.
The UC ranks highly in affordability, with an average debt load that is $7,000 lower than the national average.
Daniel Mitchell, a professor emeritus of the UCLA Anderson School of Management and UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, said even though the UC would likely fare well under the rating system, it’s uncertain whether the proposal will affect the UC much, either positively or negatively.
Mitchell said that, of the federal funding that the UC receives, a large majority of it is for research purposes, which probably isn’t the federal funding discussed in the president’s speech.
Mitchell said he thinks the president is referring to funding for scholarships and financial aid, which, in the UC’s case, is mainly paid for by private foundations and the state, not the federal government.
Despite the recent investments by the state in education, this commitment shouldn’t be expected to last, he said.
For many less selective colleges, such as community colleges, for which this proposal is likely aimed, federal funding forms a large part of their ability to keep costs down, Mitchell said.
The odds don’t look good, however, for this proposal to become anything more than just theoretical, Mitchell said.
While the administration could theoretically make the ratings system on its own, any ties between a school’s rating and federal funding fall under Congress’ jurisdiction, Mitchell said.
“These ideas need a lot of action by Congress, which lately doesn’t want to act on anything.”
Compiled by Christopher Hurley, Bruin contributor.