Thursday, March 22, 2007

Action, direction sought at higher education summit

USA Today reports:
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings will convene a summit Thursday aimed at building consensus among higher education stakeholders as they chart a road map for reform.

More than 300 people, including college presidents, corporate CEOs and congressional representatives, will be asked to share views on how to move forward on 25 items identified by the department as having the greatest potential to improve higher education.

The list grew out of recommendations by a controversial Spellings-appointed commission last year that concluded, among other things, that college tuition is too high, graduation rates are too low, poor and non-traditional students are not being well served by the higher education system, and nobody really knows what college students actually learn.

In an effort to make the college search process more user-friendly, Spellings will announce Thursday a pilot project in which three states (Kentucky, Florida and Minnesota), each supported by $100,000 in federal money, will create or upgrade websites so different types of students (returning adults, say, or community college transfers) can compare institutions.

Related USA Today stories: Thursday Education Secretary Spellings Margaret Spellings Universities

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