How should colleges be evaluated and how can higher education be made affordable?
These are questions to be asked by the new Commission on the Future of Higher Education, announced last Monday by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.
Spellings spoke Sept. 19 at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. "We must develop a comprehensive national strategy for postsecondary education," she said, according to the prepared remarks on the Department of Education's Web site.
Though she spoke only generally about the initiative, Spellings said the commission will serve a few main purposes.
The commission will hold public hearings around the country to answer questions about higher education, including what skills are needed in the global economy and how opportunities can be extended to all people.
Charles Miller, the former chairman of the University of Texas' Board of Regents, will lead the 19-member commission. Other members include former North Carolina Governor James Hunt and American Council on Education President David Ward.
Commissioners will try to provide solid information on the strengths and weaknesses of individual colleges in order to make better comparisons between schools. Another focus of the commission is how to make higher education more affordable.
Tufts administrators are unclear how the University will be affected or its role in the commission's work.
"I do not honestly know what impact it will have on Tufts," Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences Robert Sternberg said. "I'm not sure anyone knows at this point." In her announcement, Spellings said the commission will evaluate the current system, but she was "not advocating a bigger role for the federal government in higher education."
