(AP) -- A draft report released Monday by a national commission on higher education calls for more federal money to help low-income students attend college, and places much of the blame for rising prices on the inefficiencies of colleges themselves.
The draft calls for a significant overhaul of the 17 different programs in the federal financial aid system, which it calls "increasingly dysfunctional, inefficient and inadequate." But, in language likely to irk colleges, it also says schools "have shown little inclination to cut costs and improve their productivity."
The draft also calls for states to require public universities to measure what students learn, and recommends several surveys and standardized tests that some colleges have begun using. It also calls for the federal government to provide incentives to use such tests. Overall, much of the testing language will likely concern colleges, who are wary of anything resembling a "No Child Left Behind" testing regimen for higher education.
The draft report has been circulated to members of the commission ahead of a meeting Wednesday to begin discussing final recommendations, which are expected in September. The commission, created by Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, includes members from industry, government and for-profit and traditional colleges. The draft will undergo "significant changes and edits," Chairman Charles Miller said in a statement.
Still, the document bears the imprint of Miller, a leader in the K-12 school accountability movement in Texas, who has called for a major overhaul in the country's decentralized system of higher education. Miller wants colleges and universities to do a better job measuring what they do, and in providing the results to the public.
His vision has often clashed with that of some leaders in higher education, who think the system works fairly well but needs more public support.
The draft calls for the elimination of the complicated Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form, replacing it with a post-card-sized application. And it says too little money is reaching low-income students, noting the increase in merit aid, which goes to students who would probably go to college anyway. Unmet financial need for families with incomes below $34,000 grew 80 percent from 1990 to 2004, while families in the top quartile by income saw financial aid packages triple.
The draft blames rising college costs largely on colleges themselves, saying professors are teaching less, and that college facilities are often underused. Despite steady tuition and fee increases, the report finds no evidence students are learning more; in fact some measurements show they are learning less.
The draft also backs a proposed national system to track individual students through the educational system. Supporters contend it would provide essential data, but colleges and universities have opposed it on privacy grounds.
The commission has no direct power, and it would be up to Congress, state governments and individual colleges to implement its recommendations. But it is still attracting close attention from experts because its hearings over the last year have constituted the first national debate about higher education policies in recent memory.