Nikias critiques federal college ‘scorecard’ site

University President C. L. Max Nikias believes that the limited data recently released by the Department of Education on their college “scorecard” website does not paint a full picture of USC.

The new government-sponsored site features statistics on over 7,000 U.S. higher education institutions. It allows future college students the opportunity to sort and compare schools based on statistics such as graduation rate, school size and average financial aid benefits.

Nikias expressed his concern for the website’s focus on quantifiable factors.

“The College Scorecard metrics such as cost, access and outcomes are surely an important part of the consideration,” Nikias said, “But they do not fully take into account the academic quality of an institution as reflected in the quality of the faculty, students and curriculum. And it is these factors that have and will continue to guide USC’s academic mission.”

President Barack Obama abandoned his initial effort to create a rating system for colleges in the United States. Under the original idea, all institutions of higher education would be assigned a ranking based on average student debt and post-graduation earning potential. Additionally, it would have been possible for colleges with low rankings to lose access to the billions of federal student aid dollars.

Despite the lack of ratings on the new website, it still allows students and parents to compare schools based on relevant measurements. For example, students can filter schools based on average annual costs, graduation rates above 75 percent and average salaries after graduation of more than $50,000 per year.

Undergraduate Student Government President Rini Sampath said there is a need for greater transparency at institutions of higher education.

“I believe the new college scorecard is an innovative way to hold universities accountable for their actions,” she said. “When I was on a call with the White House earlier this summer, I brought up the need for governmental oversight of private institutions. We need some type of governmental support in our advocacy for greater accountability for spending at private universities like USC.”

Sampath also mentioned that the newly consolidated data might not only help families explore affordable options, but also push colleges to focus on quality of education before profit. She said the realization that the government is keeping an eye on institutions like USC could potentially lead to future efforts to make education affordable and more worthwhile.

“Students have emailed me saying they feel hopeless about their financial situation and continuing their education,” Sampath said. “There are students who work two to three jobs, skip meals, start GoFundMe’s and go sleepless in order to put themselves through school. That’s an embarrassment. I believe this college scorecard is one step forward in the larger picture of the government putting the pressure on universities to stop acting like for-profit businesses.”

Since the website’s release, colleges and universities have called the quality of the 171 megabytes of data into question. The American Council on Education expressed its concern about the Department of Education compiling data without comprehensive external review.