Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About IHEP
    • About IHEP
    • Message from our President
      • Message from our President
      • Speaking Engagements
      • Opinions & Commentaries
    • History
      • History
      • IHEP Champions of Access and Success
      • Equity First for 25 Years
        • Equity First for 25 Years
        • 25 Years of Research and Action
    • What We Do
      • What We Do
      • Five Facts to Fix
    • Who We Are
      • Who We Are
      • IHEP Staff
      • Experts
      • Board of Directors
    • Partners
      • Partners
      • Funding Partners
      • Networks and Coalitions
    • Working at IHEP
      • Working at IHEP
      • Career Opportunities
    • Contact Us
      • Contact Us
      • IHEP Staff
      • Join Our Mailing List
  • Policy Priorities
    • Policy Priorities
    • Access & Success
    • Affordability & Finance
    • Accountability & Transparency
    • Critical Communities & Institutions
  • Research
    • Research
    • Publications
    • Search Publications
    • Current Initiatives
      • Current Initiatives
      • College Not Prison
      • Film Series: Federal Student Aid History
      • Postsecondary Data Collaborative
      • Degrees When Due
      • Assessing The Impact of Prison-Based Postsecondary Education Programs
    • Previous Initiatives
      • Previous Initiatives
      • Global Initiatives
        • Global Initiatives
        • Global Policy Fellows Program
      • Minority-Serving Institutions-Models of Success Program
      • Summer Academy
        • Summer Academy
        • Participating Institutions
      • Community Partnership for Attainment
        • Community Partnership for Attainment
        • Participating Communities
      • Symposium on Financial Literacy and College Success at Minority-Serving Institutions
        • Symposium on Financial Literacy and College Success at Minority-Serving Institutions
        • Participating Institutions
      • Walmart Minority Student Success Initiative
        • Walmart Minority Student Success Initiative
        • Participating Institutions
      • BEAMS
        • BEAMS
        • Participating Institutions
      • Project Win-Win
      • Redefining Access for the 21st-Century Student
      • Reimagining Aid Design and Delivery
      • Pathways to College Network
  • Press
    • Press
    • News Releases
    • Opinions and Statements
    • Press Clips
  • Events
    • Events
    • IHEP Events
    • Staff Presentations
  • Donate

25 Years of Equity

Twitter Facebook Vimeo

  • Home
  • About IHEP
    • Message from our President
      • Speaking Engagements
      • Opinions & Commentaries
    • History
      • IHEP Champions of Access and Success
      • Equity First for 25 Years
        • 25 Years of Research and Action
    • What We Do
      • Five Facts to Fix
    • Who We Are
      • IHEP Staff
      • Experts
      • Board of Directors
    • Partners
      • Funding Partners
      • Networks and Coalitions
    • Working at IHEP
      • Career Opportunities
    • Contact Us
      • IHEP Staff
      • Join Our Mailing List
  • Policy Priorities
    • Access & Success
    • Affordability & Finance
    • Accountability & Transparency
    • Critical Communities & Institutions
  • Research
    • Publications
    • Search Publications
    • Current Initiatives
      • College Not Prison
      • Film Series: Federal Student Aid History
      • Postsecondary Data Collaborative
      • Degrees When Due
      • Assessing The Impact of Prison-Based Postsecondary Education Programs
    • Previous Initiatives
      • Global Initiatives
        • Global Policy Fellows Program
      • Minority-Serving Institutions-Models of Success Program
      • Summer Academy
        • Participating Institutions
      • Community Partnership for Attainment
        • Participating Communities
      • Symposium on Financial Literacy and College Success at Minority-Serving Institutions
        • Participating Institutions
      • Walmart Minority Student Success Initiative
        • Participating Institutions
      • BEAMS
        • Participating Institutions
      • Project Win-Win
      • Redefining Access for the 21st-Century Student
      • Reimagining Aid Design and Delivery
      • Pathways to College Network
  • Press
    • News Releases
    • Opinions and Statements
    • Press Clips
  • Events
    • IHEP Events
    • Staff Presentations
  • Donate

You are here

Home / Press / Opinions and Statements

IHEP comments in response to technical request for information on the Postsecondary Institutional Ratings System (PIRS)

Nov 1, 2013

To: Richard Reeves

National Center for Education Statistics
U.S. Department of Education
1990 K Street NW, 8th Floor
Washington DC 20006

ATTN: Postsecondary Institution Ratings System RFI

Docket ID ED–2013–IES–0151

The Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) submits these comments on the Administration’s proposed Postsecondary Institution Ratings System (PIRS), published in the Federal Register on December 17, 2013. Celebrating its 20th year anniversary, IHEP is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization committed to promoting access to and success in higher education for all students, with a particular focus on populations that have been traditionally underserved by our postsecondary system. 

IHEP applauds the President’s proposal to create a system that would, first and foremost, provide better information to help students and parents choose colleges that offer them the “best value.” Too many of today’s students are paying far too much at institutions that offer them far too few chances for success. Ensuring that information is provided to students in a timely, easy-to-digest format (popularly referred to as “consumer information”) can, in fact, act as a form of soft accountability, allowing students to “vote with their feet” in the direction of institutions that will serve them well. 

However, given the immense – and growing – student and public investment in higher education, we cannot afford “soft accountability” alone. The federal government must use real stakes to improve – or sanction as needed – institutions that are not serving students well, which is why IHEP also supports the Administration’s proposal to develop a rating system to assess and tie college performance to the distribution of Title IV financial aid. 

That said, the design of the system will need to differ depending on its purpose: consumer information or institutional accountability. While most of the metrics might remain the same, they should be applied differently in different contexts. In short, IHEP recommends separate rating systems be developed for each purpose. In guiding the development of those systems, IHEP also offers the following three principles underlying our recommendations: 

  1. Critical information on post-college outcomes, completion, cost, and access is key 
  2. Contextualize information without undue complexity and in relation to the consequences 
  3. Collect better data, but don’t delay providing information now

Read full PDF

About the Institute for Higher Education Policy

The Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) is an independent, nonprofit organization that is dedicated to increasing access and success in postsecondary education around the world. Established in 1993, the Washington, D.C.-based organization uses unique research and innovative programs to inform key decision makers who shape public policy and support economic and social development. IHEP’s web site, www.ihep.org, features an expansive collection of higher education information available free of charge and provides access to some of the most respected professionals in the fields of public policy and research.

Media Contact

Kathryn Gimborys
202-861-8223 x 131

Archive

  • 2019 (2)
  • 2018 (16)
  • 2017 (27)
  • 2016 (24)
  • 2015 (15)
  • 2014 (9)
  • 2013 (9)
  • 2012 (2)
  • 2011 (9)
  • 2010 (10)
  • 2009 (3)

Press

  • News Releases
  • Opinions and Statements
  • Press Clips

© Institute for Higher Education Policy 1993-2015.
1825 K Street, N.W., Suite 720 Washington, DC 20006
(202) 861-8223 TELEPHONE (202) 861-9307 FAX
institute@ihep.org  |  Join Our Mailing List | Read Our Privacy Policy

© Institute for Higher Education Policy
1993-2014.
1825 K Street, N.W., Suite 720 
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 861-8223 TELEPHONE
(202) 861-9307 FAX
institute@ihep.org
Join Our Mailing List