University rating system is a mixed bag

President Barack Obama’s proposed plan to rate colleges based on affordability is admirable.

However, he must ensure that it actually breeds a more cost-efficient college education experience instead of just being yet another system for universities to game.

The proposal, which Obama revealed in a speech to college students in Buffalo, N.Y., last week, is supposed to guarantee that students — and taxpayers — get a bigger bang for their buck.

The new ratings system would take into account criteria such as average student debt upon graduating, ease of paying off debts, graduation rates and graduating salaries.

If the system debuts by the target year of 2015, Obama will work with Congress to pass legislation that would give students at higher-rated universities more affordable loans.

Obama’s focus on college affordability and efficiency is particularly relevant, as tuition costs have skyrocketed in recent years, and difficult economic times have brought about widespread state budget cuts to higher education.

Something must be done to encourage improvement in college costs and effectiveness.

Obama was right to bring this to light, but he seems to be trusting that schools will not be able to manipulate these new ratings.

Colleges have catered admissions standards to the ranking criteria of media outlets such as the U.S. News in order to present themselves more favorably in the eyes of prospective students.

A few schools were even caught reporting falsified information about their students to these ranking services in order to get a leg up in the education system with so much money in the balance. Imagine what measures these academic institutions may take to ensure a higher rating with federal funds at stake.

Additionally, this new system would reward schools that send graduates to high-paying jobs in ‘sexier’ industries, while penalizing schools that have more graduates in less lucrative but equally important fields such as education and public service.

In theory, the plan would foster a more competitive spirit among universities, which could only lead to further advancement in higher education.

Schools should be pushed to think more complexly about affordability and how to make higher education a more universal option.

Obama’s initiative certainly has some kinks that he must work out before proceeding, but the motivation for his plan is well rooted.

It is imperative that our education system continues to evolve in order to keep up with flourishing systems across the world.

As he claimed, “Our national mission is not to profit off student loans; our national mission must be to profit off having the best-educated workforce in the world.”

To do so, we must create incentives for schools to produce a well-educated workforce at reasonable costs — not incentives for working the system.