September 27, 2006

Education Secretary Proposes Nationwide College Student Database

Education Secretary Margaret Spellings called Tuesday for greater accountability by colleges and universities, including the creation of a national database to track how well students learn. She also called for an overhaul of the financial aid process and an increase in need-based aid. Known as a “unit record” system, it would track the progress of individual — but unidentified — students over time as a way to better assess and compare the educational performance of institutions.

College overhaul called ‘overdue', USA Today, September 27, 2006.