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Bill Gates
On Monday, Microsoft's former chairman asked some tough questions about public higher education at the winter meeting of the National Governor's Association.
In brief, Mr. Gates asked, "Where are the metrics?" and "Is funding based on performance?" The metrics on which he focuses are graduation and employment rates, and he properly called for a level playing field for non-profit and for-profit institutions. (Mr. Gates observed in regard to "gainful employment": "Those same types of questions, about outcomes and effectiveness, really should be asked of the whole higher-education sector.")
ACTA welcomes the discussion Mr. Gates presentation to the governors will prompt. ACTA takes up a wider set of metrics in its growing series of State Report Cardsin addition to graduation and retention rates, ACTA examines the core curriculum, alongside cost and expenditure figures, measures of academic freedom, and measures of effective governance.
The most recent Department of Education figures (2006-07) show that public institutions of higher education together spend $239 billion per year. Transparent metrics and performance based funding are more urgent than ever in these hard economic times.
Posted by Michael Poliakoff on March 03, 2011 at March 3, 2011 02:43 PM
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