In January, the U.S. Department of Education asked for feedback on a plan to publish a list of college programs with low financial value to students and solicited opinions on what factors the agency should consider when constructing the ranking.
The announcement mimics an earlier idea from the Obama administration, which crafted a plan to rate all U.S. colleges and shame bottom-ranking institutions that saddled students with debt burdens they couldn’t afford. That system never came to fruition amid heavy criticism, echoes of which can be heard in concerns about the Biden administration’s new stripped-down version.