“Leadership has to come from states because of the culture of our country, which doesn’t allow the federal government to dictate education policy,” Romer said.
Speakers also dealt with an emergent conversation about the degree to which institutions of higher learning should be held accountable for graduating more students.
Robert “Bo” Newsome, director of outreach and state relations for the National Association of Independent College and Universities, said private colleges and universities are concerned about being over-regulated as the focus intensifies on improving college completion rates.
Noting that private colleges and universities pride themselves on independence and creativity, Newsome said: “We’re always concerned about how we’re going to measure (college completion rates) because there’s all kinds of prescriptive things that follow that.”
