The National Commission on the Future of Higher Education has yet to issue a final report, but that hasn’t stopped the U.S. Department of Education from making plans to debate and implement its recommendations later this year.

The Bush administration is already scheduling public hearings and organizing committees to review the panel’s final recommendations, even though the commission’s final report was not due until mid-September.

For education advocates, this quick timetable for action has generated surprise and some questions. But some see the hearings as another opportunity to push ideas and proposals the commission did not specifically endorse. 

The department’s interest in the report is encouraging, says Barmak Nassirian, deputy director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. But he questions whether the commission will provide enough specifics to warrant such fast attention.
So far, he says, “The commission has provided a very generic essay on higher education. You don’t regulate essays.”

In mid-August, the commission approved a final draft report calling for major changes in higher education that included spending more money on Pell Grants by consolidating other programs. However, the panel did not specify what programs should be cut or consolidated to increase Pell spending.

Once the commission issues its final report, the Education Department will move quickly to evaluate its findings.

The first of four public hearings was scheduled for Sept. 19 at the University of California, Berkeley.

The Education Department will create up to four committees to conduct “negotiated rulemaking,” in which education experts work with the department on technical changes to federal regulations.

The scope of this work will extend beyond the commission’s final report. According to the department, one committee will work on student loan issues while two others will focus on accreditation and student aid. A fourth committee will set permanent rules for two new financial aid programs, the Academic Competitiveness and SMART grants, which were approved by Congress in last year’s deficit reduction bill.