Secretary spellings and the five-point plan.

THE MISSION TO REVAMP HIGHER education was officially launched in late September when U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings gave a speech to the National Press Club. Her much anticipated remarks covered the recommendations of the Commission on the Future of Higher Education, which has been meeting throughout the year. Spellings' speech, which outlined the commission's findings, was long on catch phrases and bold ideas, but short on how-to steps.

Her call for "accessibility, affordability, and accountability" in higher education involves everything from improving high school courses and college readiness, to revamping financial aid, to developing ways to measure learning outcomes.

She boiled down the commission's recommendations to five points:

1. Hold high schools accountable.

2. Streamline the financial aid process.

3. Create a database that will be a "higher education information center."

4. Provide matching funds to colleges, universities, and states that collect data and report on learning outcomes.

5. Convene members of the accrediting community in November to help create measures that emphasize learning.

Higher education associations were guarded in their responses. The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators issued a statement on the commission's proposal to cut financial aid application waiting time in half, giving students and families qualification information earlier in the spring of senior year. This offers hope for a more efficient system, "however, the lack of details provided is cause for concern," read the statement.

David Ward, president of the American Council on Education, and the only member of the Commission on the Future of Higher Education who did not sign the final report, later expressed disappointment that more was not outlined on how to link accreditation and accountability.

The national database, too, is going to be a problem, he said. Already organizations are raising privacy concerns. While the database will be used to view overall student performance, and not focus on individuals, the organizers will have to allay fears that student identities and specific course grades cannot be traced.

Ward noted that ACE and five other higher education organizations were already at work on the issues raised. "We took a proactive approach," says Ward, referring to the "gathering storm" of higher education issues. Several days before Spellings spoke to the National Press Club, the six major organizations issued a letter titled, "Addressing the Challenges Facing American Undergraduate Education," outlining work already in place to keep college affordable and improve outcomes. One key promise: to work with Congress to increase the Pell Grant.