Box Scores and College Ratings - Thomas P. Foley, Inside Higher Ed

The President of Mt. Aloysius College, Thomas P. Foley, takes on US Dept of Ed Secretary Arne Duncan's plans for a college ratings system in an open essay in Inside Higher Ed. He compares the scorecards to flawed basketball box scores that do not include the whole team, but only the five starters. He draws an analogy to a system that includes ratings of all teams, lumping together NCAA divisions I, II or III. Foley concludes with recommendations which saying "Absent such a calculation, colleges will continue to have every incentive to “cream” their admissions, and every disincentive against serving the students you have said are central to our economic future, including two-year, low-income and minority students. That’s the “court” that schools like Mount Aloysius and 16 other Mercy colleges play on. We love our FTFYBDs, but we work just as hard on behalf of the more than 50 percent of our students whose circumstances require a less traditional but no less worthy route to graduation. We think they count, too." http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2014/04/08/basketball-box-scores-include-numerous-stats-so-should-federal-ratings-system-essay