Too many decisions about higher education -'" from those made by policymakers to those made by students and families -'" rely heavily on reputation and rankings derived to a large extent from inputs such as financial resources rather than outcomes."

Those are the words of the Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education, which on Tuesday handed over its final report to Secretary Margaret Spellings.  A panel of higher education experts met in Washington on Wednesday to discuss how colleges and universities report their learning outcomes now and the reasons why the public often misses out on this information. On this subject, the panelists' comments fell largely in line with those of the federal commission.

The session was hosted by the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media, at Columbia University's Teachers College, included an assessment of U.S. News & World Report's annual college rankings, which critics say provide too little information about where students learn best.

Published Monday, Oct. 2, 2006