The Spoke: Op/Ed Budget Name: Rachit Sabharwal Section: Op/Ed Issue: October Slug (stor !

s topic in one word": #residential $ollege Rankings Story description (basic information about your story): The %S News publishes a set o& college rankings each ear' These are much skewed( inaccurate and generall cause students to pick brands o)er schools' This ear #resident Obama is *oining the club b sa ing that he wants to create a &ederal college ranking that will determine how students recei)e &ederal aid (such as #ell grants and low interest on &ederal student loans"' This proposal b the #resident will cause the go)ernment to e)aluate colleges like brands' The better brands will get better &unding &orm the go)ernment and will attract more students' This is serious &or $onestoga students as we alread ha)e to ha)e enough challenges in college admissions' The new rankings will create one more &actor that students will ha)e to consider when looking at colleges' Angle (how you will approach the story): #resident Obama is not a +, ear old/ high school senior' Then wh is he acting like one b calling &or more college rankings- One o& the biggest tra)esties o& the modern college search is the %S News college rankings and college rankings in general' The eschew true representations o& colleges rather displa ing rankings based con)oluted criteria as how admissions officers rank their college compared to other colleges' The rankings emphasi.e the college /brand! rather than the education which is bad &or students' Now the go)ernment seems on track to propagate this m th o& college brands' On 0ugust 11 the #resident( in Scranton #0( announced that he wanted to create a go)ernmental college ranking that would decide which colleges get &ederal aid' This is an inherentl bad thing because this would lead to an increase in 2selecti)it 3 in colleges and lead to a bigger ripple e&&ect (shown b the number o& colleges that seniors appl ing to"' 4e as &uture college5goers should care because this is bad &or our &uture' $ollege applicants alread ha)e a hard enough time as it is tr ing to &irst choose colleges and then answer their ridiculousl personal applications all in the name o& higher education' The &ederal college ranking s stem has good intentions but &ails to resol)e an problems with higher education' This is bill is a national &arce' It condones the incorrect practice o& /ob*ecti)e! ranking while promising sub*ecti)e solutions' Why our readers care: Our readers care because the will be appl ing to college e)entuall ' 0lso a lot o& $onestoga students go to 2)er selecti)e3 colleges and uni)ersities and lot o& them depend on &inancial aid' The #resident!s decision to allot &ederal aid through rankings a&&ects $onestoga students b creating another class o& colleges within the alread e6tremel mosaical higher education s stem that the ha)e to look at consider and appl to' What is your call to action? Seniors are o)erworked( sleepless and worried enough due to the college admissions process alread ' It!s not help&ul on the part o& the go)ernment to increase the students! workload' Students should reali.e that college college rankings are skewed and not )er

help&ul' The should also reali.e that linking &ederal &inances to a skewed s stem is recipe &or educational chaos' 7inall the should understand the implications o& &ederal actions on their education and work to minimi.e its negati)e e&&ects b separating help&ul in&ormation &rom unhelp&ul in&ormation' What specific examples will you use as support for your point? To attest to the inaccurac o& college rankings I!ll &irst highlight some o& the highl absurd criteria that is used and can be easil gamed' $riteria such as the peer assessment score and student selecti)it ( two monstrous negati)e &eedback loops with enormous conse8uences &or students' Then I want to highlight how the #resident!s plan will not help the situation but will aggra)ate it b legitimi.ing these rankings (and thus their criteria"' 9ow linking #ell grants and &ederal aid to these rankings will create a sub5class o& colleges 2pre&erred3 b the go)ernment that students also ha)e to consider' Where will you find two pieces of research on your topic (websites, books, newspapers with editorials on the sub ect)? The New :orker has a )er in&ormati)e article on the true merit o& college rankings' Then the criteria and some o& their e6planation will come &rom www'usnews'com Which two knowledgeable people do you plan to get information from? !ood examples are teachers, fellow peers, or an expert" The guidance counselors will be an in)aluable resource in this topic' I will talk to m counselor ;s' Rahr to see what guidance thinks o& college rankings and how the encourage students to use them' One o& the <o)ernment teachers would be interesting to talk to discuss the e&&ects o& this new &ederal polic (;r' Stabert" #ead outline (rough idea): I will sa that Obama is acting like a high school senior when he should not be' Then I!ll cite the rankings in&ormation= e6plain how it is skewed and unhelp&ul' 7rom there I!ll introduce Obama!s plan and highlight it' I!ll end b discussing that students now ha)e to look out &or themsel)es e)en more in the applications process $deas for cartoon? 0 student hunched o)er a laptop with college buildings crushing down on his/her back'