The price of tuition at colleges nationwide has risen 240 percent in the last two decades, and the Department of Education is convening a commission to address the issue.
The Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education has been assigned the task of developing a national agenda for improving post-secondary education and includes a Penn professor in its ranks.
"Now is the time to have a national conversation on our goals for higher education," Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said in a speech last Monday at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, introducing the commission for the first time.
The group is designed to focus on important issues such as the affordability and accessibility of college to all prospective students, as well as preparing students to "compete in the new global economy," according to the group's mission statement.
"I hope they do focus on increasing access to higher education for students from all economic and social backgrounds," Penn President Amy Gutmann said. "It's been a while since we've seen a national initiative like this."
The Education Department's commission will be composed of 19 members of the higher-education community, as well as leaders from the business world.
Graduate School of Education professor and Chairman of the Learning Alliance for Higher Education Robert Zemsky is Penn's sole representative to the commission.
He is not allowed to comment on the committee's agenda before its first meeting on Oct. 17.
"It has a very good group of members," Gutmann said.
Officials expect the committee to have a major impact on the Penn community.
While students whose family's income is less than $40,000 annually can attend Harvard for free, few universities nationwide -- Penn included -- have the resources to implement such a measure.
"It is extremely important for us as a nation to recognize that our global competitiveness really depends on the strength of higher education and its accessibility to students of talent regardless of their family income," Gutmann said.
In her speech, Spellings also said that the goal is to discuss "how we can ensure our system remains the best in the world and provides more opportunities for all Americans."
Spellings added that another major focus of the commission will be streamlining the government's financial-aid process and better informing parents and prospective students about it.
"Right now, all the forms and questionnaires can be so dense that some families just give up and incorrectly assume college is unaffordable or unattainable," Spellings said. "Parents need better information."
The committee is to complete its final report by Aug. 1.
