This week, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a hearing on the complex topics of accountability and risk. As the conversation highlighted, it’s time to re-examine the ways we hold higher education providers accountable for the outcomes they produce for students.

So who decides which colleges can participate in federal financial aid programs and holds them accountable for the outcomes they produce? In our system of postsecondary education, accountability falls to a complex and interdependent set of actors. Too often, accountability rules promote bureaucratic and compliance checklists over quality. It’s time to reform our postsecondary accountability system to evaluate and reward providers who are providing today’s students with valuable credentials and strong outcomes.

Looking for a refresher on higher education accountability? Read our new resource, “101: Higher Education and the Triad“, which provides a quick “who’s who” of federal higher education accountability and the complex system of checks and balances we use to hold colleges accountable.