Los Angeles — Margaret Spellings, the secretary of education, did not equivocate when asked Thursday night if the Education Department was moving toward creating a test to measure the performance of colleges.
“No. Absolutely not,” said Ms. Spellings, who was speaking with a group of reporters here at the 60th annual meeting of the National Education Writers Association. She said the Bush administration wanted to see more research on the value added by universities, relative to the cost of their degrees, but the department would not impose a one-size-fits-all test.
Higher education is the “next big thing in public policy,” Ms. Spellings said, noting that the department is concerned about affordability, accessibility, and accountability. —Paul Fain
