Bennett Accuses Colleges of Lax Admission, Graduation Rules

Education Secretary William J. Bennett on Tuesday assailed increasingly lax college admission, instruction and graduation standards while calling for more stringent methods of evaluating and accrediting institutions that receive federal funds.

“Institutions are defrauding students, and in many cases, they are ripping off the American public when they admit individuals who are manifestly unprepared for the work that will be required of them, or when they graduate students who cannot satisfy minimum standards in their field of study,” Bennett said at a Senate subcommittee hearing.

Little Literature, History

He offered evidence from five reports issued in the last year that were highly critical of undergraduate programs. Of U.S. colleges and universities surveyed:

--72% do not require the study of American literature and history.

--75% do not require European history or classical civilization courses.

--Less than 50% require the study of a foreign language.

--1964-82 performance declined in 11 of 15 subject areas of the Graduate Record Examination.

Not Even a Diploma

“Given the importance and growing cost of post-secondary education, it is only reasonable that students, parents, government officials and others should look for, and expect to find, evidence that they are getting their money’s worth,” Bennett told members of the Senate Labor and Human Resources subcommittee on education, arts and humanities.

He cited such abuses as college programs that do not require a high school diploma for admission, entrance exams geared to a fourth-grade level and the inability of some professional school graduates to pass state or local licensing exams. Bennett urged state officials to be tougher in evaluating institutions that foster such practices at accreditation time.

“Because they are responsible for licensing or otherwise recognizing the educational institutions that operate within their borders, state governments play an essential role in any effort to improve the accountability of post-secondary education,” he said.

When a recent study found that 61% of students without high school diplomas who received federal Pell aid grants did not complete their programs, the Department of Education submitted legislation with its 1986 budget proposal that would restrict U.S. aid to high school graduates, Bennett said.

Gramm-Rudman Effects

Sen. Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.), a member of the subcommittee and the author of legislation establishing the grants, expressed fear that the recently enacted Gramm-Rudman deficit reduction law would result in education cuts up to 30% in the next fiscal year.

“Cuts of that magnitude would have a devastating effect on American education at every level,” Pell said.

Enrolling almost 18 million students annually, U.S. colleges had a total budget of about $90 billion in 1984. Of that, virtually half--more than $44 billion--came from federal, state and local grants. There are 83 organizations recognized by the Education Department that accredit almost 9,000 institutions. Accreditation is mandatory for an institution to be eligible for federal aid funds.