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The Department of Education plans to seek public feedback on a sweeping report approved this month by a commission charged with making long-range recommendations for changes in the nation鈥檚 higher education system.

The department announced Aug. 18 that it would hold hearings around the country this fall to explore higher education policy, including suggestions put forth by the Commission on the Future of Higher Education, which Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings established last year.

While the discussions may touch on other proposals, they are likely to be informed by the commission鈥檚 draft report, approved nearly unanimously at a meeting in Washington on Aug. 10.

The report calls for greater alignment between K-12 schools and postsecondary institutions, and an overhaul of the federal college financial-aid system, among other major changes.

The department also may create as many as three committees that would include students, financial-aid administrators, state higher education officers, and business leaders to make suggestions on how to change higher education policy through the federal rulemaking process.

While some of the proposals in the higher education commission鈥檚 report, including a major expansion of the federal Pell Grant program, would have to be approved by Congress, others could be implemented administratively, a department official said.

Lone Dissent

The commission鈥檚 report calls for an increased emphasis on distributing financial aid based on student need and urges colleges to invest in mathematics and science education. It also encourages colleges to use new methods to meet the needs of a changing student population, which includes more mid-career students and older adult learners.

The panel also urges colleges and universities to use value-added assessments to measure students鈥� skills at the beginning and end of their college careers, and to make the results of those tests public.

Eighteen members of the commission, which includes college officials, business leaders, and state policymakers, voted to support those recommendations. The lone dissenting vote came from David Ward, the president of the American Council on Education, a Washington-based umbrella organization representing 1,800 postsecondary schools.

Mr. Ward said in an interview that he agreed with the general idea of expanding accountability in higher education.

But, he said, the 鈥渄evil is in the details鈥� with many of the recommendations. For example, he worries the language dealing with standardized tests could be interpreted to mean that federal or state governments should mandate such tests鈥攁 policy he would oppose.

Still, Mr. Ward called the report a 鈥渟hot across the bow of higher education鈥� and said that it would be a 鈥渉uge mistake for universities to dismiss the findings of the commission.鈥�

Charles Miller, a Houston investor and the commission鈥檚 chairman, said the panel would formally present the final version of its report to Secretary Spellings once it is printed, possibly in mid-September.

The report has already come under fire from some college groups. The American Association of Colleges and Universities, a Washington-based organization representing 1,000 liberal arts institutions, largely lambasted the report, particularly the proposal to move toward standardized tests for colleges. It said the report 鈥渃ombines a hollow concern for quality in undergraduate education with a practical encouragement of a cafeteria-style college curriculum.鈥�

Results for K-12

While the commission鈥檚 report largely focuses on higher education, it encourages more cooperation with K-12 schools to ensure that students are prepared for college. It suggests that states revamp high school graduation standards to more closely mirror college-entrance requirements and employer needs.

The report also recommends that the 12th grade National Assessment of Educational Progress be revamped to better measure college and workforce readiness. In addition, the report endorses changing the way the 12th grade NAEP is administered to enable state-by-state comparisons, instead of the current national sample alone, which the commission said is 鈥渙f little value.鈥�

To make college more affordable to needy students, the report suggests that the entire federal financial-aid system be 鈥渞estructured鈥� to shift more resources toward need-based financial aid and reducing student debt.

It calls for the federal government to increase the current $4,050 annual maximum Pell Grant over the next five years so that it covers 70 percent of the average cost of tuition at a four-year, in-state public university. During the 2004-05 school year, Pell Grants covered 48 percent of that cost.