Education Secretary Margaret Spellings called for a database of students’ academic information and an increase in student aid during a speech on higher education Wednesday that drew a mixed response from the education community.

Spellings delivered a speech at the National Press Club in response to a report submitted by the Commission on the Future of Higher Education early this month. Last year, Spellings formed the 19-member commission to examine accessibility, affordability and accountability of higher education.

According to the text of the remarks as prepared for delivery, Spellings laid out a “five-action” proposal that addressed issues raised by the commission, such as increased college tuition bills, inefficiency in the current financial aid system and lack of information-comparing tools among colleges and universities regarding academic performance and cost.

“Is it fine that college tuition has outpaced inflation, family income, even doubling the cost of health care?” Spellings asked in the speech. “Is it fine that only half of our students graduate on time? Is it fine that students often graduate so saddled with debt they can’t buy a home or start a family?”

Criticism arose over Spellings’ support for the creation of a privacy-protected database system that would record students’ individual academic progress. Spellings said that through this information-sharing provision, people could compare and have better access to information among different colleges and universities, citing 40 states that have implemented similar programs.

“We can redesign my Department’s existing college search Web site and make it much more useful – capable of addressing concerns such as, `How much is this school really going to cost me? How long will it take to get my degree?'” Spellings said.

Referring to the strong bipartisan support in Congress to prohibit such a system in a higher education bill this year, Scott Fleming (SFS ’72), Georgetown’s vice president for federal relations, said that he has concerns about the database.

Fleming said that while he acknowledges that some states have similar programs to the one proposed by Spellings, he does not think such a program would be effective at Georgetown.

“I continue to have misgivings,” he said.

Spellings also called for increased government spending for need-based student aid. She proposed simplification of the application process for student aid and early notification of aid eligibility for high school seniors.

“We must increase need-based aid. We’ve worked with Congress to strengthen financial aid and we’ve made progress,” she said.

Luke Swarthout, a higher education advisor for State Public Interest Research Groups, said that Spellings should have addressed the proposed increase in need-based aid more specifically.

“The commission report reiterated what the public already knows,” Swarthout said.

He added that he was disappointed that “Spellings in her response to the commission report did not make a firmer commitment in increasing the Pell Grant.”

Spellings’ speech received several positive reviews from lobbyists and educators.

Cyndy Littlefield, federal relations director for the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, said that Spellings’ proposals to open up more information about colleges and universities -such as how the tuition money is spent – is a “positive step.”

Littlefield said that she believed that the national dialogue was extremely helpful because now “more Americans can understand how colleges and universities actually work.”

Spellings said that she would open a summit in the spring to further discuss the recommendations to improve higher education. She added that she aims to create opportunities for more access to colleges and universities.

“The Commission’s report is rightly titled `A Test of Leadership’,'” she said. “For the sake of our students and our future, this is one test we must not fail.”