Robert Caret horiz 2012.jpg

University of Massachusetts President Robert L. Caret is seen addressing a breakfast crowd in Springfield last year.

(Photo by Mark M. Murray / The Republican [file])

Tying federal financial aid not only to the student's grades but to college or university's performance sounds fair to Robert L. Caret, president of the University of Massachusetts system.



"The students are going to have to perform to get their aid and the institution is going to have to perform in order to get the aid to give to the student," Caret said Thursday in a telephone interview following President Barack Obama's series of speeches on college affordability.



The White House also briefed Caret on the president's plan Thursday and he received a packet of materials. By and large, he was impressed.



"Basically, he's got the pieces in there," Caret said.



Obama said the distribution of $150 billion in federal assistance to students is partially responsible for rising college costs. But he wants to redirect that money spigot by giving less aid to colleges that raise tuition and fees and more aid to colleges that keep costs in under control.



"I think he is on the right track in terms of making colleges and universities accountable as far as the real cost of education," said Lynn Pasquerella, Mount Holyoke College president.



But Pasquerella, Caret and Holyoke Community College President William F. Messner all expressed concerns about just how colleges will be ranked and assessed. "I am very dubious about rankings," Messner said. "They can be dreadfully misleading because they assume you can draw broad comparisons across a broad array of institutions."



Circumstances vary greatly even among community colleges, Messner said. The student demographics are different from Holyoke Community College to Springfield Technical Community College to Berkshire to Greenfield. So how, Messner asks, will the federal government compare and contrast community colleges in Massachusetts with those in North Dakota?



Caret said: "It really is a reflection of the readiness of the students academically, financially and emotionally for them to do what they need to do."



Obama also wants to measure colleges and universities according to the future financial success of graduates. But Caret pointed out that different professions pay different rates, even though the world still needs teachers and social workers.



" We don't want to discourage people from going into teaching," Caret said. "I have no problem with it being one data point. But it shouldn't be the whole picture."



Pasquerella said she shares Caret's worry. She said Mount Holyoke is working to connect students more directly with careers and students get paid internships now.



Caret said all of higher education needs to get better at using pipelines, possibly encouraging more students to do their first two years of college at a community college to save money and grow as a student.



Messner said Holyoke Community College costs roughly $5,000 a year, books and fees kick that up about another $1,000.



UMass, Caret said, costs $25,000 to $26,000 a year, including room and board, but student aid can bring that cost down to about $20,000.



Messner said all public colleges in the state, including his and UMass, have been able to keep costs down recently because they have gotten more state money to fill the gaps.



Private Mount Holyoke has kept tuition and fees frozen for two years, Pasquerella said. Tuition, room and board total $53,000, but 80 percent of students get financial aid from the college of about $31,000 a year. The average graduate has $23,000 to $25,000 in debt, she said.



All the financial aid takes fundraising, she said. The money must come from someplace. It takes money to bring in the type of faculty Mount Holyoke wants to hire.



