By Max Lewontin, Washington

President Obama’s proposed federal college-ratings system is set to be released in time for the 2015 academic year, but if the comments from administrators and researchers at a hearing on Friday are anything to go by, the plan appears to be far from complete.

The ratings system will examine colleges based on measures of access for low-income and first-generation students, on affordability, and on student outcomes. It remains controversial because the ratings could eventually be tied to colleges’ access to federal aid.

At the public-comment hearing—held by the federal Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, which will release a report to Congress on the ratings system at the end of the month—participants repeatedly raised a number of concerns about the plan.

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