College scorecard could reveal student debt by school, major

While many colleges already release campuswide debt and average income earnings for graduates, the Education Department is expected to release in the coming weeks new rules that will require universities to refine the data by major, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The goal is to allow prospective students to compare not just schools, but programs within schools, before amassing tens of thousands of dollars worth of debt for a degree that may not pay off.
Student debt in the U.S. has nearly quadrupled since 2005 to $1.4 trillion, most of it extended by the government. A huge chunk is going unpaid, despite low unemployment.
As part of a broader effort to make higher education more market driven and focused on consumer choice, the Trump administration is moving to build out an Obama-era initiative called the College Scorecard. However, it will also supplant an Obama-era plan known as the “gainful employment” rule, which focused government oversight on for-profit colleges.
LSU President F. King Alexander was among higher education leaders in the country who backed the scorecard for U.S. colleges, with hopes it would steer more federal aid and prospective students to LSU and away from underperforming for-profit institutions.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is pushing disclosure requirements for all institutions—including for-profit and nonprofit schools, public and private schools, and undergraduate and graduate programs.
Critics of her approach say the plan places too much financial accountability on students and not enough on schools.
Read the full story.