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(AP) -- A national commission charged with plotting the future of American higher education approved its final recommendations Thursday, calling on the government to provide more aid based on financial need, while telling colleges to be more accountable for what students learn.
A commission member representing nonprofit colleges declined to sign on, however, saying the report reflected too much of a "top down" approach to reform.
The report, which will be delivered to Education Secretary Margaret Spellings in final form next month, recommends that the federal government consolidate its more than 20 financial aid programs and ensure that Pell Grants -- the main aid program for low-income students -- cover at least 70 percent of in-state tuition costs. In 2004-2005, the grants covered less than half.
But it says that colleges should do more to hold down costs, and to better measure what students learn.
The 19-member commission, created by Spellings, has no direct power, but has been closely watched by policy-makers. Because of its diverse membership -- industry, government and for-profit and traditional colleges are represented -- any recommendations all members agreed on would carry substantial weight as Congress, the White House and state governments consider education measures in the future.
In the end, after weeks of negotiations and several drafts, Chairman Charles Miller brought all but one commissioner on board. However the one holdout, David Ward of the American Council on Education, was the primary voice of traditional colleges on the commission, and his refusal to sign on could dilute the report's influence.
Ward said he supported many of the commission's objectives, but opposed "one-size fits all" prescriptions that fail to reflect the differing mission of colleges.
Still, Ward noted several current and past college presidents on the commission signed on to the report at a meeting in Washington, D.C. He said colleges would pay close attention to its calls for reform.
"They now realize if they don't do it to themselves, somebody will do it to them," he said.
Miller removed a recommendation that federally backed student loans be limited to low-income students and that wealthier students instead be steered to private loans. That language had generated significant opposition, including protests from student groups.
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