Patsy T. Mink: “I would like to read from portions of the letter that all of us received from the American Association of University…”

“I would like to read from portions of the letter that all of us received from the American Association of University Professors urging that we not enact H.R. 1992. In the second page of their letter it says the AAUP recommends, one, accrediting agencies need to do a better, more specific job defining the elements of higher education. What do we mean by a college degree? How much learning goes into that? How universal are educators' expectations for level and breadth of course work across institutional and regional boundaries? Transfers among institutions and transfers among modes of education make these questions inescapable. Two, faculty need to define measures of course work. What is a course? How much learning is going on when an student is engaged in full-time education? What is half of that? What is a quarter of that? Since faculty have not articulated this definition so far, others are filling in with their attempts. The Department has a 12-hour rule. Congress is now considering doing away with all measures except those offered by the lowest common denominator of education providers. Three, the institution of higher education policies engaged in a major study of student credit hours, its uses and effects. By the time the Higher Education Act is due to be reauthorized, this study should yield some thoughtful results.”