The criteria didn’t address many of the concerns raised during a year-and-a-half-long nationwide discussion about the system, but did give some details about how the government will evaluate colleges. GW has already highlighted many of the areas federal education officials have identified in the past year as key areas of improvement for all schools.

Officials said in a release that they would look at the percentage of students receiving Pell Grants, how many lower-income students an institution enrolls, the number of first-generation college students and average net price.

They will also consider completion rates, transfer rates, short-term and long-term earnings, graduate school attendance and the percentage of students who repay their loans.

The administration didn’t detail how it would weigh each area or group together similar colleges. The system won’t rank colleges numerically like organizations such as U.S. News & World Report.

Nearly a year ago, GW launched a college access and affordability task force to find more ways to enroll lower-income students. Over the past several months, Forrest Maltzman, senior vice provost for academic affairs and planning, has led a study about how to improve the University’s graduation rates.

Obama’s plans could run into challenges when the Republicans take over both houses of Congress next month. Lawmakers could cut off funding for the initiative before the ratings have a chance to be released.