Dive Brief:

• Thursday’s second annual White House higher education summit displayed a balancing act between the Obama Administration’s interest in promoting the value and successes of colleges and universities while holding their feet to the fire on issues like rising tuition.
• President Barack Obama’s speech at the event touched on frustrations with tuition increases, but mostly touted the importance of college for boosting the U.S. in its global competition and for improving the quality of life for low-income families, Inside Higher Ed reported.
• Vice President Joe Biden played bad cop, criticizing college presidents for rising costs and rising tuition, and Michelle Obama spoke about the issue of inequalities in college advising between low-income and wealthier students.

Dive Insight:

The summit was also, undoubtedly, a nonpareil opportunity for hobnobbing and networking between college and university presidents and the Washington crowd, just before the expected release of the U.S. Department of Education’s college ratings system. Included on the long list of commitments announced at the summit are promises by 14 members of the National Association of System Heads, which aim to increase their graduate numbers by 350,000 by 2025 using predictive analytics. Those analytics would help put students in majors where they have the best chances of success, produce the best methods for helping academically challenged students master developmental math and identify best practices for completing college.