Karen Hughes Selling American Ed to India

I came across this quote from Bush's education envoy Karen Hughes who is on a mission to recruit Indian students . Here's an excerpt:

KAREN HUGHES: We believe we have the highest quality of educational experience available. We also know that India has a very young population — more than 50 percent of the population is under the age of 25, and so India has a growing demand.

MIRANDA KENNEDY: More students from India attend American universities than from any other country, and the U.S. government wants to expand those numbers further, because educating foreign students is big business. Today Karen Hughes said the U.S. is simply playing to its strengths.

KAREN HUGHES: We believe we have the highest quality of educational experience available. We also know that India has a very young population — more than 50 percent of the population is under the age of 25, and so India has a growing demand. During her visit, Hughes met India's prime minister to talk about another way to meet that demand: U.S. schools setting up satellite campuses in India.

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Someone should tip off Bush and Spellings before they blow a good business opportunity in India.

This is from the Department of Education web site:

MARGARET SPELLINGS

Finally, we need to improve accountability at our colleges and universities. We expect clear information and transparency about nearly every big investment we make, from choosing a doctor to buying a car or house. And we have now come to expect accountability from K-12 education through No Child Left Behind.

But despite ever-increasing tuitions at colleges and universities, we do not have a very good idea about what we are getting for all that money. The Federal government has invested hundreds of billions of taxpayers' money and consumers deserve accountability and clear information. Colleges and universities must be more transparent about things like cost and graduation rates so that students and parents can make informed choices about postsecondary education.