President Barack Obama announced his education plan in late August to decrease college tuition and student-loan costs through educational initiatives and a rating system.

A new college ratings system, with planned implementation by 2015, would allow the U.S. Department of Education to compare college value and encourage colleges to improve services, according to the White House. Aid would be based on the college’s performance by 2018.

Obama said he wants to rate colleges based on tuition costs, graduation rates, debt and graduate earnings and percentage of lower-income students, according to the White House fact sheet.

The president’s plan has been met with opposition by those who feel the proposal is too closely tied with the No Child Left Behind Act as a result of ratings and evaluation.

Former President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act, which became law in 2001 as “an act to close the achievement gap with accountability, flexibility, and choice, so that no child is left behind.”

Sophomore Jared Lareau, UCA Young Democrats president, said Obama’s plan for making college affordable is a good idea.

“Making sure that those who receive grants do good in school is a must, and rating colleges will hopefully enlighten those high school graduates on what schools are worth it,” he said.

Despite his support, Lareau said he is apprehensive that the plan may turn out similar to No Child Left Behind, where he said “schools put more pressure on tests an not education.”

UCA Young Americans for Liberty President senior Britney Logan said the president’s plan is “nearly identical” to No Child Left Behind.

“While NCLB might have been well-intended, it certainly proved to be a dismal failure,” she said.

UCA College Republicans president senior Lydia Dillon said college rating scales are already available.

“You can already look up tuition, loan debt and graduation rate comparisons on colleges,” she said. “If [Obama] really wants to help the middle class he should stop trying to raise interest rates on college loans.

In terms of financial aid, the Obama administration has raised the maximum Pell Grant award to $5,635 for the 2013-14 award year, which is an increase of $905 from 2008, according to the White House.

The president’s “Pay as You Earn” plan enables students to repay loans at 10 percent of monthly income.

Undergraduates will borrow at 3.9 percent for subsidized and unsubsidized loans under the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013, signed into law Aug. 9.

Rates are locked in for a year.

Obama’s college affordability and completion challenge, which aims to increase the number of graduates by controlling tuition costs, has been met with praise and criticism.

Dillon said his plan is one more way for government to control the lives of citizens.

“Our president needs to stop making more projects for the federal government to take on and get our economy and country going back in the right direction,” she said.

Logan said the government needs to abandon the “top-down” approach.

“There is only one logical solution to making college more affordable – getting the government out of education and letting the market work,” she said.

Other portions of Obama’s plans include using technology such as online platforms to “accelerate the pace of student learning” and reducing regulatory barriers for distance education, according to the White House.