The grants, part of the state's HOPE scholarship program, were based on high-school grades rather than financial need. Stephen R. Portch, chancellor of the University System of Georgia, said his state deserves an A-plus in the category. While praising the overall report card for establishing benchmarks of quality, Mr. Portch said he didn't agree with measuring affordability based on financial need alone. We have had years of need-based aid and it hasn't worked. Northeastern states were hurt in affordability because of their heavy dose of private colleges, but they performed well in the completion category for the same reason.
Private colleges tend to move students through more quickly than public institutions do.
In a few cases, states benefited from declining to participate in national data surveys or assessment tests. In the preparation category, seven of the 10 measures were based on a survey of the types of courses students take in high school, or students' scores on national assessment tests. More than half the states were missing some of the data necessary to fully calculate that category. For example, Illinois didn't have data for seven measures of preparation, but still received an A based on its strengths on the other three indicators. What's more, much of the information used in the report was at least two years old.