From the AP today:

Education Secretary Margaret Spellings plans to announce a major initiative today to address that problem: a commission charged with developing ''a comprehensive national strategy for postsecondary education," according to remarks in an advance copy of a speech she is expected to deliver at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte…

The announcement was made amid growing concerns that the relative independence of US colleges and universities -- though a strength in many respects -- can also be a disadvantage in competing with other countries.

Before the US government goes “fixing” higher education, maybe they should take a look at the Top 500 World Universities. 

We’re all for making America’s higher education system more competitive on the world stage, but we’re not sticklers.

Of the world’s top 20 universities, 17 are in the United States.