With recent talk that standardized testing could be looming on the horizon for college students, some fear the next step will be a No Child Left Behind (NCLB) at the post-secondary education level.

The Commission on the Future of Higher Education is stepping up its efforts to change the face of higher education.

The possibility of attaching federal funding to high-stakes tests for public universities has drawn both caution and criticism.

Commission chairman Charles Miller said in recent years there has been growing concern that college students are not getting the education they need.

The committee thinks that standardized testing could re-focus universities on student progress and make sure they learn the things they need to.

"There is evidence of slippage in college," Miller said. "Employers are saying they need certain skills, and sometimes people graduating don't have them Ã~ they are saying this is not what we want from a college education."

In recent years, there has been increasing pressure from the public and the government to push for accountability in higher education, Bob Reason, research associate for the Center for the Study of Higher Education and a Penn State assistant professor, said.

Though the commission has made no formal proposals, one recommendation gaining steam is the Collegiate Learning Assessment, which measures an institution's quality of education.

"We've identified this as a breakthrough type of test," Miller said.

With the possible introduction of standardized testing, many fear this test will mark a new era for higher education institutions, in which funding for colleges and universities could be affected.

Miller, however, said the connection to NCLB is just a way for critics to avoid the key issues.

"There's not an ounce of likelihood in that," Miller said.

Roger Benjamin, president of the Council for Aid to Education, which helped design the test, said the test was never intended to be used as a measure to allocate federal money to colleges and universities.

"That's the furthest thing from our minds," Benjamin said. "We did this because we think quality matters in undergraduate education and this test can be an assessment tool that institutions use to improve teaching and improve learning."

The essay-formatted test measures critical thinking, analytic reasoning, problem solving and written communication skills -- similar to changes in other tests, like the GRE.

It would be given to freshmen and graduating seniors to measure student progress.

Penn State spokesman Tysen Kendig said using a test like this is always a risky choice. "You need to be very careful when determining funding for an institution as broad and diverse as Penn State," Kendig said. "You can't use any one single indicator."

Reason said he thought the test was a valuable tool to mark student progress, but he questioned its use beyond that.

He said using the Collegiate Learning Assessment to determine federal funding for public universities is not something he would support.

"We have seen it before at the K through 12 level," he said. "Any time you put a high-stakes test in place, you get people teaching for the test as opposed to meeting the needs of individual students Ã~ that's never a good thing."

Anna Griswold, executive director for student aid, said last year Penn State received around $379 million in student aid from federal sources for more than 45,000 students.

"That's what's at stake here if the government provides stipulations to federal aid," Griswold said. "The question is, in my opinion, is it an appropriate thing for the government to do?"