In an effort to make college more affordable and lower the costs, President Barack Obama came up with a set of proposals and introduced them Thursday. The proposals center around one important thing: college rankings.

Obama's plans involve rating colleges before the 2015 school year based on tuition, graduation rates, debt and earnings of graduates, and the percentage of lower-income students who attend. This will make colleges more accountable for their prices and force them to compete with their peers. The hope is that these college ratings will tie into financial aid by 2018.

In order for this plan to go into effect, Congress has to approve it.

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