*This article was edited to reflect a change. The tuition for St. John's University is not "over $50,000" as it was originally stated, but $36,450 for the entire academic year. Also 97 percent of students receive financial assistance.

President Obama's plan for a federal college rating system, with rankings based on overall value, was designed to drive down the cost of college, reward institutions attempting to provide the best education for the lowest price, and overall hold colleges more accountable for the increasingly exorbitant fees they charge. Colleges higher in the rankings would not only benefit publicly, but would reward its students with a greater portion of federal aid, according to the White House's press release from August.

Like most of Obama's proposals, this one's been met with mixed reviews and hasn't yet been completed. (According to the press release, the rankings are supposed to come out before the 2015 academic year.) Aware of the controversies such a list could create and how much it could impact the industry of American colleges, the Education Department has considered and continues to consider advice from a variety of sources. Last week, it released a host of emails from students, professors, high school counselors, college presidents, etc. at the request of Inside Higher Ed, citing the Freedom of Information Act.

Just like the town-hall meetings and conferences involving college presidents and students that preceded it, the emails were mixed, and filled with concern, according to Inside Higher Ed. One of the primary concerns -- that the rankings would overemphasize post graduate earnings in calculating overall value -- however, wasn't even a bullet point in the White House's press release and, given Obama's background, shouldn't really be much of a concern anyway. As not only a Democrat but a fervent supporter of education and social reform, Obama would be highly unlikely to "punish colleges for producing graduates in important but lower-earning fields, such as teaching or nonprofit work," as reported by Inside Higher Ed. Amazingly, a poll conducted by Inside Higher Ed and Gallup in December found the same concern over post graduate earnings among college presidents.

Some emails were more supportive, including one from the non profit group, Education Trust, which called the ranking system a potential way to track the success and achievement gaps of minority students.