President Obama unveiled his latest college affordability plan in time for the start of the new school year. Yet his proposal for a government-issued “College Scorecard” shows he needs more homework about why college is so expensive.

Under the president’s plan, starting in 2015, colleges would be rated according to their “value,” measured by tuition prices, the proportion of low-income students enrolled, graduation rates, debt loads carried by graduates, the advanced degrees they attain, and graduates’ earnings. By 2018, federal aid would be dispersed to institutions based on their ratings.