Jon Marcus

In a high-ceilinged classroom, bright sun poking through the blinds and reflecting off the whiteboard, eight students lug heavy textbooks to their desks and prepare for this afternoon’s lesson:

President Barack Obama wants Washington to grade colleges and universities based on their costs and success rates, but some people are already way ahead of him.

Every year states hand out more than $11 billion in financial aid to college students with no certainty as to whether they’ll ever graduate. Many states don’t track the money. They simply hand it over and hope for the best, as one educational consultant put it. But things are about to change, as several states begin to demand something in exchange for their investments: higher graduation rates.

Danine Adams has taken a few courses at a four-year university, some at a community college and still more online while working all over the country as an investigator for the Federal Bureau of Prisons – career experience that she’s also been able to transform into academic credit.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology students will return from their holiday break to experience something different from their usual studies – but almost as important. It’s the university’s annual “Charm School,” offering instruction in everything from how to make a first impression to how to dress for work to which bread plate to use.