We all know about the WASL. We all took the SAT.

As far as we know, we’re reaching the end of our standardized-testing careers. Once we’re through high school, we’re home free. Right?

A recent Seattle Times column reported that the U.S. Department of Education said it might start withholding financial aid unless colleges start testing the progress of their graduates. And they might just be on the mark.

Establishing a standardized test system for college graduates wouldn’t be easy. It would need to be specialized to each major to ensure students were at least coming away with an understanding of basic concepts related to their major. Educators need to see if students are walking away with enough knowledge to start out in a career.

Right now, many American universities, including the UW, have no way of tracking the success or knowledge of graduating students. Establishing a standardized system could help professors improve curricula and cater to students’ needs.

Grade inflation is also a problem at colleges, especially ones with immense class sizes like the UW. This problem could potentially be addressed — although not solved — by standardized testing.

These tests shouldn’t be designed to weed anyone out. They wouldn’t even deter graduation. They’re just a way for schools to survey their students and compare curricula with other schools. Professors would be employed to decide what standard of knowledge they think is reasonable for their particular department, and they would be responsible for tweaking these standards as necessary.

What’s the point if people are graduating without some standard of knowledge? And how do we even know if our standards are high enough?

To be able to improve, schools need to be looking back and scrutinizing their work, then learning from mistakes and making corrections. If we never look back, we’ll never improve.