A California-based nonprofit group that grades the states on how well they provide their residents with a higher education is getting ready to grade itself -- a thorough self-evaluation that might result in its closure.

Beginning in January, board members and financial supporters of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education will undertake a "very serious reassessment" of the nonpartisan entity, said Patrick M. Callan, its president, in an interview this week. He said he expected to be able to make an announcement about the center's future by next spring.

The center, which opened in 1998 and has been issuing state-by-state report cards since 2000, could close, merge with another group, or continue in some form, Mr. Callan said. After being around for nearly a decade, he said, "it is time for us to step back and take a hard look."

The center receives most of its financial support from a group of foundations, including the Atlantic Philanthropies, the Ford Foundation, and the Pew Charitable Trusts. Among other analyses and projects, the center has issued a national report card on higher education every two years. The fourth such report is scheduled to be released in September.

Mr. Callan said the center's leaders would discuss, among other things, what financing models might be able to provide continuing support to an organization, like his, that does not bring in its own revenue by selling its products. Board members, financial supporters, and others also have a "deep concern" about how the center's work, including the report-card project, might continue, Mr. Callan added, so that will also be part of the discussion.

(The Chronicle of Higher Education)