Regarding the preliminary draft, he said, "It seemed to be too focused on explaining what a great bargain college is and that college costs haven't risen that high. That wasn't what their job is."

Interest groups have expressed concern that the commission--which includes six college presidents--is not sufficiently representative to make the bold recommendations needed to really affect change.

"Congress set this up to not do much," said Ivan Frishberg, the higher-education-project director at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

"[It's] a little of the fox looking after the hen house," he added, referring to the self-regulatory aspect of the commission.

Erica F. Adelsheimer, legislative director for the U.S. Student Association, agreed.

"We have always felt it was unfortunate that students and families were not represented on the commission," she said.

The homogeneous backgrounds of the commission members are a function of the appointment process. Commission members were chosen individually by senators, representatives and President Clinton--and each wanted their nominee to be an expert in the field, making the choice of a parent or college student far less likely.

--The Associated Press contributed to the reporting of this story.