Concerns about the cost of college—and the debt students are taking on to finance their education—are pushing questions of value into the public spotlight. Explore recent headlines and various perspectives on the issue.
New research found students who attended college but didn't earn a credential were more likely to hold a job and earned more than their peers who stopped at high school. These gains were generally bigger for low-income students, women and students of color.
While a recent survey of millennials' opinions on college and student debt shows doubt about the value of higher education, some headlines drastically overstated the concerns.
The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies recently released findings from the “Racial Differences on the Future of Work” survey, which seeks to understand differences and similarities in perceptions of changes in the workplace across different communities. The analysis finds that responders of color were more likely to be interested in pursuing degree or certification programs than their White counterparts and financial constraints are the primary barrier preventing American workers of all backgrounds from pursuing additional job training or higher education.
A new report from the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) in partnership with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) finds that student loan debt is unsustainable for many borrowers, especially borrowers of color. The report provides the historical context for the student debt crisis as both a civil rights and economic justice issue and finds that student debt exacerbates the persistent and growing racial wealth gap.
A recent Business Insider analysis found that earnings for college graduates exceed the earnings for those with less than a bachelor’s degree in every state in the U.S. The analysis calculates the premium for college graduates, measured by the percent difference in median earnings between college graduates and non-college-graduates. In North Dakota, the state with the least difference in earnings, college graduates earn 38 percent more, on average, than non-college graduates.
Bloomberg’s Upward Mobility index, which measures where bachelor's degree holders have the highest premium compared with high school graduates, ranked 400 U.S. metropolitan areas based on a break-even estimation—the length of time needed for the overall earnings of someone who went to college to reach parity with the overall earnings of someone who joined the workforce immediately following high school.
A First Look report from the National Center for Education Statistics describes the educational and employment outcomes of bachelor's degree recipients one year after graduation including time to degree, amount borrowed, employment status, and earnings and job characteristics.
The long-held belief that higher education is the key to social mobility in the U.S. is no longer enough, and society needs to a way to measure, understand, and talk about the value of higher education.
A college degree produces a wage premium as well as significant benefits for individuals, children, and society like a healthier lifestyle and higher rates of participation in civic life, including unpaid volunteering and voting.
Education after high school is becoming a necessity. Here’s a view on why that matters most for students who think – or have been told – college or training isn’t for them.
Despite claims from some that “college isn’t for everyone,” it literally still pays to go to college, especially for diverse population groups. And there are equity issues with the notion that higher education is only right for some.
Liberal arts graduates enjoy high job placement rates and have the foundational learning tools to innovate, adapt, and advance in the workforce.
For most students, a bachelor’s degree is a wise financial investment, but weighing the costs against the expected labor market outcomes is a worthwhile exercise. Postsecondary Value Commission members Anthony Carnevale and Luis Talavera share their insights and a good resource for prospective college students in this article.
Some of the most common misconceptions about debt include the idea that students can pay their way through college by working and that a college degree isn’t worth the debt.
The Postsecondary Value Commission launched with a goal to provide useful information to help colleges understand how and how well they are contributing to economic opportunity for students, aid policy makers in gauging returns on investment in higher education, and equip students and families to make decisions about higher education.
The three-pronged goal of the Postsecondary Value Commission is to develop a definition of the value of college, create a way to measure how individual colleges and universities create value for students and create a set of recommendations for policymakers, politicians, and higher education officials.
The Postsecondary Value Commission intends to create a way of defining and measuring the return on investment that postsecondary education or training delivers.