tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/value-of-college-degree-26882/articlesValue of college degree – The Conversation2022-02-02T13:06:38Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1754202022-02-02T13:06:38Z2022-02-02T13:06:38ZWhy community college students quit despite being almost finished<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443834/original/file-20220201-21-1i3f85v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=51%2C25%2C8595%2C5730&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Six out of 10 community college students do not earn a degree. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/masked-university-students-in-class-royalty-free-image/1282751513?adppopup=true">FatCamera E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Community colleges are designed to make college <a href="https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674425934">more accessible</a>, yet <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d20/tables/dt20_326.40.asp?current=yes">6 out of every 10</a> community college students cannot reap the full rewards of higher education because they do not earn their degree. For graduates, rewards often include <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2016.03.010">making more money</a>. For society, the reward is citizens who are more likely to <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/796979">vote, volunteer</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-009-9156-5">pay more in taxes</a>.</p>
<p>Among community college students who drop out, there are a few who are really close to being finished. Nationally, about 10% of all students who leave college without a degree are only a few credits shy of graduation. They are also the most likely to <a href="https://nscresearchcenter.org/some-college-no-degree-2019/">re-enroll and graduate</a>. Some colleges are trying to identify former students and persuade them to come back using a <a href="https://www.highereddive.com/news/how-colleges-are-bringing-back-stopped-out-students/556706/">variety of methods</a> that include <a href="https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/reports/predictive-analytics-in-higher-education/">data analytics</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373720979177">discounts on tuition</a>. </p>
<p>Using these tools, however, isn’t always easy. Community college students who leave early rarely tell school administrators why they left. If colleges heard directly from students about why they drop out, the schools could help them with targeted resources. Or, better yet, they might be able to prevent students from dropping out in the first place.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584211065724">our recent peer-reviewed study</a>, we contacted over 27,000 former students of five large and diverse community colleges in Florida who had left in the prior four years without a degree. They had stopped taking classes despite having a C average or better and at least half the credits necessary for an associate degree. We asked them to choose from a list of possible reasons explaining why they left. As researchers focused on issues of <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=AG3UaBIAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">access and equity</a> in <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=SYKpu0UAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">community colleges</a>, we identified 11 of the most important reasons they gave.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443803/original/file-20220201-19-klhvhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman stares at a credit card while her laptop is open." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443803/original/file-20220201-19-klhvhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443803/original/file-20220201-19-klhvhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443803/original/file-20220201-19-klhvhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443803/original/file-20220201-19-klhvhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443803/original/file-20220201-19-klhvhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443803/original/file-20220201-19-klhvhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443803/original/file-20220201-19-klhvhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Community college students often drop out due to an inability to pay tuition and fees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/african-woman-using-laptop-and-having-problems-with-royalty-free-image/1147656368?adppopup=true">Vladimir Vladimirov via E+ Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>1. Costs were too high</h2>
<p>Direct financial costs were the most common reasons for early exit from community colleges, even though the colleges are <a href="https://research.collegeboard.org/pdf/trends-college-pricing-student-aid-2021.pdf">typically more affordable</a> than four-year schools. Over half of the former students in our survey, 53%, said they left due to the cost of tuition and fees. An additional 25% cited the cost of textbooks. Our findings are in line with prior studies of students at four-year colleges that found students also sometimes leave college due to <a href="http://doi.org/10.1177/1521025118800263">an inability to pay</a> tuition and fees.</p>
<h2>2. Living expenses were also too high</h2>
<p>Students sometimes drop out for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/685442">financial reasons</a> that have little to do with school. For instance, the cost of rent, utilities, health care, child care and food may simply be too much to bear in addition to going to school. This is reflected in the 48% of former students who told us living expenses were a reason they left early.</p>
<h2>3. Ran out of financial aid</h2>
<p>Just under 43% of students told us they left college because they lost eligibility for financial aid. Students can lose aid for a variety of reasons, such as if they fail to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2016.03.014">keep their grades up</a> or do not <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-016-9413-3">finish their degree fast enough</a>.</p>
<h2>4. Unpredictable schedules</h2>
<p>One out of every five college students is a parent, and <a href="https://iwpr.org/iwpr-issues/student-parent-success-initiative/parents-in-college-by-the-numbers/">nearly half of those students</a> go to a community college. These students face many <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/08841241.2011.569590">demands on their time</a> related to work and child care. Among the leavers, 33% said they left because of problems with unpredictable schedules when it comes to work and family obligations. Those between the ages of 26 and 49 were twice as likely as younger and older students to say that unreliable child care contributed to their leaving. Women of all ages were more than twice as likely as men to cite child care difficulties.</p>
<h2>5. Students lacked key information</h2>
<p>Many community college students say they do not know what they need to do in order to graduate. They also say their academic advising is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0091552114525834">limited or impersonal</a>. About 24% of former students stopped going to school in part because they were unsure about which courses to take next.</p>
<h2>6. Students wrongly thought they had holds placed on their accounts</h2>
<p>About 16% of former students said they could not register due to a financial hold on their school account. However, our study was designed so that it did not include any students who had holds that would keep them from taking classes. This indicates that former students had incorrect information, which is possibly due to limited time with advisers or miscommunication. Hispanic and Black former students were over two and three times more likely, respectively, than white former students to say they could not register due to a financial hold.</p>
<h2>7. Health emergencies</h2>
<p>About 17% of all former students said that a health emergency contributed to their early exit. The percentage was even higher – over 20% – for those over 50.</p>
<h2>8. Students got a new job or lost their job</h2>
<p>Most part-time community college students <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/pdf/coe_ssa.pdf">work while in college</a>. For that reason, changes to their work life can affect their ability to go to school. About 34% of all former students said they left school due to a switch from part-time to full-time employment. About 15% exited early due to a promotion, and 13% left because they needed to take on a second job. Conversely, 12% said they left early because they lost their job. Men were more likely than women – 22% to 13% – to say that a change in career led them to leave college before earning their degree.</p>
<h2>9. Math and science courses were too difficult</h2>
<p>Many community college students, for a variety of reasons, are <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/book/making-college-work/">not prepared</a> to take college-level classes. So many struggle to meet math and science requirements. Indeed, 25% of former students told us they left college because they found the math and science courses too hard.</p>
<h2>10. Students lacked strong connections to campus</h2>
<p>Students often leave college when they do not feel a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2012.0068">strong connection</a> to the school or its community. Of the former students we surveyed, 11% said they left in part because they did not have many friends on campus, while 8% said they did not feel welcome on campus. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443806/original/file-20220201-17-1phda6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman gets frustrated at her laptop." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443806/original/file-20220201-17-1phda6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443806/original/file-20220201-17-1phda6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443806/original/file-20220201-17-1phda6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443806/original/file-20220201-17-1phda6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443806/original/file-20220201-17-1phda6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443806/original/file-20220201-17-1phda6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443806/original/file-20220201-17-1phda6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Some students express frustration with their online experience.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/license/518587950?adppopup=true">stock_colors via E+ Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>11. Online coursework and unreliable internet access</h2>
<p>Though we surveyed students before the COVID-19 pandemic, which <a href="https://collegecrisis.org/covid-19-data-dashboard/">closed campuses and shifted much learning online</a>, many former students indicated that factors related to internet access and online coursework led them to leave without a degree. About 25% of former students cited difficulty learning on their own in an online environment. Another 24% stated they did not have enough interaction with the online course instructor, and 9% said they did not have enough interaction with their peers in online courses. About 7% of all former students and 11% of Black former students said unreliable internet access led them to leave school.</p>
<h1>What could be done</h1>
<p>Community college students who drop out of school for any period of time are much less likely to graduate than their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2017.10.001">peers who stay in school</a>. To increase the number of students who earn their degree, it would be beneficial if community colleges sought to keep students from leaving in the first place. We believe a few practices might help.</p>
<p><strong>Target financial resources:</strong> Community colleges may wish to provide targeted financial assistance to students who are close to finishing their degree but are running out of financial aid. This last bit of support may be what these students need to cross the finish line.</p>
<p><strong>Provide better information and advising:</strong> In order for students to better understand which classes they need to take to graduate – or whether they are still eligible to take classes – community colleges must ensure all students have accurate information. This is particularly important for <a href="https://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/publications/defending-community-college-equity-agenda.html">equitable outcomes</a> for students from different backgrounds. </p>
<p><strong>Strengthen the online learning experience:</strong> Finally, for students to feel supported and connected to their instructors and peers, community colleges should continue to improve online course offerings. Community colleges with strong online offerings may be able to offer students the flexibility they need to complete their degree as they also work and take care of their families.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Justin Ortagus receives funding from the National Science Foundation, the Helios Education Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the William T. Grant Foundation, Arnold Ventures, and the Joyce Foundation. The study referenced in this article was funded by the Helios Education Foundation, but the views expressed therein remain the sole responsibility of the authors.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benjamin Skinner and Melvin Tanner do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Community college students reveal some of the top reasons why they leave school without a degree.Benjamin Skinner, Assistant Professor of Higher Education and Policy, University of FloridaJustin Ortagus, Associate Professor of Higher Education Administration and Policy, University of FloridaMelvin Tanner, Senior Research Analyst, Office of Institutional Planning and Research, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1712792022-01-13T13:01:34Z2022-01-13T13:01:34ZBeyond social mobility, college students value giving back to society<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433152/original/file-20211122-23-3or4zq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C7856%2C5261&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">First-generation college students say higher education is a way for them to improve their families' lives, and their own.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/young-students-at-the-college-campus-walking-to-royalty-free-image/1165150874">Hispanolistic/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em> </p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>Students who are the first in their family to attend college tend to see it as a means to improve their personal lives and as an opportunity for social mobility. That contrasts with the main message students get from policymakers and universities that largely emphasize career growth.</p>
<p>This is the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2021.1979849">main finding from interviews</a> we conducted with 21 undergraduate students at the University of California, Davis interested in education as a possible career. Eleven of the students were first generation. The rest were what we call continuing education students; that is, people whose parents went to college. They were all either sophomores, juniors or seniors.</p>
<p>Our aim was to understand how first-generation students view the role of higher education in their lives and in society. </p>
<p>Students tend to hear from parents, educators and policymakers that a college degree should mainly be thought of as <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/thirteen-economic-facts-about-social-mobility-and-the-role-of-education/">a ticket to a better career path</a>.</p>
<p>But in the interviews, we found that students weigh many goals when pursuing a college degree – ones that frequently shifted from primarily social mobility to other, broader goals. These include professional development, learning for the sake of intellectual growth, pursuing careers with a purpose beyond earning potential, and contributing to society.</p>
<p>Most of the first-generation students we interviewed focused on social justice efforts like giving back to their communities and disrupting systemic inequities. </p>
<p>For example, one student majoring in Chicana and Chicano studies and minoring in education said that even though teachers do not make a lot of money, her college education will allow her to help kids in low-income communities.</p>
<p>Students whose parents went to college typically said they see education as a way to help them become better citizens and critical thinkers. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>For over a century, scholars and policymakers have debated the purposes of college. </p>
<p>Increasingly, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2021.1979849">these conversations</a> have emphasized social mobility, viewed as a private benefit, along with a combination of public goals, such as training workers and preparing citizens. Surveys show that more students are <a href="https://www.heri.ucla.edu/monographs/50YearTrendsMonograph2016.pdf">entering college to make more money</a>, compared with the 1960s, when students sought a higher education for more holistic reasons, such as seeking a meaningful purpose in life. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2021.1979849">Other scholars</a> suggest that students have not fundamentally changed in what they expect. Rather, they say the way that colleges are funded has changed, with more of the cost falling on <a href="http://pellinstitute.org/downloads/publications-Indicators_of_Higher_Education_Equity_in_the_US_2021_Historical_Trend_Report.pdf">students and their families</a>. </p>
<p>Our study confirms that some students still seek purpose above financial wealth.</p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>Our study may not reflect the views of students with other career interests or areas of study beyond education. Most of the first-generation students were also Latina or Latino. The perspectives of first-generation peers from other racial backgrounds may differ. </p>
<p>Also, we only captured students’ views at one point in time. Their thoughts about their college education and what they hope to gain from it may continue to evolve, even after they graduate and enter the workforce. </p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>In future studies, we plan to explore students’ expectations about what a college education provides at different points of their studies. We also will consider how students’ goals may differ by their major or the type of institutions they attend. As more institutions seek ways to best support first-generation students, understanding what students expect and value from college, and throughout college, remains important to examine further.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Students who are the first in their family to attend college view a college degree differently than children of college-educated parents, researchers find.Marcela G. Cuellar, Associate Professor of Higher Education Leadership, University of California, DavisAlicia Bencomo Garcia, Ph.D. Student, University of California, DavisKem Saichaie, Director of Learning & Teaching, University of California, DavisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1225252019-09-12T11:05:47Z2019-09-12T11:05:47ZThe problem with the push for more college degrees<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291347/original/file-20190906-175668-1jj8inb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">President Obama sought to make the United States the most college-educated nation in the world by 2020.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/graduating-studentspupil-hands-gown-trowing-graduation-1407666926?src=JD_i1FJ0cmwcUuQrx4p8-w-1-20">RIDTHISING/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a 2009 speech, President Barack Obama <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/video/EVR022409#transcript">proclaimed</a> that by 2020, the United States will “once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.”</p>
<p>As we near 2020, it is worth asking how close are we to reaching that lofty goal and what have been the results of focusing so intently on college graduation rates as a sign of success.</p>
<p>Based on my work as a historian of education and a <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781421429885">book I wrote recently</a> on the purpose of college, I argue that a focus on degree attainment discounts the value of what a true college education provides. It places more emphasis on the piece of paper and less on the experience of college. This is harmful because it creates an impetus to expand the number of degrees without necessarily devoting resources to increase access to college education.</p>
<h2>State support declines</h2>
<p>The number of Americans 25 years or older with a college degree <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2017/cb17-51.html">continues to rise</a>, from <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2011/2011016/outcomes.asp?type=8">29.5%</a> in 2009 to about <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d17/tables/dt17_104.60.asp">35%</a> in 2016.</p>
<p>However, despite the Obama administration’s 2020 college completion goal, state support for public colleges has <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/most-americans-dont-realize-state-funding-for-higher-ed-fell-by-billions">fallen by about US$9 billion</a> over the past decade. In addition, <a href="https://www.questia.com/magazine/1P4-1946222730/gaps-in-degree-attainment-remain">large gaps</a> in degree attainment remain between wealthy and poorer Americans and between racial and ethnic groups. Moreover, despite a <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2017/comm/cb17-51_educational_attainment.htm">steady increase</a> in college degree attainment, the United States remains <a href="https://hechingerreport.org/10-years-later-goal-of-getting-more-americans-through-college-is-way-behind-schedule/">13th in the world</a> in the proportion of 25- to 34-year-olds who have earned a college degree. </p>
<p>In this context, elected leaders on both sides of the aisle, from <a href="https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/president-obama-recognizes-wgu-for-innovation/article_82f026e1-59f7-53a2-aac7-3eea249327d7.html">Obama</a> to former Wisconsin governor <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/02/16/gov-scott-walker-mixes-it-higher-education-generating-national-headlines">Scott Walker</a>, called for new institutions and programs to provide fast, easy and cheaper access to degrees, instead of the time, curricula and professors that define a college education.</p>
<h2>New models emerge</h2>
<p>Responding to the call to speed students’ progress toward degrees, new nonprofit institutions such as <a href="https://contexts.org/articles/the-education-assembly-line/#neem">Western Governors University</a> and Southern New Hampshire University’s <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2019/03/28/meet-the-english-professor-creating-the-billion-dollar-college-of-the-future/#b104b71426ba">College for America</a> established online programs to award students credit for prior learning and meeting predetermined “competencies.” </p>
<p>Simultaneously, public colleges such as <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/mollyhensleyclancy/the-new-american-university-massive-online-and-corporate-bac">Arizona State University</a> and <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/mollyhensleyclancy/the-new-american-university-massive-online-and-corporate-bac">Purdue University</a> partnered with private corporations such as <a href="https://asunow.asu.edu/content/asu-partners-pearson-expand-online-learning">Pearson</a> and <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2019/01/09/purdue-prepares-online-expansion-support-newly-acquired-profit">Kaplan</a>, respectively, to offer large numbers of online degrees without the kind of professorial oversight and interaction available to students on campus. </p>
<p>These approaches emphasize degree completion instead of the kinds of intellectual experiences that define a college education.</p>
<h2>Elements of a college education</h2>
<p>In my new book, <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781421429885">“What’s the Point of College?</a>,” I argue that what makes college distinct from other kinds of education is that a college education is not reducible to training. </p>
<p>I also argue that a college education does not just certify competency but expands the mind in unpredictable ways. A college education requires time and interactions with professors and peers. And most of all, a college education requires opportunities to think without placing a value or seeking a specific outcome on the thought. Colleges should, ideally, encourage such reflection and insight.</p>
<p>I believe Obama’s aspiration to increase the number of college graduates came at the cost of paying attention to the education that colleges should offer. The 2020 college completion goal shows that it is possible to increase the number of Americans with a college degree without necessarily increasing the number of Americans with a college education.</p>
<h2>A degree’s worth</h2>
<p>Certainly, the United States should support good-faith efforts to increase job training for people with or without college degrees. Many of the <a href="https://money.usnews.com/money/careers/slideshow/25-best-jobs-that-dont-require-a-college-degree">fastest-growing jobs</a>, in such fields as <a href="https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/dental-hygienists.htm">dental hygiene</a>, <a href="https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/home.htm">health care support</a> and <a href="https://www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-and-extraction/construction-laborers-and-helpers.htm">construction</a>, require specialization but not a college education.</p>
<p>However, I worry that a focus on economic outcomes could go too far. Recently, for example, the Gates Foundation called for the evaluation of all college degrees based on their economic payoff. That is to say, the Gates Foundation wants to determine <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-gates-funded-commission-aims-to-put-a-value-on-a-college-education-116930">which degrees are a worthwhile investment</a>. This would repeat the mistake of the Obama administration by again emphasizing the short-term salary gains of a college degree, rather than the broadening of the mind that comes with a college education. The emphasis that the Gates Foundation is placing on the economic value of a college degree threatens what makes college worthwhile – not just intellectually but also financially.</p>
<p>A college education is valuable in the labor market precisely because it cannot be reduced to one set of skills. What makes college graduates desirable is their ability to think broadly about the world and their capacity to use language and numbers well. These outcomes are achieved by immersing people for a portion of their lives on campuses devoted to thinking as an end in itself. </p>
<p>As 2020 approaches, I see a need for the United States to abandon its focus on degrees and instead support Americans – whether young or old, first-generation or legacy, poor or rich – to gain access to a true college education. This requires transforming America’s colleges to make them available to people in all stages of life.</p>
<p>Older people, often with mortgages, children or aging parents, need real and meaningful support to pursue a college education. If we Americans want more college-educated citizens, we must care about more than counting degrees.</p>
<p>
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<img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248894/original/file-20181204-133095-1p2xxs2.png?w=128&h=128">
<div>
<header>Johann N. Neem is the author of:</header>
<p><a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781421429885">What’s the Point of College?</a></p>
<footer>Johns Hopkins University Press provides funding as a member of The Conversation US.</footer>
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</section>
</p>
<p>[ <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=expertise">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get a digest of academic takes on today’s news, every day.</a></em> ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122525/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Johns Hopkins University Press provides funding as a member of The Conversation US.</span></em></p>Efforts to get more Americans to earn a college degree steal attention from what makes up a college education, a historian of education argues.Johann N. Neem, Professor of American History, Western Washington UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1169302019-05-16T04:06:43Z2019-05-16T04:06:43ZNew Gates-funded commission aims to put a value on a college education<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274783/original/file-20190516-69186-od7geq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A growing movement is forming to focus on the economic benefits of a college degree.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/vector-concept-investment-education-coins-books-232590190?src=0edn1SoedJ2gVKtXU0as8A-1-1">Alex Oakenman from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Gates Foundation is poised to disrupt American higher education with a new <a href="http://postsecondaryvalue.org/">Postsecondary Value Commission</a>. As its name suggests, the commission aims to define the value of a college degree.</p>
<p>Among other things, the commission plans to “aid policymakers in gauging what the public gets for its investment in higher education.” If Congress listens to the commission, it could become harder for students majoring in the liberal arts or humanities to secure a federal loan or grant. </p>
<p>As a political scientist who <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=uUXDvV4AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">researches education policy</a>, I anticipate that the country will move to a two-tiered system. It will be one in which the affluent will be able to acquire a liberal arts education at elite private institutions, while students who depend on federal financial aid will be steered toward career-focused majors at public universities.</p>
<p>In effect, the country will have one higher education system for the rich and another one for everyone else.</p>
<h2>The goals of the commission</h2>
<p>The Gates Foundation has convened this commission to address a real problem: student debt. Total student loan debt in 2019 is <a href="https://medium.com/forbes/student-loan-debt-statistics-in-2019-a-1-5-trillion-crisis-5b0d975e252f">US$1.56 trillion</a>. There are <a href="https://medium.com/forbes/student-loan-debt-statistics-in-2019-a-1-5-trillion-crisis-5b0d975e252f">44.7 million</a> U.S. borrowers with student loan debt.</p>
<p>The commission will address a question that is on the minds of many families, policymakers and taxpayers. And that is: Is college worth it?</p>
<p>The commission will propose a definition of college value to guide policy conversations. In a conference call with reporters, Mildred Garcia, the commission co-chair, shared that she had just spent a day on Capitol Hill talking with legislators. She stated that “we are definitely hoping” that the commission’s work will “affect” the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act that controls – among other things – how federal student aid is disbursed.</p>
<p>Just as the Gates Foundation pulled off a revolution in K-12 education with its <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-bill-gates-pulled-off-the-swift-common-core-revolution/2014/06/07/a830e32e-ec34-11e3-9f5c-9075d5508f0a_story.html">support for the Common Core</a>, the foundation is serious about using policy advocacy and lobbying to enact “<a href="https://postsecondary.gatesfoundation.org/updates/help-wanted-supporting-colleges-and-universities-on-the-road-to-transformation/">institutional transformation</a>” of higher education. </p>
<p>For instance, commission member Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, recently noted how a recent move by President Donald Trump to focus more on outcomes of specific programs at colleges and universities is “one more step toward a widely supported movement to reorder higher education as we have known it.”</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274786/original/file-20190516-69169-16e4jxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274786/original/file-20190516-69169-16e4jxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274786/original/file-20190516-69169-16e4jxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274786/original/file-20190516-69169-16e4jxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274786/original/file-20190516-69169-16e4jxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274786/original/file-20190516-69169-16e4jxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274786/original/file-20190516-69169-16e4jxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274786/original/file-20190516-69169-16e4jxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, is a member of the new Postsecondary Value Commission.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://cew.georgetown.edu/about-us/staff/anthony-p-carnevale/">Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“In a shift toward program-level outcomes, every college will be unbundled down to the program level – its identity, traditions and structure will become less important,” Carnevale wrote in an opinion piece titled “<a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2019/03/26/president-trumps-embrace-program-level-earnings-data-game-changing-opinion">The Revolution is Upon Us</a>.”</p>
<p>“Instead,” Carnevale wrote, “the outcomes of students in each particular major or field will be elevated in importance.”</p>
<p>Carnevale seemed to be aware of the potential threat this poses to the liberal arts. He wrote that society will have to “think of new models for assuring core liberal arts curricula that are essential to the well-rounded learning that students need.”</p>
<h2>Impact in question</h2>
<p>While the Gates commission aims to educate students and families about which colleges and majors are a worthwhile investment, this approach alone may not have much impact. </p>
<p>Presently, the U.S. Department of Education’s <a href="https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/">College Scorecard</a> collects and publicizes information about the debts and earnings of graduates from different colleges. </p>
<p>However, research <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2016/04/29/is-college-choice-impacted-by-data-in-the-college-scorecard/">has shown</a> that most students do not respond to earnings data provided by the College Scorecard. It’s true that colleges with graduates who have <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2016/04/29/is-college-choice-impacted-by-data-in-the-college-scorecard/">higher median earnings</a> have seen a slight rise in the SAT scores of students who enroll. The College Scorecard has also had some effect on where students from affluent public or private schools attend, but otherwise the College Scorecard <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2768157">does not</a> influence who goes to college or where.</p>
<h2>Accountable to whom?</h2>
<p>So how can this commission transform American higher education where earlier reforms have not worked? By encouraging Congress to make federal loans and grants available to students in some majors, such as engineering or business, where graduates tend to <a href="https://1gyhoq479ufd3yna29x7ubjn-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Economic-Value-of-College-Majors-Full-Report-web-FINAL.pdf">earn a high salary</a> upon graduation. Conversely, Congress might be moved to make loans and grants unavailable for students in other majors, such as theology or humanities, where <a href="https://1gyhoq479ufd3yna29x7ubjn-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Economic-Value-of-College-Majors-Full-Report-web-FINAL.pdf">graduates do not earn as much</a>. </p>
<p>Congress has already entertained this idea with the PROSPER Act. This higher education bill would have <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-accountability-efforts-in-higher-education-often-fail-91716">ended access to federal student loans</a> for students enrolled in programs with low loan repayment rates. </p>
<p>Democratic senators such as <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2019/03/18/cassidy-warren-reintroduce-college-transparency-act">Elizabeth Warren</a> of Massachusetts have co-sponsored the <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2019/03/18/cassidy-warren-reintroduce-college-transparency-act">College Transparency Act</a>. The act permits the federal government to collect earnings data on graduates from specific college programs and majors. </p>
<p>Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, wants to <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/02/05/alexander-lays-out-vision-new-higher-ed-law">rewrite the Higher Education Act</a> to collect data on program-level outcomes. </p>
<p>Even President Donald Trump has joined on the higher education accountability bandwagon, signing an <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/sites/default/server_files/media/White%20House%20Executive%20Order.pdf">executive order</a> requiring the College Scorecard to publish program-level average earnings and loan repayment rates. </p>
<p>Where will this higher education accountability movement lead? </p>
<p>According to Carnevale, it will lead to a “streamlining” of public university systems. Students at the flagship public university will still be able to major in English. But higher education must become accountable to stakeholders who don’t want to subsidize <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2019/03/26/president-trumps-embrace-program-level-earnings-data-game-changing-opinion">“mediocre programs”</a> on every branch campus. </p>
<h2>Democracy and the liberal arts</h2>
<p>Would it be a tragedy if society did not subsidize young people to major, if they so wish, in the liberal arts or humanities? Yes.</p>
<p>By focusing on the economic returns of higher education, the commission may lead policymakers to put less weight on the other reasons that students go to college, including to read humanity’s greatest books, grapple with big questions about justice, study in other countries, work at internships and think about what to do with the rest of one’s life.</p>
<p><em>Editor’s note: The Conversation has received funding from the Gates Foundation.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116930/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas Tampio does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A political scientist explains how a new commission that wants to measure the economic value of a college degree could end up devaluing the liberal arts.Nicholas Tampio, Professor of Political Science, Fordham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/942082018-04-30T10:46:06Z2018-04-30T10:46:06Z3 vital ways to measure how much a university education is worth<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212698/original/file-20180329-189807-ptiqgs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The U.S. continues to wrestle with questions about the value of a college degree.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/education-money-concept-hand-holding-graduation-420132469?src=3bmI7mw6H3BMg6IX9p0b3w-1-98">ByEmo/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: Today we begin a new series in which we ask the leaders of our country’s colleges and universities to address some of the most pressing issues in higher education</em>.</p>
<p>The past several years have seen increased calls for colleges and universities to demonstrate their value to students, families and taxpayers. And the pressure has come from both sides of the political spectrum. Barack Obama, for example, didn’t mince his words <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2012/01/27/remarks-president-college-affordability-ann-arbor-michigan">when he spoke</a> a few years ago on the University of Michigan campus: “We are putting colleges on notice…you can’t assume that you’ll just jack up tuition every single year. If you can’t stop tuition from going up, then the funding you get from taxpayers each year will go down. We should push colleges to do better.” </p>
<p>So how is a would-be student or a tax-paying citizen to decide the value of a given university or degree? There is certainly no shortage of tools that have been developed to help in this regard.</p>
<p>The federal <a href="https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/fact-sheet-obama-administration-announces-release-new-scorecard-data">College Scorecard,</a> for example, is meant to “help students choose a school that is well-suited to meet their needs, priced affordably, and is consistent with their educational and career goals.”</p>
<p>Various magazines put together college rankings. There have been <a href="http://www.aei.org/publication/degrees-of-opportunity-lessons-learned-from-state-level-data-on-postsecondary-earnings-outcomes/">efforts at the state level</a> to show what graduates of a given institution or program can expect to earn. And some colleges and universities are working to provide those <a href="https://seekut.utsystem.edu/seekuttool">data</a> themselves.</p>
<p>So we asked our panel of presidents – from the University of Michigan, University of Oregon and The Ohio State University: If you had to devise just one tool or metric to help the general public assess the value of a particular college or degree, what would it be and why?</p>
<h2>Greater life expectancy</h2>
<p><strong>Michael Drake, president of The Ohio State University</strong> </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216688/original/file-20180427-135840-5dgkkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216688/original/file-20180427-135840-5dgkkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=789&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216688/original/file-20180427-135840-5dgkkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=789&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216688/original/file-20180427-135840-5dgkkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=789&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216688/original/file-20180427-135840-5dgkkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=991&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216688/original/file-20180427-135840-5dgkkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=991&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216688/original/file-20180427-135840-5dgkkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=991&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Michael Drake, president of The Ohio State University.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://president.osu.edu/presidents/drake/">The Ohio State University</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When I ask individuals if they want their own children to attend college, the answer is, overwhelmingly, yes. The <a href="https://apnews.com/28d286cd8fa746f58ad18f79e73b19f1/pay-gap-between-college-grads-and-everyone-else-record">evidence is clear</a>. College graduates are more likely to be employed and more likely to earn more than those without degrees. <a href="https://www.collegetransitions.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/hout-returns-to-college-education.pdf">Studies</a> also indicate that people with college degrees have higher levels of happiness and engagement, better health and longer lives.</p>
<p>Wow.</p>
<p>If living a longer, healthier and happier life is a good thing, then, yes, college is worth it.</p>
<p>A four-year degree is not necessarily the best path for everyone, of course. Many people find their lives are enhanced by earning a two-year or technical degree. For others, none of these options is the perfect choice. But if there is one data point I want to highlight, it is the correlation between a college education and greater life expectancy. In fact, <a href="https://www.luminafoundation.org/files/resources/its-not-just-the-money.pdf">one study</a> suggests that those who attend college live, on average, seven years longer.</p>
<p>Last year was <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db293.htm">the second year in a row</a> that average life expectancy in the U.S. went down. But greater mortality didn’t affect all Americans equally. Studies point to <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2513561?redirect=true">a growing gap in life expectancy</a> between rich and poor. Higher education may, in other words, be part of the solution to this problem.</p>
<p>This is just one of the reasons that so many of our country’s institutions of higher learning are focused on the question of how to make sure more Americans have access to a quality – and affordable – college education.</p>
<p>Since December 2016, the <a href="https://americantalentinitiative.org/">American Talent Initiative</a>, a coalition of 100 (and counting) colleges and universities, has been working to educate 50,000 additional lower-income students by 2025. In another initiative, the 11 public universities in the <a href="http://www.theuia.org/#home">University Innovation Alliance</a> are committed to producing more U.S. graduates and have, over the past three years, increased their <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/09/25/research-universities-partner-increase-low-income-student-graduation">number of low-income graduates by 24.7 percent</a>.</p>
<p>As educators, we must continue to increase pathways to the American Dream — a journey that includes health, happiness, long life and, very often, a college degree.</p>
<h2>Social mobility</h2>
<p><strong>Michael Schill, president of the University of Oregon</strong></p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216724/original/file-20180428-135840-9e14xh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216724/original/file-20180428-135840-9e14xh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216724/original/file-20180428-135840-9e14xh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216724/original/file-20180428-135840-9e14xh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216724/original/file-20180428-135840-9e14xh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216724/original/file-20180428-135840-9e14xh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216724/original/file-20180428-135840-9e14xh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Michael Schill, president of the University of Oregon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://around.uoregon.edu/content/president-schill-outlines-plan-boost-research-academics">University of Oregon</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While it is impossible to devise only one indicator to describe the value of a university, I would suggest that a good place to begin would be the number of first-generation students it admits and the rate at which they graduate.</p>
<p>As a first-generation college student myself, I may be somewhat biased, but I believe that our generation will be judged by how well we enhance the opportunities for social mobility among our citizens. And despite some skepticism about the value of higher education on the part of pundits and politicians, it is <a href="https://president.uoregon.edu/content/oregon-commitment-student-access-and-success#Degree_value">well-documented</a> that there is no better way for young people to achieve the “American Dream” than by getting a college degree.</p>
<p>Note that my metric is really two – first-generation enrollment numbers and graduation rates. The simple fact is that students who go to college and don’t receive a degree may well be in worse shape economically than those who don’t go at all. They will have invested time and money, yet without a diploma will not achieve the economic returns from that investment. Moreover, <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-student-loan-debt-really-a-crisis-44069">many are hobbled by student loans</a> without the economic wherewithal to repay them.</p>
<p>It is easy for universities, colleges and community colleges to admit large numbers of students from modest backgrounds. That happened in the for-profit sector. However, the <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_ctr.asp">graduation rate</a> at for-profit institutions is only 23 percent, compared to the 59 percent rate overall. The hard part is to support students so that they can succeed.</p>
<p>First-generation students make up a third of college undergraduates in the United States. They are <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018009.pdf">more likely</a> to be minorities and to come from low-income households, and are far less likely to graduate than their peers who had one or more parent attend college. We can do better.</p>
<p>Part of the solution is for more <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018009.pdf">universities to provide more adequate need-based financial assistance</a>, but even that isn’t enough. College can be a confusing experience for first-generation kids, both in terms of learning how to succeed academically and “fitting in” socially. Real value will accrue to students and American society only if we can provide them with appropriate advising and counseling so that they not only get in, but persist and flourish.</p>
<h2>Freedom</h2>
<p><strong>Mark Schlissel, president of the University of Michigan</strong> </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216689/original/file-20180427-135817-1ulc5yp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/216689/original/file-20180427-135817-1ulc5yp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=808&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216689/original/file-20180427-135817-1ulc5yp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=808&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216689/original/file-20180427-135817-1ulc5yp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=808&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216689/original/file-20180427-135817-1ulc5yp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1015&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216689/original/file-20180427-135817-1ulc5yp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1015&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/216689/original/file-20180427-135817-1ulc5yp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1015&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mark S. Schlissel, president of the University of Michigan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://record.umich.edu/articles/inauguration-events-mark-installation-president-schlissel">University of Michigan</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To devise one metric to help the public assess our value, we need to challenge ourselves the same way we challenge students in our classrooms and labs. Let’s first determine the right question to ask. What are our students looking for in life and how can a college degree change the quality and trajectory of their lives?</p>
<p>Higher education gives graduates the best opportunity to pursue their ambitions, change careers, define and solve complex problems, and persuade and lead others. College graduates enjoy higher salaries, qualify for further levels of education and are at a lower risk of ending up in jobs that become obsolete. Moreover, they lead richer and fuller lives – <a href="https://www.luminafoundation.org/files/resources/its-not-just-the-money.pdf">happier</a>, healthier, <a href="https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/the-college-payoff/">wealthier</a> and <a href="https://www.prb.org/us-educational-attainment-mortality/">longer</a>.</p>
<p>Each of these outcomes is a component of the value of a college education, yet none of them alone fairly captures its full value. In considering these metrics together, in the context of our question, I believe that one very important concept emerges.</p>
<p>That concept is freedom.</p>
<p>Freedom’s link to education has long been a quintessential American value. As the educator and philosopher <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=djiexeXoOwQC&pg=PA229&lpg=PA229&dq=%E2%80%9CWe+naturally+associate+democracy,+to+be+sure,+with+freedom+of+action,+but+freedom+of+action+without+freed+capacity+of+thought+behind+it+is+only+chaos.%E2%80%9D&source=bl&ots=0H6bPqARz-&sig=r22wWN8apkzM7py_uySyuqMUHkE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj4hpWjq9vaAhWLTd8KHdSSALQQ6AEIMjAC#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9CWe%20naturally%20associate%20democracy%2C%20to%20be%20sure%2C%20with%20freedom%20of%20action%2C%20but%20freedom%20of%20action%20without%20freed%20capacity%20of%20thought%20behind%20it%20is%20only%20chaos.%E2%80%9D&f=false">John Dewey wrote</a> at the beginning of the 20th century, “We naturally associate democracy, to be sure, with freedom of action, but freedom of action without freed capacity of thought behind it is only chaos.”</p>
<p>At its best, higher education gives us the freedom to make decisions based on our values, desires, human talents and willingness to work hard. We are free to choose our own path.</p>
<p>Education takes freedom beyond its status as a legal right and elevates it into a lifetime of choices. It’s the trajectory of those lives, changed by the opportunities available through a college education, that I am most interested in measuring.</p>
<p>The American public rightfully expects higher education to serve as an enabler of prosperity and equality. I would devise a metric that captures higher education’s greatest potential: to enhance the freedom of an individual graduate in a nation founded on constitutionally guaranteed rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.</p>
<p><em>Editor’s note: The Ohio State University is a member of the University Innovation Alliance. The University of Michigan and The Ohio State University are members of the American Talent Initiative.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94208/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The presidents of the University of Michigan, the University of Oregon and The Ohio State University offer three ways to judge the value of a college education.Mark S. Schlissel, President, University of MichiganMichael H. Schill, President, University of OregonMichael V. Drake, President, The Ohio State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/744202017-03-29T01:45:01Z2017-03-29T01:45:01ZDoes it pay to get a double major in college?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162999/original/image-20170328-3824-171jic.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Whether you have two majors or one, graduation is a celebration.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/education-graduation-people-concept-silhouettes-many-451321816">Syda Productions/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Students are bombarded with an array of competing opportunities during college, all with the promise that each will lead to a better job or higher earnings upon entering the “real world.”</p>
<p>One such option is the double major, in which a student earns two bachelor degrees at once, sometimes in entirely different disciplines. But will doing so lead to a higher-paying job? Is it worth the “lost” time that could have been spent in other activities such as internships or student government?</p>
<p>In college, I earned several degrees, which led to a broader education that I believe enriched the quality and creativity of my thinking and improved my career prospects. As an economist-in-training, however, I wanted hard data to back up my anecdotal experience. </p>
<p>To do this, I crunched some numbers from the Census Bureau on over two million full-time workers and analyzed them to see if there’s a connection between earning multiple degrees and financial gain in the years following graduation.</p>
<h2>Double-majoring on the decline?</h2>
<p>While double majors have been a <a href="http://www.humanitiescommission.org/_pdf/hss_report.pdf">popular way to balance</a> a deep study of the humanities with traditional degrees in the sciences, basic tabulations suggest that the percent of workers with a double major has been roughly constant, or even decreasing, over the past six years depending on how one restricts the sample.</p>
<p>For example, looking at all individuals between ages 20 and 29, only 12.5 percent of the population had a double major in 2015, which is down from 14.2 percent in 2009, according to my calculations from the <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/about/how-the-acs-works.html">American Community Survey (ACS) Census</a> data. At the same time, the percent of workers within the same age range with any kind of college degree grew from roughly 23 to 36 percent. </p>
<p>On the one hand, double-majoring can help students avoid becoming overly specialized, <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ999086">exposing them to new ways of thinking</a> and communicating with others outside their primary area. On the other, it creates a trade-off with other educational opportunities.</p>
<p>In 2013, the National Commission on Higher Education Attainment went so far as to <a href="http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Documents/An-Open-Letter-to-College-and-University-Leaders.pdf">urge universities</a> to “narrow student choice” to promote degree completion – perhaps by restricting or even banning the completion of double majors.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/163004/original/image-20170328-3772-c3y010.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/163004/original/image-20170328-3772-c3y010.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163004/original/image-20170328-3772-c3y010.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163004/original/image-20170328-3772-c3y010.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163004/original/image-20170328-3772-c3y010.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163004/original/image-20170328-3772-c3y010.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163004/original/image-20170328-3772-c3y010.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">While the number of college graduates in the workforce is growing, the number of double majors is shrinking.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/two-young-caucasian-teenager-doing-homework-524995729?src=eCrn33aa2-p3H6vDR8X9yg-1-83">Francesco Corticchia/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What existing research says</h2>
<p>Previous research on whether a double major pays off has shown mixed results. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09645290802469931?journalCode=cede20">A 2011 paper</a> found that a double major, on average, yields a 3.2 percent earnings premium over a peer with only one degree. The paper noted that the premium ranged from nothing at liberal arts colleges to almost 4 percent at “research and comprehensive” universities. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-benefit-cost-analysis/article/div-classtitlethe-private-and-social-benefits-of-double-majorsdiv/CD1696DBF93DEFE3C2D3A759D6F0895B">more recent study</a>, published in 2016, concluded that liberal arts students who tacked on a second degree in either business or a science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) field earned somewhat more than their single-major peers. But the authors noted that there was no premium when compared with a single STEM or business degree. </p>
<p>Both of these papers, however, are based on relatively small cross-sections of individuals, which makes them less representative and limits their statistical power. In addition, they focus on single years – 2003 and 2010, respectively – which means the results may be affected by any transient economic conditions that occurred that year. </p>
<h2>What my research showed</h2>
<p>In my own analysis, I examined data on over two million full-time workers aged 20 to 65 over a six-year period (2009-2015) using Census Bureau data. The bureau provides the largest source of publicly available information on individuals and households, helping to ensure that the analysis is both representative and detailed. The data set included information on each individual’s earnings, occupation, undergraduate degrees and a wide range of other demographic data. </p>
<p>My results showed that liberal arts students who take on a second degree in a STEM field earned, on average, 9.5 percent more than their liberal arts peers with only one major, after controlling for individual demographic factors, such as age, years of schooling, marital status, gender, family size and race. Students who combined a liberal arts degree with a business major earned 7.9 percent more.</p>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/vwsHO/2/" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="500"></iframe>
<p>You might be thinking that this isn’t really a surprise. Of course STEM majors will earn more than their liberal arts counterparts. While my analysis already controls for the fact that STEM and business majors generally earn more than their counterparts, I wanted to dig a little deeper. So I restricted the sample to compare STEM-liberal arts double majors with those with a single STEM degree. Although the premium shrinks, engineers and scientists who take on an extra liberal arts degree earned 3.6 percent more, on average.</p>
<p>I also wanted to see if the premium exists when comparing people in similar occupations. For example, consider two journalism school grads, one with a single degree, the other with a second in engineering. Naturally the one who becomes a <a href="https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/journalist-salary-SRCH_KO0,10.htm">working journalist</a>, which generally pays poorly, will earn less than his classmate who decided journalism wasn’t for her and got a job at <a href="https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Google-Salaries-E9079.htm">Google</a>.</p>
<p>So, controlling for occupation, I found that the returns to double-majoring in liberal arts and STEM were 5.2 percent, and 3.4 percent with a business degree. In other words, even when we look within narrow occupational categories, those who double-majored across fields tended to earn more than those with a single degree.</p>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/l5hL9/4/" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="600"></iframe>
<h2>So should I double major?</h2>
<p>So for those of you about to head to college, should you go for a double major? Or should you advise it to your kids? </p>
<p>As with anything, it depends. I tried to make my analysis as robust as possible, but it’s still not entirely clear whether the connection between the double degrees and higher earnings is causal. However, my results do suggest it’s more than mere correlation.</p>
<p>Furthermore, an association with higher earnings doesn’t mean the double major is right for everyone, particularly since the premium varies based on an individual’s own career path and preferences. Every college student needs to weigh the pros and cons of every potential opportunity, from picking up a second degree to joining student government. </p>
<p>My research suggests, however, that students who are eager to expose themselves to more frames of thinking and disciplinary knowledge may well be investing in the very foundation that prepares them for a successful and innovative career.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74420/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christos A. Makridis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Double-majoring is thought to broaden your horizons and give you more career options. A new look at seven years of U.S. census data tells us that there may be a financial benefit as well.Christos A. Makridis, Ph.D. Candidate in Labor and Public Economics, Stanford UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/570852016-04-22T16:30:39Z2016-04-22T16:30:39ZCollege is worth it. Who should pay for it?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119695/original/image-20160421-30266-13ty7n7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Should college be free?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=&searchterm=college%20debt&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=13653856">Diploma with money image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Presidential candidates from both parties <a href="https://www.nasfaa.org/news-item/5223/2016_Presidential_Candidates_Scattered_on_Higher_Ed_Student_Aid_Views">have advanced proposals</a> about how higher education should be funded. Democratic presidential candidates have called for debt-free or tuition-free college. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both have plans for reducing tuition through increased public spending. </p>
<p>The way higher education is funded has become a topic of public interest. Data compiled by the annual report of College Board, <a href="http://trends.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/trends-college-pricing-web-final-508-2.pdf">“Trends in College Pricing,”</a> show why.</p>
<p>Between 2005 and 2015, middle-income families saw their wages decline by two percent, while average in-state net tuition and fees (the amount students actually pay) rose by 73 percent at public four-year colleges.</p>
<p><a href="http://trends.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/trends-college-pricing-web-final-508-2.pdf">Research</a> also shows that declines in state support have been the most important factor driving up tuition at public colleges. </p>
<p>According to “Trends in College Pricing,” states spent US$9.74 on higher education per $1,000 in personal income in 1990. But by 2015, this figure dropped to just $5.55. As a result, the burden of covering the cost of college has shifted from taxpayers to individual students.</p>
<p>So, who should pay for college?</p>
<p>My experience as a higher education researcher tells me that the way this question is answered depends on who you think benefits. If you think individuals capture most of the benefits of higher education, then it is reasonable to ask individuals to pay the costs. On the other hand, if you think society shares in the benefits of college, then you might favor public support for higher education.</p>
<h2>Why college is worth it</h2>
<p>Today most people believe that going to college is important because it is the pathway to securing a good job and higher personal income. <a href="http://www.heri.ucla.edu/monographs/TheAmericanFreshman2015.pdf">Results from a study</a> conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA show that 70 percent of college freshman believe earning a college degree is “very important” in order “to be able to make more money.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119699/original/image-20160421-30266-4eholj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119699/original/image-20160421-30266-4eholj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119699/original/image-20160421-30266-4eholj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119699/original/image-20160421-30266-4eholj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119699/original/image-20160421-30266-4eholj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119699/original/image-20160421-30266-4eholj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119699/original/image-20160421-30266-4eholj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">College graduates get better jobs and earn more money.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/saadandalib/8536426163/in/photolist-e1kq6r-84HBVu-84Frt3-9MJS6h-oDwsG-ggKZnx-8a7nEd-oDuiq-oDuHp-oDtt3-oDvUm-73asyt-83G4iM-8BXvhH-8C1BbG-9TCUHc-9TCTvV-vhwWor-6oG5Xr-6oG3RT-99yw5b-9EUmG4-4Mhe2k-4PSfUj-9TFJmj-9TFHN7-4PN2Hk-9SKZPo-va6P6u-aFeWL-w8CKbq-v1iqdM-vURomY-6HHmJh-oDtjf-oDup2-oDvAx-6N1LUA-oDvGu-oDvwa-oDwFp-oDucz-oDuva-oDvNo-oDu5F-oDuBn-oDtV8-oDw7G-CXFNZz-5xtqBz">Md saad andalib</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This view is supported by <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2011/collegepayoff.pdf">analysis</a> by the Georgetown University on Education and the Workforce. Indeed, individuals with a college degree can expect an additional $2.5 million in earnings over a lifetime. </p>
<p>Understanding college as a pathway to personal gain is consistent with the idea of higher education as a <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-005-8230-y">“private good”</a> and <a href="http://chronicle.com/article/From-Public-Good-to-Private/14506">helps to explain</a> why state legislatures no longer fund higher education as generously as in the past.</p>
<p>However, a <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2690479">recent study</a> published in the Journal of Educational Finance by the economist <a href="http://www.economics.illinois.edu/people/wmcmahon/">Walter W. McMahon</a> suggests there may be larger than expected public benefits from higher education. </p>
<p>McMahon finds: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The effects of higher education are not just on better paying jobs but are also on many outcomes beyond earnings from better healthcare and child development to political stability and lower criminal justice costs.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Results of McMahon’s analysis show public investment in higher education can improve states’ bottom line by boosting tax receipts and reducing welfare and law enforcement expenditures. Given these findings, he argues that state legislators should understand higher education as a “public good” worthy of taxpayer support.</p>
<h2>Return on investment</h2>
<p>McMahon’s argument is based on his analysis of data from Illinois. He finds that Illinois sees a return of 15.3 percent and 13.4 percent, respectively, on its investments in community colleges and public universities. </p>
<p>Individuals with a college education earn higher salaries. They are <a href="https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/content/higher-learning-greater-good">also healthier</a> and less likely to claim welfare benefits and to commit crimes. Because these benefits increase tax revenue and lower public expenditures, public higher education spending can be a long-term boon to states budgets.</p>
<p>So, should states should invest more in higher education?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119701/original/image-20160421-27004-1erzamt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119701/original/image-20160421-27004-1erzamt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119701/original/image-20160421-27004-1erzamt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119701/original/image-20160421-27004-1erzamt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119701/original/image-20160421-27004-1erzamt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119701/original/image-20160421-27004-1erzamt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119701/original/image-20160421-27004-1erzamt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Who benefits from an educated workforce?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ubclibrary/2702161578/in/photolist-57MhuJ-aJBhna-demcdY-bmA8Ng-gikQoj-9bN2yw-ewtr7k-p1H4am-rmDJUq-nEMPt6-62vUcG-9a6M8-62vUmS-jrEHPA-hGauUT-5XiA29-5jArfe-9JaHs5-2X64cT-qL2wPW-nELLhN-biT9R2-oXckfN-82h9kL-pbp4p-mCw7mg-8ivmWv-gmoSai-mXwrKw-pxRcG9-59EfUw-GXG43-aFt7P-ehthHE-dne8UZ-ejpD2D-fkjwiZ-5HtoBg-HKMTa-3LVL-37j3GC-9K1XDo-a3XJay-gsvsBM-88SsHQ-e7PSid-73tCHC-6jeZei-8GjD9z-66zhyL">UBC Library Communications Follow</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>One way to evaluate the sufficiency of public investment in higher education is to consider how the United States stacks up internationally. </p>
<p>Data compiled by the <a href="http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/download/9615031e.pdf?expires=1459298085&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=C967EAFD243AE405A3C14BCB43F2D04E">Organisation for Cooperation and Development (OECD)</a>, a policy think thank representing highly industrialized countries, show that families in the U.S. support a hefty share of higher education costs while the public enjoys a substantial return on their investment.</p>
<p>Sixty-two percent of the costs for higher education in the U.S. are paid by private sources. This figure is well above the OECD average of 28 percent. For men in the U.S., the public return on investment in a college degree is 14.5 percent, and for women it is 9.2 percent. Both figures are above the OECD average of 10.6 percent and 8.6 percent, respectively.</p>
<p>As a researcher in the field of higher education, I believe American states are investing public higher education at levels below what is justified by the benefits. Increased investment in public higher education would likely slow the rate of growth in tuition prices and may over time also buoy lagging state budgets.</p>
<p><em>Editor’s note: This article was part of our collaboration with <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/point-taken/">Point Taken</a>, a new program from WGBH that <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/point-taken/is-college-worth-price-tag/">debated the issue</a>. The show features fact-based discussion on major issues of the day, without the shouting.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57085/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brendan Cantwell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>College education results in not just better earnings, but better health care and child development as well as political stability and lower criminal justice costs. Should states invest more?Brendan Cantwell, Associate Professor of Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.