Home Editorial and Op-Ed Let’s get smart on college outcomes

Let’s get smart on college outcomes

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Bloomberg View Editorial

-

08/17/2018

Americans with bachelor’s degrees stand to make $1 million more in their careers than those with just high school diplomas. Meanwhile, the sticker prices of colleges and loan-default rates have soared, and only 60 percent of enrollees earn a degree within six years. It’s never been more important for students and their families to choose

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Americans with bachelor’s degrees stand to make $1 million more in their careers than those with just high school diplomas. Meanwhile, the sticker prices of colleges and loan-default rates have soared, and only 60 percent of enrollees earn a degree within six years. It’s never been more important for students and their families to choose the right school. A minor outbreak of cooperation in Congress could soon make this a little easier. Broadly bipartisan bills in both chambers would build on previous measures to make the costs and benefits of higher education a bit less opaque. Useful information now available via the College Scorecard has its shortcomings. In particular, important information is based only on students who receive some sort of federal financial aid. … Universities are required to report some additional information, but this too is incomplete. The new proposals would overturn the ban and allow the government to release new metrics on “student progression” – school-specific information on performance by transfer students, veterans and those receiving Pell Grants; post-graduation job and earnings results broken down by majors or academic programs; and graduation rates for nontraditional students such as part-time enrollees. The information could help to streamline the student-loan process, and shed light on the importance of economic background, the value of remedial coursework and whether first-generation students are at a disadvantage. The bills are supported by state universities and community colleges, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable and veterans’ groups. So, what’s the problem? First, the Education Department is reportedly set to unveil a new set of rules that would make public graduates’ economic outcomes by major, but otherwise suffers from the same limitations as the current college scorecard. Second, Virginia Foxx, the North Carolina Republican who leads the House education committee and was behind the 2008 information ban, continues to cite privacy concerns. These are misplaced. The measures have adequate protections, including rules against disclosing personal information such as health data and citizenship status. Bloomberg View editorial.