Some Colleges Don’t Produce Big Earners. Are They
Worth It?
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/20/business/college-graduate-earnings.html
A good place to start is studying available government data for any school you’re considering to see whether people who attended earn more than they would have if they had gone straight into the work force after high school.
At many schools, the answer is no. Three years ago, in an examination that should have received a lot more attention, the center-left think tank Third Way put all available data for all higher education institutions together. It found that at 52 percent of the schools, more than half of the enrollees were not earning more than the typical high school graduate six years after they began their studies. After 10 years, the figure was still 29 percent.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/20/business/college-graduate-earnings.html
A good place to start is studying available government data for any school you’re considering to see whether people who attended earn more than they would have if they had gone straight into the work force after high school.
At many schools, the answer is no. Three years ago, in an examination that should have received a lot more attention, the center-left think tank Third Way put all available data for all higher education institutions together. It found that at 52 percent of the schools, more than half of the enrollees were not earning more than the typical high school graduate six years after they began their studies. After 10 years, the figure was still 29 percent.
Is College Worth the Cost? That Depends
https://www.wsj.com/articles/college-worth-cost-debt-major-computer-science-11636142138
Is College Worth It? A Comprehensive Return on Investment Analysis
https://freopp.org/is-college-worth-it-a-comprehensive-return-on-investment-analysis-1b2ad17f84c8
“The median bachelor’s degree is worth $306,000 for students who graduate on time. But the median conceals enormous variation. Some fields of study, including engineering, computer science, nursing, and economics, can produce returns of $1 million or more. Others, including art, music, religion, and psychology, often have a zero or even negative net financial value”.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/college-worth-cost-debt-major-computer-science-11636142138
https://freopp.org/is-college-worth-it-a-comprehensive-return-on-investment-analysis-1b2ad17f84c8
“The median bachelor’s degree is worth $306,000 for students who graduate on time. But the median conceals enormous variation. Some fields of study, including engineering, computer science, nursing, and economics, can produce returns of $1 million or more. Others, including art, music, religion, and psychology, often have a zero or even negative net financial value”.
Two-Year College Degrees Have Diminished in Value
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-11-10/two-year-college-degrees-have-diminished-in-value
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-11-10/two-year-college-degrees-have-diminished-in-value
Why Have College Completion Rates Increased? An Analysis of Rising Grades
https://www.nber.org/papers/w28710
ABSTRACT
College completion rates declined from the 1970s to the 1990s. We document that this trend has reversed--since the 1990s, college completion rates have increased. We investigate the reasons for the increase in college graduation rates. Collectively, student characteristics, institutional resources, and institution attended do not explain much of the change. However, we show that grade inflation can explain much of the change in graduation rates. We show that GPA is a strong predictor of graduation rates and that GPAs have been rising since the 1990s. We also find that in national survey data and rich administrative data from 9 large public universities increases in college GPAs cannot be explained by student demographics, preparation, and school factors. Further, we find that at a public liberal arts college, grades have increased over time conditional on final exam performance.
https://www.nber.org/papers/w28710
ABSTRACT
College completion rates declined from the 1970s to the 1990s. We document that this trend has reversed--since the 1990s, college completion rates have increased. We investigate the reasons for the increase in college graduation rates. Collectively, student characteristics, institutional resources, and institution attended do not explain much of the change. However, we show that grade inflation can explain much of the change in graduation rates. We show that GPA is a strong predictor of graduation rates and that GPAs have been rising since the 1990s. We also find that in national survey data and rich administrative data from 9 large public universities increases in college GPAs cannot be explained by student demographics, preparation, and school factors. Further, we find that at a public liberal arts college, grades have increased over time conditional on final exam performance.
The Quantity versus Quality Debate –
Is it time to rethink the value of college?
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/21279216/higher-education-college-america-student-debt
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/21279216/higher-education-college-america-student-debt
My take (from Jan 2022): Is the US higher education bubble about to burst?
https://thehill.com/opinion/education/590971-will-the-us-higher-education-bubble-finally-burst/
https://thehill.com/opinion/education/590971-will-the-us-higher-education-bubble-finally-burst/