This piece appeared in longer form as a May 2012 blog on the Washington Post's website.
High school students across the country are now making choices about the colleges they will attend next fall. Whether choosing from among elite private colleges and flagship public universities, or from a list of open-access state four-year and community colleges, how will they and their families make those decisions?
Until now, it has been almost impossible for students to include in their deliberations what graduating from specific colleges and their programs is likely to yield in terms of post-graduation jobs and salaries. But that is starting to change.
This year, new information will begin to become available that will enable students to say: “If I go to College X and earn a degree in Y, I’m more likely to get a good-paying job after graduation than if I receive the same degree from College Z.”
The primary source of new information the Wage Records Interchange System 2, a Labor Department-driven, data-sharing partnership among states. This data system could allow colleges to work with their states to track the success or failure of their alumni, no matter where they live. Twenty-two states have signed on so far. However, the data sharing system will only work if all 50 states sign the agreement.
For students thinking about where to go to college, this could help them pick programs more likely to lead to earning a decent living. This is especially important for the growing number of minority and low-income students today on America’s campuses, largely at community colleges and open-access four-year colleges.
But students are not the only ones who can benefit from this new information. Colleges will have a chance to examine whether their degrees are matched to labor market needs. In March of 2012, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 3.74 million unfilled jobs. The National Association of Manufacturers reports 600,000 jobs go unfilled because there are not workers available with the skills to fill them. Colleges that assess employment outcomes for their graduates can see where such jobs are in their communities and expand programs that lead to solid jobs. This does not require dismantling philosophy, visual arts, or other disciplines that instill critical and creative thinking employers want. It does mean evaluating whether students can get what they need for good jobs while paring certain programs whose graduates are not getting jobs.
Colleges can also use labor market information to assess and improve program quality. If an assessment of the local labor market matches college programs but program graduates aren’t being hired, that suggests a problem with program quality. Colleges can use employment data to understand which programs need improvement—whether in their information technology, engineering, or history degree programs—and then speak to employers about what graduates are missing that may be keeping them from being hired or earning competitive wages.
That is a quantum leap from where we have been, and will begin to make labor market outcomes a key metric of value and excellence in the college sector. It’s time for states to make sure this happens by entering the data-sharing agreement. It’s the right thing to do for colleges striving to get better. It’s the right thing for students, their families, and the students’ future employers.
Josh Wyner is executive director of the College Excellence Program at the Aspen Institute, an international nonprofit that seeks open-minded dialogue and enlightened leadership.
This is very true. I'm a student myself and now almost everyone I know takes the matter of choosing the school and the future profession very seriously. The main goal has become to pick something that will bring more money rather than something you love to do.
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