"For a generation of young Americans, choosing where to go to college - or whether to go at all - has become a complex calculation of costs and benefits that often revolves around a single question: Is the degree worth its price? Public confidence in higher education has plummeted in recent years amid high tuition prices, skyrocketing student loans and a dismal job market - plus ideological concerns from conservatives. Now, colleges are scrambling to prove their value to students."
"States such as Colorado have started publishing yearly reports on the monetary payoff of college, and Texas now factors it into calculations for how much taxpayer money goes to community colleges. "Students are becoming more aware of the times when college doesn't pay off," said Preston Cooper, who has studied college ROI at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. "It's front of mind for universities today in a way that it was not necessarily 15, 20 years ago.""
"A new analysis released Thursday by the Strada Education Foundation finds 70% of recent public university graduates can expect a positive return within 10 years - meaning their earnings over a decade will exceed that of a typical high school graduate by an amount greater than the cost of their degree. Yet it varies by state, from 53% in North Dakota to 82% in Washington, D.C."
Rising tuition, mounting student loans and a weak job market have made college enrollment a complex cost-benefit decision for many young Americans. Colleges and states are increasingly evaluating and marketing programs based on financial returns, adopting ROI language and publishing payoff reports. Most bachelor's degrees still deliver positive long-term earnings on average, but returns vary widely by state, institution, and field of study. New analyses find about 70% of recent public university graduates see a positive ten-year return, with state rates ranging from roughly 53% to 82%. Affordability and local labor markets strongly influence whether degrees pay off.
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