POLITICO – To determine if a college degree is worth the money, states, private companies and the federal government are looking less to diplomas and more to pay stubs.
The Obama administration and a growing number of states have embraced the idea that graduates’ earnings in the years after graduation can measure the quality of a college or major. Systems to display wages by college and program are gaining steam and growing in sophistication. They could transform how Americans evaluate the value of a college education — and, eventually, whether state and federal governments will pay for it.
The salary data, though, are riddled with holes. Federal law prohibits creating a national database that would link students’ tax records with their educational information. And the administration’s enthusiasm pits it against many in higher education who say earnings are a myopic way to judge the impact of a college degree.
“It’s devaluing what higher education really means,” said Patricia McGuire, president of Trinity Washington University. She said she was disappointed that the president has taken a “schoolmarmish tone” of scolding colleges. “I don’t think that elevates anything. I think that cheapens the whole enterprise.”
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