Evaluating colleges using a value-added approach, which takes into account student and institutional characteristics to determine which postsecondary schools contribute the most to student success, above and beyond similar schools, is recommended in a recent Brookings report.
Value-added schools often feature a high-value curriculum mix that imparts prized skills and fosters completion, according to the researchers. Two factors that stood out as fostering student success at two-year colleges in particular were a STEM curriculum and a focus on preparation for high-paying jobs in the local labor market.
This value-added approach is also supported in a report from the Aspen Institute, which examines the benefits and limitations of labor market information. While the publication is wide-ranging, featuring eight short papers from experts in the field, the overall conclusion is that labor market information is most useful when comparing not individual credentials across fields of study—since different career fields require different levels of education—but when evaluating the “completion of a cumulative postsecondary trajectory of which each credential is an essential piece.”
The value of college majors, and college decision-making based on employment and earnings, is also the subject of new research from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce and a recent report from New America.
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