New Urban Institute Report Assesses Earnings Changes For All of Higher Education Five Years After Completion
Overview
During CSPEN’s 10th Annual Conference CSPEN was the first to share preliminary results of a new report being developed by The Urban Institute which seeks to examine how former students’ earnings change after they complete their credentials using new data from the College Scorecard showing earnings up to 5 years after completion.
During the General Session presentation, Urban Institute’s Nonresident Senior Fellow Jason Delisle, shared with the attendees a PowerPoint presentation entitled “College Scorecard Earnings Growth Analysis” which attempts to answer the question – How much do earnings change between years 1-5 by credential and field of study.
The report attempts to answer this question through an analysis that:
- Identify fields that fail earnings tests (like gainful employment) at high rates using 1st year earnings;
- Measure earnings increases years 1-5 post completion; and
- Create two groups: high earnings growth and low earnings growth.
The results of the data assessment, using data from the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard data were applied to all programs of study at all institutions of higher education, with filters* used to make the data more refined and was presented in a series of slides broken down based upon credential awarded. The three categories referenced included certificate and associates’ degree, bachelor’s degrees, and master’s degree.
(*Note – The Urban Institute’s report was narrowed to focus on fields where a high share of programs have low initial earnings and are likely to fail earnings-based accountability policies based upon the parameters used to determine success/failure.)
A copy of the slides can be found on CSPEN’s website under the 2024 Annual Conference Recap here (cspen.com/cspen2024-recap/).
What’s Next
In the near future the final, official report – supported by CSPEN through a sizable donation from one of our benefactors – will be published providing even more details and analysis based upon The Urban Institute’s research. Once the report is published, CSPEN will host a webinar with Mr. Delisle to further review the findings and the assessment of which fields of study show the most and least change and how that could affect accountability policies and student loan repayment.
This is the first of two reports The Urban Institute is undertaking with support in the form of a gift from CSPEN. We will be sharing more about the second report once the first report is published. We look forward to providing our community with data which sheds light on policymakers and the public increasing concerns regarding the payoff students and taxpayers receive from government subsidies for postsecondary education and the call by many for stronger consumer protection and quality assurance policies for colleges and universities.
Your Support Helps CSPEN Support This Research
CSPEN was able to help support this research as a direct result of a very generous donation from within our community – and we are very grateful that the benefactor entrusted CSPEN with the ability to use the money in support of reports such as those currently underway and still others the Board of Directors is contemplating in the future.
CSPEN believes that data such as these reports are a crucial component of the resources that should be used to help inform the development of all higher education policy – through either legislation or regulation.
We are looking forward to sharing the results of the reports with not only our community, but also the broader community, including, but not limited to federal, state, and local government officials.
Want to help us continue to pursue and support reports and studies like this one? Please consider donating to CSPEN now as part of our GivingTuesday fundraising campaign! Your tax-deductible donations can be made directly on the CSPEN website.
