American higher education faces a credibility crisis:Less than halfAmericans believe that the colleges are in the right direction. Debt fuel crushing stories of unemployed graduates suspect whether the college is worth investing.
Some blamed the increase in college costs. Others say that the institutes no longer display the economic benefits they did once. College leaders can claim that criticism is misleading.
Either way, one thing is clear: higher education must once again be seen as a guaranteed path for economic prosperity. And policy makers, colleges and administrators should embrace this change.
This is not just a branding problem – it is a threat to American economic competition. When family loses confidence in college value, they are less likely to participate in it. Less students mean low political support for higher education funding, which leads to high cost to the remaining students, further eradicates confidence.
We need to break that cycle soon instead of later. Only in six years, an estimated72 percent jobsPostcondary education or training will be required. The economy is becoming more knowledge and more, no less. The US needs to compete globally between disconnected efficient workforce between public perception and economic reality.
But good news is – the most powerful tools for reconstruction of confidence in higher education are already present. Federal and state databases can show what students study and how much they earn. Estimates of the labor market show which industries are growing and which skills they need.
Together, these figures can answer the fundamental question: “Will this education lead to a good job that justifies and money that I am investing?”
Sometimes, data can tell thatStruggle programThe right skills are not teaching, providing adequate career services connected to local employers.
Without using this information to diagnose these problems, college cannot fix them, and students continue to waste their time and money on programs that do not fulfill their promises.
It is not impossible to prove and improve the value – it requires honest evaluation in only three major areas.
First, policy makers and institutes regularly celebrate when students walk on stage in graduation, then lose the track completely. Instead, we should follow students in the workforce and ask hard questions: are they getting a job? Do their salary justify cost? Are they moving forward in their careers?
Second, colleges need to match their programs with real job opportunities. Many provide programs without any real connection to their local job market – in fact,28 percent of mid-skilled credentialsThere is no clear job match in the market.
Imagine training switchboard operators in the cell phone age. Institutions should align their programs for employer’s needs, measuring regularly to see if their offer credentials are still relevant and adjust the courses of study accordingly.
Third, colleges should bridge the skill gaps between the courses and the requirements of the employer. Even when certificates or degrees align with job opportunities, what is being taught and what is necessary to flourish in the workforce can leave a mismatch graduate.
Take Business Administration – this isA region with a lot of openingsBut if the programs overmofness marketing, ignoring data analytics or AI awareness, graduates can struggle to compete. Smart, adaptive colleges should identify and fix these disconnects before students graduate.
These steps are general knowledge, but may also feel like a fundamental revaluation of high education relations with students and society. Naturally, some can oppose this change. The Congress worries about being lost in its district if the institutes are not for sniffing. Faculty and administrators fry about the program cut and overseeing educational goals.
But alternative – continues to operate without clear accountability while the public trust disappears and our global competitors move forward – this is very bad. Individual colleges cannot solve this confidence problem alone, and clearly, many will not change without external pressure.
Congress passed only one lawCollege programs will be required to prove their value beyond a high school diploma – this is a beginning. State governments, which provide significant funds for public higher education, also require institutions to prove their value through concrete results.
If we fund those institutions or college programs that leave students financially worse, then it is their time and a waste of taxpayer’s money. Worse than, it is often our weakest population enroll in these programs that serve more as criminals of socio -economic inequality rather than engineers of economic mobility.
Here makes this approach so powerful: When college proves its value through data and results, everyone wins. Students get better returns on their educational investment. Institutions rebuild public trusts and secure their futures. And America gets a skilled workforce which needs to remain competitive globally.
The future is of colleges and universities that can prove their value through results, not rhetoric. The question is not whether higher education is valuable, whether our institutions are ready to display the value through transparency and accountability that is the correct demand for students, families, taxpayers and our national economy.
The time is not coming to prove the value through data and results – it is here.
Michael Itzkovitz is the founder and chairman of the Her Group, a National Policy Organization focused on college access, price and economic mobility. He first served as the director of the college scorecard in the US Education Department.
