Over the past 80 years, our nation has made great strides in improving access to college, and then ensuring that many more students could complete a college degree. In a rapidly changing economy and education landscape, it is increasingly clear that completion is an essential but insufficient first step. Current and prospective students are interested in the wide range of benefits that successful education and training programs can deliver. How can we best measure successful student outcomes so that we can better deliver on the promise that education offers? There is a growing body of work led by an impressive array of colleagues who are doing just that. In this Public Viewpoint session, we will hear from leaders in the field about how they are helping measure student outcomes in new and exciting ways. We also will hear about new research from Strada that examines connections between earnings and students’ beliefs about whether education helped them achieve their goals.
Brief on Public Viewpoint:
Public Viewpoint is Strada Education Network’s regular release of timely research-based insights on key higher education and workforce issues. Drawing upon data from multiple national surveys representing the perspectives of more than 400,000 adults, the research informs education and training providers, policymakers, and employers who are helping people complete valuable and purposeful education pathways. Additional data from publicly available sources, including U.S. government surveys and statistics, are regularly examined and included.