How we speak about and “measure” the value of college.
Part 1 - The state’s view - the legislature and the Colorado Department of Higher Education. Focused, therefore, on public colleges and universities in Colorado.
Part 2 - The view of liberal arts colleges,
many of them private.
Why such a contrast? Is the reason public versus private? Is it because
the state speaks for all of higher education, as opposed to the more specific
mission of liberal arts colleges?
Or is it a difference in how they value education? In how they see the very
purpose of education?
|
*Excerpts
from THE EVIDENCE LIBERAL ARTS NEEDS – Lives of Consequence, Inquiry, and
Accomplishment, copyright ©2021 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, by Richard
A. Detweiler. Used by permission of The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. ISBN
9780262543101. All rights reserved. |
But first an indication of how the state of Colorado is set to measure the impact of a college degree. ROI and MVT and earning potential = value in the marketplace.
In
his preface, Detweiler speaks to this issue. As the price of college has increased,
he writes, “attention began to focus on the question of value: is a college
education worth the money?”
“Colleges and universities ultimately responded
to this question,” he continues, “by arguing that college graduates earn
more, so obviously higher education is a good investment. And research
supported this assertion…. By embracing graduates’ employment upon graduation
as proof that their price was worth it, and with the simple-to-measure outcome,
colleges inadvertently helped unleash a change in view about the nature and
purpose of higher education. … ‘Practical and useful and resulting in
good-paying job at graduation’ became the new watchwords for students, parents,
regulators and legislators.” (Bold mine)
Sound
familiar? It should. It is how the 2022 legislature determined we would measure
“student success.” The Colorado Department of Higher Education is working to
implement HB22-1349.
This fall it gave an update to the Colorado State Board of Education.
What are the assumptions behind the state’s
plan? A college education is a business transaction; its worth is to be
measured in hard cash. By what we earn.
Part
1
Meeting of the Colorado State Board of Education
Oct. 9, 2024
Angie Paccione, Executive Director of the Colorado Department of
Higher Education
I want to talk quickly about the
trends in higher ed last over couple of decades and how we have been addressing
those. The past 20 years we have seen accessibility, then affordability, then
attainment. And now we’re really focused on value, kind of a return on
investment, and workforce development, workforce readiness, …
-- [Transcription by PH. I apologize for any errors.]
Regarding the value, or ROI, or
workforce readiness.
In Colorado 91% of top jobs and 70% of
all jobs require a credential beyond high school. That’s most of the jobs in
the state.
Achieving the credential is not
enough. As everyone knows, what kind of credential you earn, what degree
program you have, is going to determine what your earning potential will be.
And so we all know that an engineer
makes more than a teacher, makes more than a social worker. But we don’t want
everybody to become an engineer, we don’t want to try to force people into
those things.
We want to make sure that the
students, when they graduate from a degree program, that they have the skills
and competencies that they need for the jobs and careers that they want.
|
Isn’t there a missing word here? The value is measured in terms of m-o-n-e-y. |
And so we want to make sure that there’s a threshold at which, I’ll say, we evaluate courses and programs … so the CCHE, together with the department, we have done an analysis of virtually all program areas in our institutions of higher ed - to see if they exceed what we are calling the Minimum Value Threshold, the MVT. The MVT is saying, 15 years after you complete your credential, are you making more than it cost you to get that credential?
|
That’s
it? That’s what all freshmen say? That’s why they come to study and
learn for four years? This is their true purpose? |
More on the 2022 legislation and CDHE’s Minimum Value Threshold - Addendum A.
Part 2 – Graduates of liberal arts colleges testify - the
impact on their lives
“What are the implications of an education in the
tradition of the liberal arts,
and what is the value of it?” Richard E. Detweiler[i]
Graduates of Trinity College, a liberal arts institution in
Hartford, CT (founded in 1823)
Passages from The Trinity Reporter (fall 2024), the alumni
magazine
(Bold mine throughout Part 2)
How did Trinity
help prepare you for what you do now?
John Seager,
Class of 1972, President, Population Connecticut
“I’ve always been curious about everything and fascinated by
seeming contradictions. To this day, I still enjoy and benefit from the kind
of vigorous give-and-take that is a vital part of campus life. My time at
Trinity helped me recognize the importance of scholarly research and the need
to avoid assertions unsupported by evidence while never claiming omniscience.”
Brooke Raymond,
Class of 1990 – Senior research analyst at the New York Law Institute, NYC
|
“For today’s college students, their first or second job may not
even exist yet. Employers want to hire people who know how to think, and I
believe that Trinity students know how to think because of our curriculum.
What our students are doing post-Trinity is a testament to that.”[ii]
|
“Being
a student at Trinity reinforced my sense of curiosity and wonder at how
much there is to know and, having grown up fairly sheltered, how little I had
been exposed to up to that point. I developed the ability to ask pertinent, relevant questions and to think critically through
analyzing results and findings. It’s important to push back: Who or what is the
source of this information? Are they credible?”
Cyemone Douglas, Class of 2011, 4th grade teacher at CREC Museum Academy, Bloomfield, CT
“Over the years, I have attributed my ability to think critically and
analytically to Trinity. As an ed studies major, we analyzed what worked
well and what needed improvement. Most times the discussion ended with how we
can learn from the past to make better decisions for the future. When presented
with problems, I realize that it is not enough to complain but that I need to
think of solutions.”
Note, too, another view of purpose in
this award - to a Trinity senior. Campus Compact, “a national coalition
of colleges and universities working to advance the public purpose of higher
education,” offers a Newman Civic Fellowship. It recognizes students for “leadership
potential and commitment to creating a positive change in communities.”
Anna Grant-Bolton,
class of 2025: “I’m excited to
connect with and learn from other students who are engaged in social justice
work on their own campuses. I think this experience will be essential in
helping me to become a better student leader and activist…. Being honored
with this reminds me that the work we’re doing is meaningful and it’s powerful,
even when it’s slow and I don’t see results immediately. It’s a reminder to
keep on going.”
Graduates of St. John's College (the Great
Books Program), Annapolis, MD, and Santa Fe, NM
(founded in 1696 as King William’s School)
Passages from St. John's alumni magazine.
Susan Rumore
Lobell, Class of 1970
“When it comes to speaking of my career, there are five big categories that matter most to me. They are: high school math teacher, textbook editor, wife, mother, and grandmother. As all of you know, each of these roles has subsets of other roles as well. There is one important thing I want to say here: my education at St. John’s College has sustained me and served me well in my life…. For this I am grateful to the faculty of St. John’s and all the people who keep the college running.”[iii]
Michael Ciba, Class
of 1978 – “A Time for Tolstoy”
|
Nora Demleitner, President of St. John’s College (Annapolis campus)
- from her Inaugural Address, March 2023.
“How will we use our educational model to more effectively help
students find a purposeful life and purposeful work?” |
|
See the comment from Pano Kanelos, the previous President of St.
John’s College, on ROI and success. Addendum B. |
“In the fall of 1976, during my junior year, Mr. Robert Bart led a preceptorial on Anna Karenina. The question of what I would be when I grew up weighed heavily on me that fall. My mother also had died a few weeks before the preceptorial began. As we read and discussed the novel, I found myself identifying deeply with the character Levin. His struggles with questions of meaning, identity, vocation, and love helped me to wrestle with my own questions. The story gave me hope that I would find a sense of purpose and vocation for my own life. Anna Karenina was the book I needed to read that season, and that preceptorial was the class I needed to be in.”[iv]
Susan Vorkoper, Class of 2004 - global health researcher and policy analyst at the National Institutes of Health at the time of publication, The College, 2015.
“We talked a lot about what it means to be a good citizen at St.
John’s, and I really took that to heart. It took me a while to figure out what
I wanted to do. I kept asking myself where the intersection was of something
I’m good at, something I’m passionate about, and something that’s needed. It
goes back to the Agora. How are you a participant? How are you involved in the
dialogue? I realized that this is how I wanted to be a citizen.”
Her work, she says, “involves a lot of partnerships and
coalition-building between people who are working in the same area but may not
be talking with each other. Everything I do is about breaking down silos…. I
use what we learned [at St. John’s, in seminars] every day. It’s important to
know how to lead a guided discussion, to make sure everyone is on the same
track and headed in the same direction.”[v]
Four more testimonies from graduates of liberal arts college –
as quoted in Detweiler’s The Evidence Liberal Arts Needs*
In his research for this book Detweiler oversaw interviews of 1,000 graduates of colleges of all kinds. He quotes from many graduates of liberal arts schools who reflect on the nature of their college experience and its impact on their lives. (NOTE: no mention of Return on Investment.)
Clayton – “founder of several significant nonprofit organizations, CEO of a corporation”
“The social sciences and
humanities—philosophy, literature, public speaking, sociology, psychology,
economics, and foreign language—were most important to me…. The ability to take
those classes and to be involved with a diverse group of students from all
different kinds of places and economic backgrounds opened up a broad and
rewarding world for me…. My liberal arts education still helps me to
successfully navigate unchartered territories as an entrepreneur and a
philanthropist. It can do the same for countless others.” (pp. 149-150)
Bill - “broadcast executive, deeply involved in
public-service work”
“Professors and administrators were
available; they engaged with their students individually to help us filter new
experiences, opportunities, and options at our relatively naïve stage of life.
I was curious, and that curiosity was encouraged. I received a
broad, liberal arts exposure to several disciplines that fed my natural curiosity….
What was important to me then, and continues to be now, was the ability to
explore widely and to absorb things that were of little use until later in my career—when
they suddenly were.” (p. 152)
Alison - “a successful journalist”
“My experience with the choral program
exemplifies the value of my liberal arts education. The administrators
and faculty … understood I wasn’t attending college simply to pursue a
career, but also to develop my interests and talents. They worked to teach
the whole person, not just the journalist I would become.… I now am employed
full time as a reporter for a newspaper, and every day I use the skills
my four years taught me. … I’ve remembered to carry the liberal arts mindset
into my adult life … to cultivate a life that is full, happy, and not solely
career-driven.” (pp. 159-160)
Deborah – “senior officer of a major corporation”
“How could someone with an interdisciplinary
studies major combining sociology, Spanish, and Latin American studies go on to
have this career? The answer is that my liberal arts education did
not prepare me for one particular job or profession; it prepared me for any
that I would choose once I truly found my passion…. The broad-based perspective
and agility that support problem-solving and characterize any successful career,
with all of its twists and turns, its challenges and opportunities.
Significantly, it was from this foundation that I built the capacity to become
a leader in my profession and community.” (pp. 162-163)
More from Detweiler’s book – “Long-term impact
vs short-term benefits” in Addendum C.
*Excerpts from THE EVIDENCE LIBERAL
ARTS NEEDS – Lives of Consequence, Inquiry, and Accomplishment, copyright ©2021
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, by Richard A. Detweiler. Used by
permission of The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. ISBN 9780262543101. All rights
reserved.
Addendum
A
Postsecondary Student
Success Data System
Concerning improving decision-making to
enhance postsecondary student success, and, in connection therewith, making an
appropriation.
Bill Summary
The act requires the Colorado commission
on higher education (commission) to enact a policy directing the department of
higher education (department) to develop student success measures that measure
the progression of students through postsecondary education and the impact of
postsecondary pathways on a student's career opportunities and success. The
student success measures must include postsecondary success measures and
workforce success measures. https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb22-1349
From
the Colorado Department of Higher Education
Colorado Minimum Value Threshold - Work Update
Excerpts from a 12-page WORKING DRAFT – July 16, 2024
Pursuant to
HB22-1349 and the Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE) Strategic
Plan, CCHE has convened a technical working group to:
1. “…develop
student success measures that measure the progression of students through
postsecondary
education and the impact of postsecondary pathways on a student’s career
opportunities and
success,” and
2. Strategize to “create and maintain a statewide student success data system,” to be administered by the Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE).
The primary task
of the Working Group has been to determine the most appropriate empirical model
to estimate the minimum value threshold of postsecondary credentials in
Colorado, and the best data elements to support this model. CCHE will approve
the general framework and methodology for the minimum value threshold. In
alignment with the goals outlined in the Strategic Plan, the output of this model
will support collaborative conversations between CDHE, CCHE, and Colorado
institutions of higher education to better understand outcomes for programs and
identify potential actions that all stakeholders can take to increase student
success.
Roundtable
Conference
ROI:
Liberal Arts and Success
(Bold mine)
“When colleges
put liberal arts programming on the chopping block as an unaffordable luxury,
they typically cite career readiness as their priority. But what
validity is there in the perceived trade-off between providing students with
foundational knowledge and preparing them for the workforce…. As the
unpredictability of the labor market increases and young people switch jobs and
careers far more frequently than their predecessors, students with a
narrowly focused pre-professional education find that the economy is leaving
them behind. Employers attest that graduates with the timeless skills of
the liberal arts instill are at a premium. Our nation, moreover, needs
graduates prepared to be engaged, informed citizens—the lifeblood of a free
society.”
(Pano Kanelos, President of St. John’s College-Annapolis in 2019, was a panelist for this session.)
Addendum
C
More from The Evidence Liberal Arts Needs – Long-term impact versus short-term benefits (Bold mine)
“And while US
colleges are currently feeling intense pressure to eliminate [the liberal arts]
approach, and students are being encouraged to focus exclusively on
mastering immediately practical, job-specific information, this is a grave error,
as the research in this volume demonstrates…. In this era of education reform,
the challenge facing higher education today should not be to eliminate liberal
arts in favor of the wrongly perceived value of an exclusive focus on
specialized education, but rather to strengthen those liberal arts practices
that have been demonstrated to increase the lifelong value of the education
provided.” (page 2)
Endnotes
[i]
Detweiler, The Evidence Liberal Arts Needs, page 22,The MIT Press,
Cambridge, MA (2021).
[ii]
Joe Catrino, executive director of career and life design, on the
first-destinations survey of 2023 Trinity graduates; www.trincoll.edu, May 2, 2024. “Last Words –
Voices of the Trinity College community in the media, The Trinity Reporter,
Fall 2024.
[iii]“Susan’s
Story,” Opening Question, St. John’s College Alumni Magazine, 2023.
[iv]
“Letters, “A Time for Tolstoy,” The College, Winter 2015, St. John’s
College.
[v]
“Breaking Down Silos – Susan Vorkoper Helps Research Become Policy,” The
College, Winter 2015, St. John’s College.
FROM INTRODUCTION – Quote from President Kennedy – Proclamation 3422, American Education Week - 1961, July 25, 1961, https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-3422-american-education-week-1961.
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