College Data on Value

College Data on Value: A Few Colleges Offer It Up

Colleges and universities have largely balked at calls to provide a quantitative measure of the value of their education. The Wall Street Journal reports that colleges have the data, but they aren’t sure how it will be perceived.

But Kalamazoo College is now using test results as a selling point. They tested their 2005 freshman class “to measure their problem solving, reasoning and critical thinking.” When tested again as seniors, they had improved by an amount “at or above the 95th percentile in each category.”

WSJ reports that Kalamazoo College, along with St. Olaf College, and Sarah Lawrence College, are “. . . betting that a whiff of fresh air will give them a competitive advantage—and woo back parents and employers whose faith in the value of a college degree has been rattled.” A perusal of these college websites confirms their approach.

Good strategy! We hope this is what Gladwell would call a tipping point on this issue. Meanwhile, CPSi continues to compile data to guide families in making decisions about higher education.

Read the article by Douglas Belkin, “College Uses Test Data to Show Value.” The Wall Street Journal, 2/20/2014, (online: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304899704579391513428597546)