Higher Education for All: The Earnings Gain from A Private Education

23 Dec 2014 /By APSCU Communications 
 
The value of college has been repeatedly affirmed by numerous experts. The gain that degree holders see in their earnings is significant and worth the cost of postsecondary education. The earnings gain that graduates experience is critical to measuring the worth of a degree or credential, but the Department of Education is not taking this into account. Instead they are determining the value of postsecondary education by a static measure of early career earnings that does not take into account graduates’ incomes prior to enrolling.

This approach is shortsighted because it ignores gains over time and tells an incomplete story of the real value of a college education. According to the University of Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, individuals who receive a bachelor’s degree experience a lifetime earnings gain of roughly $1 million, thus demonstrating the capricious nature of the Department’s decision to measure only early earnings. As seen in the graph below, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2013 Annual Social and Economic Supplement, much of the earnings gains that degree holders experience occur midway through their careers.
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One way to better quantify the return on investment for students would be to measure their earnings gains, or the difference between an individual’s earnings before and after receiving a degree from a private sector institution. As has been explained previously, a majority of private sector students study in high return fields, specifically computer/information sciences, business, and healthcare. Thus, we should expect to see significant earnings gains for many individuals who graduated from private sector institutions.

Not surprisingly, according to analysis of survey data and the Department’s gainful employment informational rates, private sector institutions provide graduates who receive an associate’s degree in high demand fields with earnings boosts greater than 100 percent. The chart below shows some examples. These types of earnings gains are completely ignored by the gainful employment regulation.
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Rather than arbitrarily using early year earnings, metrics intended to determine student success should take into account the relative increase in earnings to measure the benefits that private sector students receive from their programs. New traditional students choosing higher education institutions are not making a bad investment—they are making smart long-term decisions. Their returns on this investment prove it.

Direct link to article: http://www.highereducationforall.com/earnings-gain-private-sector-education/#.VJ1Hc8ABTA

1 comment:

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