October 15, 2018
Updated College Scorecard Eliminates National Comparison Data
The Department of Education recently released an updated version of the College Scorecard, a consumer information tool that provides students and their families with data that can be used to evaluate institutions of higher education. Most notably, the latest update removes national comparison data that had the potential to provide consumers with a misleading or incomplete impression of an institution’s value.
Previously, the Scorecard included indicators that showed how individual colleges compared to the national median with respect to net prices, graduation rates, earnings, and other factors. Given the vast diversity among institutions – in terms of size, type, location, mission, selectivity, populations served, programs offered and more – the Department determined that national data comparisons could paint an inaccurate picture of an individual institution’s quality. Under the updated Scorecard, however, consumers will still be able to compare multiple institutions to each other.
The latest update also includes new earnings information. However, due to concerns about data sufficiency, the Department eliminated the threshold earnings metric that had previously compared the salaries of high school and college graduates.
Previously, the Scorecard included indicators that showed how individual colleges compared to the national median with respect to net prices, graduation rates, earnings, and other factors. Given the vast diversity among institutions – in terms of size, type, location, mission, selectivity, populations served, programs offered and more – the Department determined that national data comparisons could paint an inaccurate picture of an individual institution’s quality. Under the updated Scorecard, however, consumers will still be able to compare multiple institutions to each other.
The latest update also includes new earnings information. However, due to concerns about data sufficiency, the Department eliminated the threshold earnings metric that had previously compared the salaries of high school and college graduates.