As higher education struggles with declining enrollment, states are using return on investment reviews to merge education and workforce systems and enhance economic outcomes.
Incorporating ROI metrics has become common practice, with at least 46 states reporting college success outcomes and 35 states reporting workforce outcomes, according to Britebound, a nonprofit that helps students identify academic and career opportunities. ROI measures try to capture the amount of time it takes for a college graduate to break even on the cost of their postsecondary education and begin to earn more than a high school graduate. ROI formulas that estimate a program’s break-even point provide more nuance than those looking solely at earnings data.
