Is a four-year college degree worth the cost? College Scorecard changes amid debate
As more Americans debate the value of college and decide whether to take on student loan debt, new national data aims to help prospective students decide whether a school will help them earn a competitive salary, if they’ll find other students and professors who look like them, and whether they'll have to borrow money to attend.
The Education Department unveiled changes Tuesday to its College Scorecard, shared first with Paste BN, that include data on what graduates make four years after completing their degrees, faculty-to-student racial and ethnic background ratios and student debt trends.
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"We need a system that's inclusive, that delivers value and that produces equitable outcomes," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said. "We need transparency in data more now than ever before."
When President Joe Biden last fall announced his far-reaching plan for student loan debt forgiveness that is now in the hands of the Supreme Court, he also pledged to hold colleges accountable and "ensure student borrowers get value for their college costs."
The Education Department said the updates to the nation's College Scorecard are intended to help prospective students "find high-value postsecondary programs" that align with their goals.
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What is the College Scorecard?
The College Scorecard, created during the Obama administration, is an online tool with data about college costs, acceptance rates, graduation rates and student body diversity. It's intended to give prospective students, families, educators and others information to help them compare colleges.
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What are the updates?
The new version of the scorecard will have a fourth year of data on the median earnings of former graduates. It had provided data about what graduates earned only three years after earning their degree.
The additional year includes calculations available from the National Student Loan Data System and the Internal Revenue Service "so that students can understand which college and university graduates take on less loan debt and which former students earn more after college," according to the Education Department.
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The scorecard also will offer more data on the racial and ethnic background of full-time college staff and student-to-faculty ratios to give people "a fuller picture of campus diversity as part of a school’s profile," wrote Roberto J. Rodríguez, an assistant education secretary in the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, in a blog post.
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And it will provide information on graduate school program fields of study, earnings and student debt trends for the first time.
"This information is particularly important given the significant investment and loan debt that students take on to pay for graduate programs," Rodriguez wrote.
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What's behind the changes?
The Education Department wants prospective students and their families to better understand the costs and value of the postsecondary options out there with what it says is a more user-friendly online tool.
"Students deserve to know which colleges deliver education at a great value, reflect a diverse student population, and equip their graduates for success in the workforce," Rodríguez said.
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How are people feeling about the value of college?
The updates emerge as several national surveys reveal Americans, young and old, are debating the value of college as the prices of degrees skyrocket.
One recent national survey of 1,020 high school students from underserved backgrounds showed 60% of them don't see earning a college degree as necessary to ensure a successful future.
No college needed: Fewer students of color from underserved backgrounds want to go to college.
The Supreme Court's decision on loan forgiveness, which is expected in late June, could further change the outlook on whether the costs of college outweigh the benefit.
Here's how to prepare: Regardless of SCOTUS decision, 25 million people will have to repay student debt.
Contact Kayla Jimenez at kjimenez@usatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter at @kaylajjimenez.