Dive Brief:
- The Kentucky Community and Technical College System has created a “social utility index” to add nuance to an ongoing conversation about the best-value degrees.
- Instead of relying solely on salary data, the social utility index measures the social good that certain degree programs foster by preparing students for lower-paying jobs that add great value to communities.
- The index credits programs that enroll high numbers of minority students or nontraditional gender ratios, it calculates the contributions that certain industries make to their regions, and it incorporates survey results about which occupations engender high levels of personal meaning.
Dive Insight:
With political attention focused on the cost of degree programs and their return on investment, the social utility index adds an extra voice to the chorus. Return on investment doesn’t have to refer exclusively to financial gains. Careers contributing most to social good include child-care workers and home health aids, which are much more often highlighted for their very low pay. Firefighters and emergency medical technicians also topped the index’s social utility list.
Government officials are working to increase the accountability of colleges for student outcomes. Even though President Barack Obama’s planned college ratings system has been jettisoned, the U.S. Department of Education still plans to release information about graduates’ earnings to help students and their families decide which colleges create the best value, financially. It is a critical time to expand the definition of value.