The Obama administration has released a new College Scorecard web page that provides some additional data not previously available. The Scorecard takes the place of the Department of Education’s failed rating plan that largely collapsed under its own weight, the objections of college leaders, and Congressional leaders from both parties. Unfortunately, the new web page continues the administration’s higher education policy and rhetoric focusing on the economic importance of higher education. To that end, the new system provides information regarding the income of students six and ten years after they enrolled in higher education. In today’s post, I will discuss why salary is a bad way to judge higher education’s success.
I object to the salary measure on both philosophical and practical grounds.