The federal government recently released a treasure trove of data on the nation's colleges and universities. It's called the College Scorecard, and it enables students and families to rank colleges based on several factors including price, estimated earnings after graduation and student debt.
But like any massive data dump, it can be overwhelming. That's why we spoke with Robert Kelchen, an assistant professor of higher education at Seton Hall, and Corbin Campbell, an assistant professor of higher education at Teachers College Columbia University, about five things they thought you should pay attention to when combing the data, and building your own lists.
Cost. The average cost you see for each school is only for students receiving financial aid. So if the annual cost is listed at $22,000, that's how much students getting financial aid can expect to pay on average. That number can range tremendously among private schools, depending on how generous they are with their endowments. Pro Publica took a deep dive comparing Columbia University and New York University, and found financial-aid students pay an average of $8,086 per year at Columbia ($8.2 billion endowment) compared to $25,441 at NYU ($3.5 billion endowment)
Graduation Rates. "All students think they are going to complete college but they won't all complete," said Kelchen. Colleges with really low graduation rates are obviously a red flag. But keep in mind that those with really high graduation rates might be "only taking students who are likely to succeed."
Earnings. These salaries refer to what people are making 10 years after starting college. Again, our experts advise to proceed with caution. "Remember that the earnings data are both for most people who complete college and people who don't," said Kelchen, meaning if you see an average annual salary of $50,000 also look at the school's graduation rate. If it's low, that may mean the school is including dropouts who can be less successful on average (aside from people like Bill Gates).
Average salaries at a school also include different majors, which can vary tremendously at a liberal arts institution. This could explain why the average salary of those leaving Yale is lower than those leaving the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences ($66,000 per year versus $110,000). Likewise, students who attend prestigious music and art schools have lower average salaries than those who attend engineering and medical programs.
This is why Campbell warns against paying too much attention to earnings. "Higher education isn't just sort of a certification that you can bring to an employer. It's also changing minds and changing the way students think," she said.
Better than High School Grads? Everyone talks about how a high school diploma is practically worthless these days. The scorecard tells you what percentage of those who attended each college make more money than the average high school graduate, whose annual earnings six years later after getting a diploma are $25,000. It compares that $25,000 average that to what students from each school make 10 years after they start. "We want that number to be close to 100 percent [higher]," said Kelchen, to determine whether the college is doing part of its job.
Loan Repayment Rate: You can see what percent of students who attended each school are able to pay more than just the interest on their loans within three years. Kelchen said this is very useful. "It doesn't mean they make a lot of money, but they're able to make enough to repay their debt, at least in part."
Academics probing the raw data have been pulling out other interesting findings. Kelchen looked at the percentage of students at each school who are the first in their families to go to college. He shared his findings for the tri-state area: at CUNY's campuses, 40 to 50 percent of students are first-generation, compared to 12.6 percent at Bard, almost 20 percent at Fordham and 25 percent at Princeton.
We're sure to see many more interesting facts about our nation's colleges as the experts continue wading through the federal data. Share with us what you're finding, in the comments below or on Twitter @schoolbook.