Featured Work: Measuring and Delivering Value in Higher Education
Higher education is a major investment for individuals and governments alike—and pressure is rightfully mounting to ensure that this investment pays off. How can we ensure that higher education delivers on its promise for both learners and communities?
Fortunately, there is growing momentum across the country to develop better ways to measure, communicate, and deliver value in higher education. ESG is proud to be supporting several leaders at the forefront of this work and to lift up emerging bright spots as we enter a new era of goal-setting and outcomes in higher education.
- With the support of Arnold Ventures, ESG will be working with 7 states that are seeking to develop or advance policy and practice that will increase the value of higher education for learners. These states will:
- Explore key issues related to postsecondary value, including, but not limited to, how state peers across the nation have 1) defined and measured postsecondary value, including measurements such as return on investment and economic mobility, 2) leveraged policy to promote or incentivize behavior that lead to measurable economic outcomes for students and 3) scaled evidence-based practices that improve the value of the postsecondary experience.
- Identify a discrete set of bold strategies to enhance credential of value and return on investment in your state.
- Broaden and deepen support for an action plan among policymakers, institutional leadership, faculty, and other key constituents and stakeholders in preparation for the 2026 legislative session.
- ESG has been working with leaders in Colorado since 2023 in their efforts to develop and implement thoughtful, comprehensive quantitative measures of “economic value” in higher education to provide more transparency to consumers and establish baselines to inform future improvement strategies.
- With support from American Student Assistance, ESG will work with higher education leaders in Massachusetts over the next year to develop strategies for measuring and expanding economic mobility as part of their broader efforts to support innovation and drive equitable outcomes in postsecondary education.
- In partnership with Scale Strategic Solutions, ESG conducted an analysis of the value of education and training beyond high school in Ohio, including a review of affordability, post-school earnings, and income mobility associated with different postsecondary options.
- ESG partnered with the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development (MDHEWD) and the Missouri College & Career Attainment Network to develop a strategic framework that aims to help 150,000 adult learners earn credentials that prepare them for the Missouri workforce. The plan prioritizes the economic value of higher education offerings as a means to strengthen the state’s workforce and support more equitable opportunity.
Reading List
Learn more about how we’re thinking about questions of value and return on investment in higher education:
