> Instead of measuring an institution’s wealth or selectivity, it could track metrics like:
> Employment Rates: Track the percentage of graduates employed in their field of study within six months to a year after graduation.
> Earnings Data: Use data on median salaries adjusted for regional cost of living and industry to assess economic outcomes.
This is a toxic way of looking at education, in my opinion, like it's some kind of vocational training. By this metric, two-month training programs in high-demand fields would be the highest ranked, by far. But often, the subjects which have the deepest impact on one's thinking—and on one's curiosity, intellectual abilities, and life in general—are the ones which have no easy one-to-one mapping to a job. I've taken philosophy courses, and anthropology courses, which have changed my life completely, but I didn't get employment as a philosopher or anthropologist within six months after graduation. The value of education is in how much it can change your thinking, satisfy your curiosity, and make you into a well-rounded person. It's not just whether it can prepare you for some job. And if you reduce education to "median salaries adjusted for regional cost of living" then you're measuring education purely on a sell-out basis.
> Employment Rates: Track the percentage of graduates employed in their field of study within six months to a year after graduation.
> Earnings Data: Use data on median salaries adjusted for regional cost of living and industry to assess economic outcomes.
This is a toxic way of looking at education, in my opinion, like it's some kind of vocational training. By this metric, two-month training programs in high-demand fields would be the highest ranked, by far. But often, the subjects which have the deepest impact on one's thinking—and on one's curiosity, intellectual abilities, and life in general—are the ones which have no easy one-to-one mapping to a job. I've taken philosophy courses, and anthropology courses, which have changed my life completely, but I didn't get employment as a philosopher or anthropologist within six months after graduation. The value of education is in how much it can change your thinking, satisfy your curiosity, and make you into a well-rounded person. It's not just whether it can prepare you for some job. And if you reduce education to "median salaries adjusted for regional cost of living" then you're measuring education purely on a sell-out basis.