Value Added by Universities

Two researchers at The Brookings Institution have created a way of rating universities on the basis of how much graduating from that campus adds value to what the student would be expected to earn, based on his/her academic preparation, race and ethnicity, and family income. They examined the following campus variables:

Curriculum value - offering high value majors
Alumni skills - labor market value of skills listed on resumes
STEM orientation - share prepped to work in science and technology
Completion rates - share who graduate
Student aid - average financial support

And they add:

Compared to conventional rankings, these value-added measures more accurately predict alumni economic outcomes for a given student.

Based on these criteria, it turns out California State University, Chico - on whose faculty the DrsC spent most of their careers - ranks second in the 23 campus system in terms of value added. That is gratifying. Furthermore, Chico is found to add more value than thirty-seven percent of the elite University of California campuses, including UCLA.

The campus has a fortuitous location, far enough away from major CA population centers so most of its students can "go away to college" and still pay in-state fees. "Commuter students" who continue to live in the communities where they attended high school while going to college have always been a minority at Chico. Hat tip to Instapundit for the link.