In a new op-ed for The Hechinger Report, also published in The Washington Post, Noodle Chief Partnerships Officer Stephen Green argues that families’ trust in higher education depends more and more on what institutions can show about their graduates years after commencement.
Families can now look up public cost and outcome data and hear directly from students, so a college’s story about its value gets checked against sources it doesn’t control. Stephen says the most useful evidence comes from tracking where graduates are three to five years out and whether their credential changed their career path. Collecting it means connecting every office that works with a student, from admissions through alumni relations, so outcome data can move between them. He also argues that community colleges and regional universities are well placed to lead because they work closely with local employers. This piece is the first in Hechiner’s new series on trust and transparency in higher education.
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