Redefining Value in Higher Education: Prioritizing Equitable Access and Economic Mobility Over Selectivity

While most public opinion research shows Americans believe postsecondary education provides value, public trust in higher ed is waning. This decline in confidence is fueled in part by concerns about affordability, student debt and college-to-career alignment, plus a series of other social and political factors.

Amidst these challenges, it is crucial for institutions to improve how they articulate their successes and shift how they define their value -- moving away from a definition that prioritizes selectivity and toward another that foregrounds equitable access, economic mobility and student success.

Join Inside Higher Ed and our esteemed panelists as we explore current higher education perceptions and trends, and the innovative ways key stakeholders are working to ensure postsecondary education remains a powerful driver of both economic and non-economic value. 

The webcast will cover:

• Factors deterring prospective students from pursuing a college education and how they can be addressed
• Students' perspectives on the value and affordability of their education
• The effectiveness of colleges in preparing students for their expected career-related outcomes
• The American Council on Education's plan to categorize colleges based in part on their effectiveness in providing students with a "springboard to a better life"
• Attempts at solving higher education’s failure rate problem in key gateway courses
• Growing connections between community colleges and historically Black colleges and universities

To get the most out of the webcast, download and explore the accompanying booklet.

Additional resources: 

• “Varying Degrees 2024: New America’s Eighth Annual Survey on Higher Education” (New America – Education Policy Program)
• “College Affordability Still Out of Reach for Students with Lowest Incomes, Students of Color” (The Institute for Higher Education Policy)
• “Ideological Think Tanks in the States: An Inventory of Their Prevalence, Networks, and Higher Education Policy Activity” (Educational Policy)
• “Ideological Think Tanks and the Politics of College Affordability in the States” (Journal of Higher Education)
• “The Role of Education in Taming Authoritarian Attitudes” (The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce)
• “Promise for Whom? ‘Free-College’ Programs and Enrollments by Race and Gender Classifications at Public, 2-Year Colleges” (Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis)

Further reading on student success:

• Visit the Student Success Content Hub
• Student Voice Coverage & Surveys
• Subscribe to the daily Student Success Newsletter