Essential Question 16

About this Essential Question

This question examines whether students are enrolling in postsecondary institutions that are well-matched based on the institutional graduation rate of similar students, provide support to help students complete credentials, and deliver a return on their investment in postsecondary education. If institutions fail to deliver a minimum economic return to students (that is, individuals earn enough after completing their education to recover the costs of their investment), individuals are at higher risk for defaulting on loans, which has meaningful consequences and creates barriers to wealth building that are difficult to overcome. Research shows that not all types of postsecondary institutions deliver value for their students at the same rates. School administrators, counselors, and college access programs can use this question to understand the types of postsecondary institutions students attend, identify opportunities to help students select well-matched colleges, and examine the value their credentials offer.

Probing Questions

Use these probing questions to dive deeper on the essential question or approach it through a different lens. Feel free to adapt these questions further or come up with your own.  

• What are students’ highest priorities when selecting a college? How do students define "credentials of value?” To what extent do students and families have information on these factors to inform college choices?
• How do school resources and practices—such as expenditures on college and career advising and supports to help students evaluate institutional fit—help or hinder matriculation to well-matched postsecondary institutions? What other factors influence matriculation patterns?  
• How does the rate at which students attain credentials of value vary by postsecondary institution and institution type? How does it vary by student race and ethnicity, first-generation college student status, income level, and/or disability status?
• How might we improve matriculation to well-matched postsecondary institutions that graduate their students with credentials of value? What policies or conditions could be improved? Who needs to be involved? 

Explore Data for This Question

To help you answer this question for your own community, you can search for your state, county, or neighborhood in the Urban Institute data tool linked below. The tool integrates all available federal data from the metrics relevant to this essential question. Compare data between geographies, over time, and by breakdowns across race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, and more. Search for your own state using the lefthand sidebar or click “Restart” to view data by county or neighborhood.

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