All You Need To Know About The New College Scorecard

With emerging stories about college dropouts turned tech giants, the validity of a college education is always in question. With hefty loans and the lack of job security amid layoffs, many students are turning to the college scorecard to help their decision-making progress.

Here is everything you need to know about the new college scorecard:

What Does The College Scorecard Do?

The college scorecard is a free resource for those looking to find data on colleges in the US. 

This data ranges from the likelihood of a student graduating from a university to data surrounding the amount of debt the student might incur. You can even find enrollment information as well as the cost of attendance.

The college scorecard was created during the Obama administration in response to the growing sentiment that college was no longer an affordable investment. 

With universities hiking up costs year after year, the job market failed to offset the costs of a college education. 

More and more people were wondering whether it was better to take an alternative route such as going the trade school way or getting a degree through an ed-tech platform.

By providing data on graduation costs, rates, and the median earnings earned by a graduate, the college scorecard helps students understand their investment in a school and what their future might look like.

What’s New?

Lots of changes in the college scorecard have been implemented during the 2022-2023 period and these changes further work towards the goal of more transparency when it comes to getting a college education.

One of the bigger changes introduced during this time was that the resource would add another year’s worth of data when it comes to what graduates are earning. 

This means that students can now see how much graduates from their chosen schools are earning 4 years after graduation.

Other significant changes include data about the race and ethnicity of students as well as racial information about the faculty. 

Moreover, gender statistics were added to clarify the type of environment a school promotes/maintains.

Why Should You Care?

Students should care about the college scorecard as this is an invaluable resource when it comes to making a decision about which college to attend. 

It might even help if you are wondering if you should even go to college or if there is a better route for you out there.

This information is important because it can help you save a lot of time too. By looking at the scorecard for a specific college, you can determine the amount of effort you will have to put in your studies to excel. The academic writing productivity for students may need to improve based on more challenging curriculums.

Therefore, it is best to make informed decisions before you waste your time on an application for a college you no longer want to attend.

How Will This Affect Future Students?

With more students no longer thinking that college has prepared them for the real world or that they need it for a successful career, the stakes have never been higher. 

This is also a wake-up call for institutions to reconsider their costs as there may be a significant drop in enrollment numbers too.

The most important effect however is on those from underprivileged and underserved communities as it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to gain a college education.

Suppose, the college loan forgiveness program does not continue. In that case, there might be a steep drop in the enrollment numbers from these communities causing the racial and socio-economic imbalance to be further out of equilibrium. 

Conclusion

All in all, the college scorecard is a great tool that you should use when making your college decisions.

From student loan debt to career prospects, the scorecard does a great job of simplifying the decision making process for parents as well.

Try filling out college applications based on these scores and you are bound to be successful!