Noreen M. Carrocci: Postsecondary education a common good

With yet another headline designed to have us question the value of postsecondary education generally and liberal arts education specifically, the Wall Street Journal declared last week: “Parents’ Fears Confirmed: Liberal Arts Students Earn Less.”

Salary comparisons for graduates of the most selective liberal arts colleges versus research universities revealed – unsurprisingly – that nearly half of the graduates of the top liberal arts colleges had median salaries less than $50,000, while graduates at almost all of the best research universities topped $50,000. This is one of the consequences of the U.S. Department of Education’s new “College Scorecard” that is supposed to help families discern where or whether to invest in postsecondary education.

But how and what is the scorecard counting?

The only graduates counted are those who entered college 10 years before the 2011 and 2012 median earnings counted (by IRS records), and only for those who received federal aid while enrolled. Also excluded from the data are those enrolled in graduate or professional schools. Earnings are not reported by field of study.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to note that research universities tend to have programs such as engineering and business that are not offerings at most liberal arts colleges, and so disparities in median earnings between the two types of institutions are entirely predictable. Most importantly, the faulty premise is that the higher the median income six years or less after graduation, the better the value of a degree. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The fact is that all who participate in postsecondary education can count on significantly higher lifetime earnings than those who do not, regardless of their majors. For example, as noted by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce in 2011, high school graduates can expect to earn $1.3 million in a lifetime, compared with bachelor’s degree holders at $2.3 million and professional degree holders at $3.6 million.

All programs and types of postsecondary education matter.

Postsecondary education is critical to economic development in our communities. It is estimated that 65 percent of the nation’s 55 million job openings by 2020 will require some postsecondary education, and on the current path we will fall short by 5 million postsecondary credentials.

For Wichita and our region, the facts have been laid out clearly in recent presentations by demographer James Chung of Reach Advisors. We have had virtually no growth in per capita gross domestic product since 2001 (compared with other Midwest cities such as Des Moines, which had 35 percent growth). It is only the most recent evidence of the consequence of a lack of investment in postsecondary education.

Wichita’s percentage of residents with college degrees is at 28 percent, a growth of only 2 percent since 1970. Compare that with Austin, which has seen a 24 percent increase over the same period and where the population has more than doubled. As we’ve learned from Chung and others, without growth in postsecondary degree attainment, there is no economic or population growth.

Postsecondary education is a common good. Let’s make it a community priority.

This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Noreen M. Carrocci: Postsecondary education a common good."