College Scorecard adds field-level breakdown of salaries

[Hibush]

One of the weaknesses of salary data from the Department of Education's College Scorecard has been that it does not account for the fields graduates go into. The mean for a school has more to do with what the students train for than how well they are trained. That has made it useless for deciding on a school if your goal is higher earnings.

Now IHE reports that the "Education Department is expanding the College Scorecard to show how much graduates at institutions make based on their areas of study. The scorecard now provides median income data for students two years out from their date of graduation."

Their example uses Princeton (whose graduates have atypical salaries) to compare two iconic majors: Computer Engineering ($103K) and English Language and Literature ($47K). I wonder if the spread is less at e.g. Rutgers, where the engineers might not be quite as sought-after, and the English majors more pragmatic.

[Puget]

This is a step in the right direction, but the 2 year mark is not a very useful time to measure for a lot of fields where you basically need a graduate degree for professional jobs. In psychology/neuro for example, at the 2 year mark many students are either in grad school, or about to start grad school after working a (low paid put important preparation for grad school) research assistant/lab manager position.

It is also simply not the goal of many students to make as much money as possible. Many of our grads go into fields that provide a public service but are not very well paid. They were never going to become investment bankers or corporate lawyers no matter where they went to college-- that's not what they value.

[dismalist]

This is a step in the right direction, but the 2 year mark is not a very useful time to measure for a lot of fields where you basically need a graduate degree for professional jobs. In psychology/neuro for example, at the 2 year mark many students are either in grad school, or about to start grad school after working a (low paid put important preparation for grad school) research assistant/lab manager position.

It is also simply not the goal of many students to make as much money as possible. Many of our grads go into fields that provide a public service but are not very well paid. They were never going to become investment bankers or corporate lawyers no matter where they went to college-- that's not what they value.

Yeah, ideally we would have earnings by major two years out, five years out, and then 10 years out. Those data can still be accumulated, at least over time.

Even if one's aim in life is not to earn as much as possible, the earnings data are vital for understanding how much one can borrow.

[Hibush]

This is a step in the right direction, but the 2 year mark is not a very useful time to measure for a lot of fields where you basically need a graduate degree for professional jobs. In psychology/neuro for example, at the 2 year mark many students are either in grad school, or about to start grad school after working a (low paid put important preparation for grad school) research assistant/lab manager position.

Indeed, bio majors have some of the lowest 2-year salaries in my college because many are in grad or med school.

[polly_mer]

College Scorecard has had by major information for several months if not a year now.  How is this news?

[Vkw10]

College Scorecard has had by major information for several months if not a year now.  How is this news?

Slow news day at IHE?

[Hibush]

College Scorecard has had by major information for several months if not a year now.  How is this news?

The press release just arrived?