Local Returns of College
Colleges can boost students up the economic ladder and reverse economic inequalities; however, college does not always "pay off" equally for all students all the time. To measure the pay off, the Postsecondary Value Commission developed three core metrics of economic return on investment (ROI): Minimum Economic Return, Earnings Premium, and Economic Mobility. We build upon these ROI metrics by examining ROI at the local, rather than state, level. You can use this dashboard to explore postsecondary institutions in the United States and their commuting zones to see how institutions fare against local earnings. Explore the dashboard or learn more about the project.
Relationship Between Earnings and Institutional Characteristics
Why Geography Matters
Geography plays a major role in shaping earnings, cost of living, and other economic outcomes in the United States. Many colleges operate in regional markets defined not by state or national boundaries but by much smaller geographic areas. Using a regional lens also highlights the many places around the country where people routinely live and commute across state lines. Comparing institutions to earnings in their local regions better reflects the labor market realities their students face.
Defining Local Areas
It can be difficult to determine the best unit of geography to use when studying local economic regions. Using an area that is too small, like Census tracts or counties, can result in missing important regional patterns that matter for educational opportunities and outcomes. Using an area that is too big can lead to aggregation bias. We use commuting zones because they are somewhere in the middle. They are statistically derived measures of journey-to-work data that represent local labor markets by combining counties that share a workforce.