Using Input-Adjusted Measures to Estimate College Performance

I have been privileged to work with HCM Strategists over the past two years on a Gates Foundation-funded project to explore how to use input-adjusted measures to estimate a college’s performance. Although the terminology sounds fancy, the basic goal of the project is to figure out better ways to measure whether a college does a good job educating the types of students that it actually enrolls. It doesn’t make any sense to measure a highly selective and well-resourced flagship university against an open-access commuter college; doing so is akin to comparing my ability to run a marathon with that of an elite professional athlete. Just like me finishing a marathon is a much more substantial accomplishment, getting a first-generation student with modest academic preparation to graduate is a much bigger deal than someone whom everyone expected to race through their coursework with ease.

The seven-paper project was officially unveiled in Washington on Friday, and I was able to make it out there for the release. My paper (joint work with Doug Harris) is essentially a policymaker’s version of our academic paper on the pitfalls of popular rankings. It’s worth a read if you want to find out more about my research beyond the Washington Monthly rankings.  Additional media coverage can be found in The Chronicle of Higher Education and Inside Higher Ed.

As a side note, it’s pretty neat that the Inside Higher Ed article links to the “authors” page of the project’s website (which includes my bio and information) under the term “prominent scholars.” I know I’m by no means a prominent scholar, but maybe some of that will rub off the others via association.

Author: Robert

I am an a professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville who studies higher education finance, accountability policies and practices, and student financial aid. All opinions expressed here are my own. View all posts by Robert