It wasn’t all that long ago that my parents and I faced the same questions that confront prospective college students today: What school and degree program best suits my interests and will open the most career doors?
The mere fact that I asked this question belies my background of privilege: I wasn’t debating whether college, and the investment it would require, were necessary steps to build my career. It’s what my parents (and their parents) expected. It’s what we’d saved for. It’s what I believed would bring me the most career opportunities once I graduated.
Like many college-bound students, my parents and I visited several schools. I ended up choosing the same college as my parents, Indiana University. My choice wasn’t necessarily well-informed or -researched: I liked the IU campus. I knew the business school had a solid reputation. I knew I wanted to pursue a career in business. We could afford it. Those were the primary factors behind my decision.
Almost a decade later, it’s become clear that my college decision-making process seems almost quaint compared to the tough considerations today’s college-bound or -curious students and parents must work through:
– An iffy job market. In 2025, the unemployment rate of recent graduates tracked higher than the rate for the general workforce.
– Higher costs. Since 2000, the cost of college tuition has risen almost 42 percent more than cost of inflation. In 2025, the average annual tuition at a public college or university runs north of $10,000; it’s almost $39,000 for private colleges. When you add food and housing costs to the equation, you’re looking at a five- or six-figure investment to obtain a four-year college degree.
– A shift to skills-based careers. There wasn’t much talk of a “blue collar revolution” when I went to college, but it’s a hot topic today. Some businesses are even eliminating requirements for college degrees in favor of more skills-based criteria.
– Program uncertainty. With the prospect of an “enrollment cliff” and rising budget pressures, some colleges and universities are rethinking the degree programs they offer—sometimes eliminating majors while students are pursuing them.
Perhaps the biggest issue facing students and parents who are considering a college education is something that hasn’t changed from the time I went to college: There’s no way to really know if the school or degree program you choose will yield the payoff you expect.
Yes, you can reference what colleges and universities tell you about the post-graduate success of their students, but such high-level statistics don’t give parents or students the clarity they might prefer if were available.
For example, wouldn’t it be good to know the types of jobs, income levels and early career advancements that graduates of specific schools and degree programs typically experience? Wouldn’t it be nice to compare such outcomes from one school against another to truly understand where the best fit for a prospective student might be?
Thankfully, such insights are now becoming available as new data and technologies make it easier to gather the data and plot the outcomes, school by school, student by student.
It’s all part of a transparency revolution that’s coming to higher education. It’s a revolution that presents a better way forward for parents and students to truly know whether a specific college or degree program represents a sound investment that leads to a meaningful, rewarding career.
A Better Way Forward for College-Curious Students And Parents
