The Value Data Collaborative Shows PASSHE Degrees Pay Off

IHEP invited Natalie Cartwright, Director and Chief Data Officer at the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), to share reflections from the system’s participation in our Value Data Collaborative, a network of colleges, systems, and states working to measure and strengthen the value of higher education. In this guest blog post, Cartwright explores how PASSHE is using data to demonstrate the economic value of its degrees in Pennsylvania. 

The mistaken perception that a college education isn’t worth the investment has become a persistent challenge within Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) and for the vast majority of higher education institutions nationwide. But new analysis reveals that PASSHE credentials indeed provide strong economic value to our students. In fact, PASSHE graduates earn nearly $1 million more over their lifetimes than Pennsylvanians with only a high school diploma.  

Narratives, accurate or not, shape decisions for years. During the Great Recession, for example, thousands of teaching jobs were temporarily cut, sending a message that teaching was an unstable career. Enrollment in our teacher preparation programs collapsed, and Pennsylvania still faces chronic teacher shortages today. Similarly, the misperception that college isn’t worth the investment jeopardizes our entire economy.  

Using Pennsylvania data to demonstrate that college pays off

To gain a deeper understanding of the economic returns to postsecondary education, PASSHE participated in the Institute for Higher Education Policy’s (IHEP) Value Data Collaborative—a national initiative that brings colleges, systems, and states together to use data to measure and strengthen the value of higher education. As part of the Collaborative, PASSHE worked with research partners and state agencies to link wage records, financial aid data, and enrollment histories. Our analysis captured outcomes for tens of thousands of graduates across our 10 regional comprehensive universities. By serving as the data provider, PASSHE both enabled fellow Value Data Collaborative teams to expand their analytic capacity and contributed to the growing national evidence base on the return on investment of a college degree.  

The results are compelling. 

• Greater lifetime earnings: PASSHE graduates earn 65 percent more over their lifetimes than high school graduates in Pennsylvania, nearly $1 million in additional income. The typical graduate earns about $2.48 million over their career, compared to $1.5 million for those with only a high school diploma. 

• Strong return on investment: The incomes of PASSHE graduates are significantly greater than the cost of their education. The average net cost of a PASSHE degree is only 2% of lifetime earnings. In other words, every dollar students invested results in more than twenty dollars in earnings over a career. 

• Students recoup their investments quickly: Five years after graduation, 86 percent of PASSHE alumni are already seeing an economic return, earning enough above high school graduates in their state to recoup their costs within a decade. By year ten, nearly all graduates meet this affordability benchmark—what the Postsecondary Value Framework defines as Threshold 0—demonstrating that their education has more than paid off. 

The data paint a clear picture: graduates recoup their investment and are positioned for meaningfully higher incomes throughout their lifetimes. 

Rebuilding confidence in college

PASSHE’s findings cut through the noise of national averages and headlines questioning whether college is worth it. For Pennsylvania, these data provide students and families with clear, local evidence that college is a strong investment in their future. 

PASSHE is now using these insights in our public case-making. The findings are incorporated into our annual appropriations requests to the Commonwealth, inform communications with students and families, and guide outreach to employers and other stakeholders who depend on a credentialed workforce. 

By grounding these conversations in Pennsylvania-specific results, we are strengthening the case for state investment, rebuilding public trust, and demonstrating to employers the benefits of hiring PASSHE graduates. 

Strengthening our workforce and communities

Pennsylvania cannot afford for skepticism about the value of a college education to take root. The state, like many others, is dealing with a shrinking pool of high school graduates. All students and families deserve to know that higher education remains the surest path to long-term economic mobility and security. 

The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry projects that the number of high priority occupations requiring postsecondary education will increase 5.5 percent, more than double the rate of jobs requiring only on-the-job training and work experience. Our Commonwealth needs a workforce prepared for those jobs if we are to compete, grow, and thrive. 

The question is not whether higher education has value. The evidence shows that it does. The real question is whether we make that value visible and accessible to every Pennsylvanian. By using data to guide decisions and communicate results, we can build confidence, empower students, strengthen our economy, and ensure a brighter future for our communities. 

Want to see how other colleges and states are using data to demonstrate college value? Explore more of the second cohort’s research: IHEP’s Value Data Collaborative Offers Proof Points for Equitable Postsecondary Value.