Classroom to Career: Leveraging Employment Data to Measure Labor Market Outcomes
Published May 2016
In response to the rising demand for better postsecondary education information, this paper emphasizes the importance of incorporating employment data into the national data ecosystem. While labor market outcomes are not the sole measure of education’s value, they play a critical role in helping students, institutions, and policymakers make informed decisions. Administrative datasets at state and federal levels hold valuable employment data that, when linked with student records, can provide insights into postsecondary program effectiveness. Building employment data infrastructure allows for comparable and reliable nationwide data, benefiting students and federal policymakers alike. While comprehensive federal data systems face political obstacles, the paper proposes a vision that includes federal data matching and state flexibility for more in-depth research. By enhancing data resources, policymakers can promote transparency, equity, and improved outcomes in postsecondary education.
This paper is part of Envisioning the National Postsecondary Data Infrastructure in the 21st Century.