As part of an ongoing push for increased student outcome transparency, the U.S. Department of Education recently rolled out a new Earnings Indicator as part of the FAFSA process. From the Department of Education press release:
As part of the FAFSA application, prospective students send their personal data to institutions they have expressed interest in attending. Once the form is complete, the FAFSA will present key financial data for each selected institution. If the institution’s average earnings are below the average high school graduate, the form will generate a “lower earnings” disclosure. This information will help prospective students and families better navigate their postsecondary application journey….
More than 2 percent of undergraduate students nationwide attend an institution where graduates earn less than a high school completer on average. These same institutions receive upwards of $2 billion in Federal student aid annually.
After students complete the FAFSA, if they have opted to send their financial data to an underperforming school, their results will look a bit like this graph below.
The data sources for the low earnings indicator include U.S. College Scorecard data and American Community Survey data. While most schools are measured against the mean high school graduate salary of their state, schools where more than half of the student population hail from out of state will be measured against the mean high school graduate salary of the nation.
While this is a useful place to begin, both current U.S. College Scorecard data and American Community Survey data are out of date by five years or more. (The data has been adjusted for inflation, and updates are expected to come.) Additionally, U.S. College Scorecard data only tracks students who received Title IV aid and were working and not enrolled in college four years after graduation. While this does include large swaths of the U.S. student base, more work will need to be done to ensure this tool can be more authoritative than a concerning red flag.
The U.S. Department of Education has provided a full list of the earnings data in a spreadsheet. All Minnesota schools that have been flagged for poor outcomes are below.
Flagged for student income outcomes lower than the mean high school graduate income:
- Aveda Arts & Sciences Institute Minneapolis
- Nova Academy of Cosmetology Woodbury
- Model College of Hair Design
- Northwestern Health Sciences University
- Oak Hills Christian College
- Empire Beauty School-Bloomington
- Summit Academy Opportunities Industrialization Center
- Hastings Beauty School
- PCI Academy-Plymouth
- Empire Beauty School-Spring Lake Park
- Avalon School of Cosmetology
- Nova Academy of Cosmetology
- Red Lake Nation College
Data not available:
- Riverland Community College
- Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School
- Luther Seminary
- United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities
- Mitchell Hamline School of Law
- Adler Graduate School
- Leech Lake Tribal College
- White Earth Tribal and Community College
- American Academy of Health and Wellness
- Bethlehem College & Seminary
- The Salon Professional Academy Maplewood