Jonathan Rothwell, a fellow with the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings Institution and author of “Beyond College Rankings,” a report on value-added education, visits Elizabethtown College Tuesday, Aug. 18, to speak to the campus community during the College’s annual forum.
The forum takes place from 9 to 11:30 a.m. in Leffler Chapel and Performance Center with Rothwell’s discussion of “What Elizabethtown College does for its Students: A Value-Added Approach to Assessing Colleges” beginning at 10:30 a.m. A 15 minute Q&A follows.
“This research project shows a new way to evaluate colleges, based on what they do for students, rather than how well they attract high-achieving students,” said Rothwell about value-added rankings. “Specifically, we use three measures of alumni economic outcomes to gauge the extent to which colleges surpass or fall short of similar institutions. This presentation highlights the results for Elizabethtown College and puts them in context.”
“This research project shows a new way to evaluate colleges, based on what they do for students…”
College is one of the largest investments a person makes within his or her lifetime but unlike vehicles or homes, it is difficult to compare one institution against another. Rankings such as U.S. News, Forbes or Money focus on highly selective colleges even though they might not be the institutions that contribute the most to student success.
Value-added rankings measure not only employment and salaries but also graduation rate, market value of the skills learned.
Rothwell earned a bachelor degree from Penn State, a master’s degree in economics from the New School and a doctoral degree in public policy from Princeton University.
In connection with Brookings, where Rothwell has worked since 2009, his research focuses on labor market economics, social mobility, access to education and the sources of economic growth. His Brookings publications have included reports on hard-to-fill job vacancies, the value of STEM knowledge, skill mismatch, the role of inventive activity on regional growth and the causes and consequences of school segregation.
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., which conducts high-quality, independent research and, based on that research, provides innovative, practical recommendations that aim to strengthen American democracy, foster economic and social welfare, security and opportunity of all Americans, and secure a more open, safe, prosperous and cooperative international system.
The organization is consistently ranked as the most influential, most quoted and most trusted think tank.