Stephen Downes

Phil Hill cites Patrick Methvin of the Gates Foundation on the case for something called earnings-premium accountability for universities. "New accountability frameworks focused on earnings outcomes are helping sharpen attention on whether students are actually better off after pursuing a credential," says Methvin. Now of course there are other measures as well, and Methvin recognizes this. But it's the earnings outcomes that catch Hill's attention. He references his daughter who "graduated last June from a private college in Phoenix with an associate degree in diagnostic medical sonography" and has been unable to find a job. As for student loans, "people don't expect to pay them off anymore. They expect to have them forever - a payment you just make, working toward nothing." Are universities responsible for what happens to their graduates? In a world where the economy can change overnight due to a virus or ill-considered act of war, it seems a but much to ask. But maybe universities shouldn't be making promises either.