New Framework for Assessing University Outcomes

The fraught conversation about how to gauge academic outcomes in higher education received a boost from a new framework developed by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), in a project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The framework cross-tabulates two aspects of value--economic impact and human capital--with two domains of effect--public and personal.Called the Post-College Outcomes Framework and Toolkit, the model represents a more nuanced approach to understanding outcomes. It strikes me that different people will be drawn to one or another quadrant, and perhaps even to areas within a quadrant, in terms of the outcomes they deem most important. The trick will be getting administrations and governing board members on the same page about what a given institution aspires to accomplish.