On April 26, the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) and the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) released the Return on Investment (ROI) Dashboard, a fascinating interactive tool that reports existing postsecondary data and trends for the nation and all 50 states, and also calculates the federal, state and personal revenues at stake. The ROI dashboard provides individual state fact sheets and dashboards to help policymakers and advocates understand where their state is comparatively and what it will mean to increase the number of postsecondary credentials attained. Data came from the Census Bureau, National Center for Education Statistics and Department of Education.
CLASP released the dashboard to coincide with the release of the new report, “The Credential Differential“, co-authored by Heath Prince, associate director and research scientist at the Ray Marshall Center, and Vickie Choitz, CLASP senior policy analyst. The report makes the case that underinvestment in credential attainment in the United States is diminishing the country’s global competitive edge and will mean billions of dollars in lost revenue and increased public expenditures. The report highlights the need for policymakers at all levels to reverse the trend of disinvestment and to make strategic choices to increase postsecondary credential attainment.
Specifically for Texas, the ROI dashboard projects a $270 increase in per capita income in 2025 if postsecondary investment patterns are kept at the status quo. If Texas were to increase its investment to meet the levels by the top three performing states, annual per capita income would increase significantly more, by $2,100 by 2025. Moreover, such an investment level will also generate $5.5 billion in state revenue by 2025.
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