Project Activities
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Products and publications
Product: At the end of Phase II, the researchers will launch Return on College (ROC). Two versions of ROC will be developed. Using ROC-A, students will be able to search colleges nationwide based on geographic location and occupational goals with personalized output on projected debt, loan repayment, disposable income, graduation risk, and ROI the focal points of these decisions. Using ROC-B, prospective students visiting a college website will receive data driven information on potential careers, salaries, price, and debt expected for degrees offered by a school.
Project website:
Supplemental information
Video Demonstration of the Phase I Prototype: https://youtu.be/td5_H_9fqEA
At the end of Phase I, in a pilot study with 16 advisors representing 12 public high schools, the researchers tested the usability, feasibility, and accuracy of the prototype. Most users found the tool to be useful overall and that the personalized ROI calculation provided clear information. The data visualization chart was found to be less useful. Most participants indicated they would be likely to recommend it to a student today if it were a finalized product, and all test users provided valuable feedback for further improving ROC in Phase II.
In Phase II, the project team will refine the accuracy of the calculations and improve user experience. Using similar backend data and components as the current prototype, the team will also create a college version of ROC to support prospective students visiting a college's website to model net price, ROI, and career paths associated with different degrees options. After Phase II development is completed, researchers will conduct two pilot studies to continue to validate and improve usability, reliability, and validity with the objective of launching a fully functional product for public and commercial use. The first pilot will include students in grade 12 from 29 underserved high schools (urban/rural, low-income), with a subset of counselors introducing the tool as part of a college- and career-ready learning module taught across the schools. The researchers will compare pre- and post-test scores for students' understanding of healthy debt, average college prices, educational requirements for occupational goals. The second pilot will include a small number of universities that randomly incorporate ROC into their degree program pages to evaluate user interest, feedback, and changes in matriculation rates.
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.
