University accountability: why not let the public track performance?

Universities hold the keys to economic vitality, says Doug Rothwell, and Michigan is shining a light on exactly how.
In today's knowledge economy, there is growing recognition that colleges and universities are powerful stimulants of economic growth. The talent, research and development, and economic activity they produce are valuable public goods worthy of both private and public investment. The obvious question, however, is this: how can colleges and universities show they are delivering healthy investment returns? We think we have the beginnings of an answer: Michigan's performance tracker for public universities. As a roundtable of business leaders located in the US midwest, Business Leaders for Michigan asked higher education and economic partners what we'd expect to see in a credible investment report. We came up with about 30 different measures of productivity, efficiency, affordability, access, and economic impact. Read more...