Across the country, the public is demanding proof that college pays off; and higher education leaders, to their credit, are responding. The value conversation—once an undercurrent in policy debates—is now at the center of nearly every discussion about the future of postsecondary education.
Strada Education Foundation’s 2025 State Opportunity Index adds urgency to this moment. Nationally, roughly 70% of graduates from public institutions can expect to see a positive return on investment (ROI) within ten years of completing their degree. But look state by state, and that figure ranges from 53% to 82%. The headline is that most students are benefiting. The subheadline is just as important: every state has significant room to strengthen long-term outcomes.
Delivering value—including measuring it, improving it and sustaining it—is not simple. Colleges cannot do it alone. States cannot do it alone. But together, they shape the conditions that determine whether students and employers see real, lasting returns.
The good news? Several leading states are stepping up, creating momentum that others can learn from. Here are the most promising areas where state leaders are charting a path forward.
Strategy And Funding: Putting Value At The Center
One of the strongest levers state leaders hold is the ability to set a unified vision—and align funding decisions directly to it. A growing number of states are recognizing that value shouldn’t be a vague aspiration but a strategic anchor that guides priorities, public investment and accountability.
Tennessee offers one of the most compelling examples. This year, the state is developing a new Master Plan for higher education that places value—both personal value to students and economic value to the state—at its core. This dual definition resonates because it acknowledges the real-world conversation happening across kitchen tables and state capitols alike: students want upward mobility, and states need a stronger talent pipeline.
The plan is acting as a consensus-builder across sectors. More importantly, it is shaping policy. Tennessee is now considering revisions to its Outcomes-Based Funding Formula to reinforce its value vision. The changes under consideration include incentives for seamless credit transfer, institutional collaboration and expanded production of credentials that are proven to yield strong economic returns. It’s a blueprint for how states can align aspiration with action.
Transparency And Student Empowerment: Making Value Visible
Value must also be measured and publicly reported. Students, families and policymakers need clear, comparable information about the returns of different programs if they are going to make informed decisions.
A number of states are leaning into this work with rigor.
In Iowa, policymakers are building ROI calculation methodologies for community colleges, mirroring a framework already adopted by the state’s Board of Regents for four-year institutions. They are also creating a definition and list of postsecondary credentials of value to complement those already prioritized in the K-12 system. Their goal is a comprehensive system in which value and ROI inform public dashboards, program review and approval decisions, and even potential funding pilots, ensuring alignment and coherence across the entire education continuum.
Virginia is taking an equally ambitious approach. The state is adopting a multiple measures approach to identify credentials of value—including a wage threshold based on wages that provide at least the average cost of living in the state or wages that create economic mobility—and developing a draft methodology to measure ROI across programs at colleges and universities. These measures will be embedded directly into Virginia’s new strategic plan for higher education and incorporated into a forthcoming consumer-facing data portal. For students choosing between programs, that kind of transparency is game-changing.
Academic Program Approval: A Powerful, Underutilized Lever
If public funding shapes incentives for institutions, academic program approval determines the actual menu of opportunities available to students. Yet the process is often treated as a compliance exercise rather than a strategic tool.
Louisiana is rewriting that script.
The state has recently placed program approval at the center of its value strategy. Institutions were asked to take a hard look at their academic offerings, supported by the Louisiana Board of Regents through workshops focused on regional workforce needs. College leaders connected directly with economic development organizations in the state and used up-to-date labor market data to understand where the demand truly is.
The results have been striking. Institutions submitted fewer new programs for approval than in previous years, and the quality and alignment with Louisiana’s priority workforce needs has improved dramatically. Regional economic development partners validated these proposals, noting how well they matched anticipated hiring trends.
Louisiana didn’t stop with new programs. The state also conducted an analysis of existing offerings to identify those with low completion rates or weak employment outcomes. That review has already led to the termination of over 100 low-performing programs. The shift is freeing up resources and allowing institutions to double down on programs that serve students—and the state’s economy—far more effectively.
What’s Next? The Emerging Questions States Must Grapple With
The momentum is real, but so are the challenges ahead. As these leading states push deeper into the value agenda, they’re surfacing complex questions that will require thoughtful debate and innovative solutions.
- How should states treat programs with high social value but lower individual earnings? Not every essential role yields a high wage, yet society relies on many of them; think about early childhood educators, social workers and other types of caregivers. States will need frameworks that recognize multiple forms of value.
- How do we define value for individual students? A single ROI formula cannot capture every student’s goals or circumstances. The same program might have different “value” to a mid-career professional looking to narrowly upskill in search of a promotion, an 18-year-old hoping to develop broadly transferrable knowledge and skills, or a retiree pursuing lifelong learning. Personalizing value—based on interests, career aspirations and life stage—will be critical.
- How do we improve value for adults returning to college? Adults often face different financial risks, time constraints and career pressures. Compared to traditional learners, minimizing front-end cost, generating short-term wage increases and maximizing flexibility in delivery are often at a premium for adult learners. States must design strategies that meet their needs directly.
These emerging questions are signs that the value movement is evolving. States are no longer debating whether value matters. They are wrestling, productively, with how to deliver and measure it for every student.
The work unfolding in Tennessee, Iowa, Virginia, Louisiana and others offers an initial roadmap, and also a reminder of the complexities inherent in this work. Continuing to wrestle with these questions will be critical for higher education and state leaders—and for the students whose futures depend on it.