A long overdue, much needed transformation is underway in the higher education system. It started a decade ago, when federal and state policy­makers first began to collect data on what students earn after pursuing a postsecondary education. But new data are fundamentally differ­ent. Unlike broad-based national statistics, such as how much someone…

Every six years or so, reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965 provides the opportunity for Congress--and the nation--to examine the current conditions and consider the future needs of higher education. While reauthorization tends to focus on funding and on "fixing" postsecondary education's most visible problems, the…