In a country where college is crucial to economic and social mobility, it is not acceptable that some students – especially students of color, students from low-income backgrounds, and women – face systemic barriers as costs continue to grow, completion rates remain low, and wage inequities persist that prevent them from realizing the full value of postsecondary education.

While there is overwhelming evidence that college is indeed “worth it,” institutional leaders, faculty, and staff must intentionally construct valuable learning experiences and career pathways with employers to ensure all students develop the knowledge, skills, and networks needed to be successful in work and life, including the ability to navigate and influence society to promote equity and justice.

To remove systemic barriers to equitable postsecondary value, federal and state policymakers should work with institutional leaders to develop funding, financial aid, and accountability mechanisms that incentivize creating coherent K-12, postsecondary, and workforce pathways and improving educational conditions and outcomes for students of color, low-income students, and women.

While equitable postsecondary education value yields clear returns for students and families, public investment in closing racial and socioeconomic attainment gaps also benefits the broader society through increases in tax revenues and GDP, decreases in public health and other expenditures, and increases in voting, volunteerism, and civic participation, which builds a more just society.

Collecting and using the necessary data to understand whether and how institutions and programs deliver value to students from low-income backgrounds, students of color, and women, in comparison to their peers, is critical because the nation can no longer afford to ignore these inequities in the system if we are to fulfill the promise of postsecondary education to students and society.