The federal government has overhauled how it measures higher education outcomes, introducing a rule that for the first time holds all programs in the federal student loan system accountable for their graduates' earnings. Dubbed a “do no harm” provision, the Student Tuition and Transparency System and Earnings Accountability rule sets a minimal threshold. But critics argue that earnings alone are a one-dimensional metric that fails to capture what truly matters over a career.
“We have known for years that simply preparing someone for a first job is not enough,” said Charla Long, president of the Competency-Based Education Network. Artificial intelligence, automation, and other global forces are reshaping jobs and the skills workers need faster than ever, she noted.
Employers are increasingly skeptical of degrees as a reliable signal of readiness. According to a recent survey, 7 in 10 employers now use skills-based hiring approaches. As job functions shift, companies find it more efficient to reskill and upskill current workers rather than rely solely on new hires.
New tools for assessing skills and aptitudes have matured, enabling employers to identify talent more easily and learners to demonstrate their knowledge without fixed time constraints. Learners are also using credit for prior learning and innovative online methods to validate their skills while working toward degrees. Yet the public narrative still fixates on simplistic metrics like class time or immediate earnings.
The current focus on skills presents an opportunity to rethink quality measurement. Instead of calculating the value of postsecondary education by glancing at recent graduates’ paychecks, policymakers should measure mastery of competencies. Until recently, quality was gauged by inputs such as institutional prestige or proxies like seat time and credit hours. Completion assumes students gain certain knowledge, but it never spells out what they actually know or can do. Without accurate measures, policymakers turned to wage thresholds as a blunt tool.
But these yardsticks measure only pay, not skills. Engineering graduates often land jobs near six figures, while talented graduates in education or liberal arts may pursue careers that add community value but pay far less. “Now there is no excuse,” Long said. “We have the capacity and capabilities to measure outcomes based on skills, competencies, and how they show up in real work.”
Because the workforce is changing rapidly, employers need precise knowledge of workers’ capabilities. When automation disrupts entry-level coding roles, for example, those workers still have valuable technical and durable skills that can be redeployed within an organization. Focusing on what people know and can do helps ensure learners and the economy succeed. Prioritizing skills allows identification of how capabilities transfer across industries, opening new opportunities for workers and helping employers fill critical roles.
In Alabama, healthcare employers seeking hard-to-find surgical and sterile processing technicians recruited metal pickling equipment operators who followed strict safety and sterilization procedures. By recognizing shared competencies, employers expanded their talent pool and connected workers to new career pathways they might have overlooked.
Institutions are building innovative competency-based education programs that clearly state what learners must master before earning a credential. These programs lead to credentials that deliver value because skills and learning outcomes are transparent, credible, and comparable. When credentials are clearly conveyed, employers can verify skills, and states can hold institutions accountable for meeting skill demands. The logical evolution is a future-ready quality assurance model that ensures credentials and embedded skills are valid, legible, trustworthy, and tailored to the modern economy.
This model gives learners and employers clarity and confidence around competencies without needing to interpret transcripts or job descriptions. It enables states to document whether programs produce graduates with the skills regional economies need. Better than first-job earnings metrics, this quality assurance model can confirm whether credentials deliver verified skills that matter and produce measurable mobility for learners, employers, and communities.
Long applauds the new federal “do no harm” standards and other accountability measures that raise the bar. But she argues that colleges and universities must aim higher by seeking to do good throughout their learners’ lives. When institutions ensure graduates have the right competencies, they can propel them beyond first jobs into successful, upwardly mobile careers over their lifetimes.
