Factors associated with graduating undergraduates' perception of degree value at Ohio State
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Date
2017-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
The rising cost of pursuing a college degree and the over $1 trillion of student loan debt have come to the forefront of conversations surrounding higher education in the United States. Many are assessing if benefits of college outweigh financial costs. At The Ohio State University (OSU) the rising cost of college is of interest due to the university’s focus on affordability. What remains unknown is how students at OSU feel about the benefits of receiving an education relative to the costs. The purpose of this study is to examine what drives a graduating undergraduate student at OSU to perceive that the benefits he or she has received from attending OSU were worth the financial costs. This study used secondary data from the 2015-2016 Graduation Survey, a survey administered by the Center for the Study of Student Life at OSU. By using one question from the survey to represent the value of the degree, this study looked at the factors associated with student perceived value of the college degree. Using SPSS to analyze the data, analysis has shown that employed graduating students’ satisfaction with one's overall OSU experience, amount of financial borrowing, starting salary, and how well OSU prepared the student for the job market had strong relationships with perceived value of the degree. Demographics, college of enrollment, and whether the students’ employment was related to their field of study had weak relationships with perceived value. Discovering the driving factors that contribute to students perceiving the benefits they have received from attending OSU as worth the financial costs will be beneficial to university officials. This information could allow OSU to offer support or services targeted to improve the student experience. Students are making large financial investments into their futures so it is important to understand if they perceive their investment as worth the cost.
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Keywords
higher education, degree value, human capital investment