by Edward Smith

In today’s higher education landscape, no level of government plays a greater role in student success than states. Many of them set tuition at public colleges, design and maintain financial aid programs, align education systems with workforce needs, and influence public narratives about whether a credential is valuable. Federal policy rightly garners headlines, but the true levers of affordability and return on investment (ROI) lie within state higher education agencies, system offices, and statehouses.

ECMC Foundation gathered a handful of policy leaders during the 2025 State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) Policy Conference to learn more about their needs. They were clear that increasing the perceived value of a college credential is among their top priorities. For students, families, legislators, and employers to see higher education as a source of life-changing opportunities and industry-shaping partnerships, states must act with urgency, and philanthropy must remain a partner.

What States are Doing Right

Many states already collect and publish data that illuminates postsecondary investment returns. By linking student records to state wage data, policymakers can provide transparent information on earnings by credential, program, and institution. Texas, Virginia, Florida, and others already maintain robust ROI dashboards that track wages relative to program costs. In Louisiana, a student can see not just what her degree might earn her, but how it connects to local industries and long-term mobility. That’s the kind of transparency the public is demanding.

Labor market alignment and ROI reports, like those used in states like Ohio and Colorado, help match degree production with projected industry demands. More than that, some states have funded career navigation guides (with support from organizations like Gladeo), coaches to help learners expand their professional networks, and resources to help students turn degrees into sustainable, long-term careers.

ECMC Foundation has partnered with organizations like SHEEO, as well as Complete College America, the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, and the National Conference of State Legislatures to help states consider and adopt strategic approaches to monitoring credential value and highlighting programs and training that deliver strong post-credential outcomes. These intermediaries have also facilitated the acceleration and diffusion of promising practices by convening leaders, publishing comparative analyses, and providing technical assistance so that states can tailor and implement evidence-based solutions.

The National Picture

This is not to discount the national movement that responds to the public’s concerns regarding college value. The Postsecondary Value Commission has united a cross-section of our nation’s education, economic, and philanthropic leaders to help define, measure, and amplify the range of higher education benefits experienced by students, communities, and the country. ECMC Foundation joined a large group of philanthropic organizations to support the American Council on Education’s refresh of the Carnegie Classifications, updating them to shine a light on colleges that foster opportunity and economic mobility. Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce has produced lifetime earnings analyses that reveal which fields offer the strongest returns and empirical research continues to find that, on balance, a college degree remains a sound investment despite rising tuition. Together, these efforts illustrate the range of approaches to amplify the value of postsecondary education, highlighting both where it delivers and where gaps remain.

The Obstacles Ahead

Still, broad challenges must be addressed if these resources are to motivate material changes in perceptions. Public skepticism about value persists, fueled by rising student loan debt, disparities in the economic returns across majors, credential types, and student groups, and a political and media climate often critical of higher education. Inequities in college access and degree completion rates remain stubborn and many postsecondary learners struggle to meet basic needs, making timely graduation difficult. These conditions, in part, might explain why high school graduates in some states are delaying college enrollment.

Moreover, political polarization and the current federal policy climate will make sustaining evidence-based interventions difficult. State leaders face myriad policy changes and uncertainties, including some that might materially impair their efforts to sustain or innovate higher education’s financial model. Effectively managing these uncertainties will be difficult because capacity remains a serious obstacle. Some offices have limited staff expertise in data analysis, communications, and policy design. Without stronger communications, leadership, and analytic capacity, even well-designed policy reforms can wither.

The Role of Philanthropy

This is where philanthropy can help, not by dictating agendas, but by serving as a strategic, technical, and learning partner. Participants at our SHEEO gathering shared that targeted investments in leadership development, data infrastructure, and messaging can help states act with greater confidence and clarity, namely in conveying strong post-credential outcomes to the public and equipping lawmakers with a better understanding of how the decisions they make on budgets have consequences for affordability and completion.

State leaders also mentioned that they require support for conveying the civic and community benefits of higher education that extend beyond the financial returns. Studies show higher levels of education are tied to civic engagement, better health outcomes, and intergenerational benefits. Reframing higher education as both a private investment and a public good will help rebuild trust in its societal value and protect future generations from losing out on these returns.

Turning the Key

Ultimately, the public -- and especially future students -- deserve concrete answers about the economic and social value of postsecondary education. And those of us who believe in the transformative power of education have a responsibility to show them. With the right support, states can develop and learn from promising innovations, scale what works, and communicate the results with transparency and urgency. Such work translates postsecondary training into real-world learning for both work and life, while also spotlighting areas for improvement. Doing this over time will ensure all pathways to and through postsecondary education are valuable. State leaders are catalysts to achieving this end; the keys are in their hands.