This article is part of NASFAA's occasional book review series, where members share their reflections on books, published within the past five years, on higher education themes of interest to financial aid professionals. The opinions offered and statements made do not imply endorsement by NASFAA or the authors' employers and do not guarantee the accuracy of information presented. Would you like to suggest a book for a future review? Email us at [email protected] with your recommendation.

As a NASFAA member working in college access, I often encounter high school students who are fixated on the same 100 colleges and universities when creating their lists of schools to explore. When asked, students frequently cite national rankings — such as those published by U.S. News & World Report — and overall reputation as reasons for their choices. “I want to go to the best college I can to prove that I’m smart,” they say. Although school counselors, community-based organizations, and independent counselors advise students to develop a set of criteria based on their interests and needs, they still come back to the same list of “good colleges” over and over.

Review by Jennifer Satalino, director of The College Place — Oregon, ECMC Group.

In “Metrics That Matter: Counting What’s Really Important to College Students,” the book’s five expert authors provide an analysis of higher education metrics and suggest what they view as better metrics. To achieve this, they critically evaluate seven popular metrics — return on investment, rankings, selectivity, sticker price, college scorecard, average graduate wages, and access to specific majors — highlighting their flaws and proposing alternatives.

Higher Education Return on Investment

Return on investment (ROI) addresses the question of how much a student's lifetime earnings will likely increase after completing a college program. At first blush, this seems like a straightforward metric that would be hard to argue with. But “Metrics That Matter” delivers a scathing takedown of the data used to calculate ROI, finding flaws in self-reported wage data and challenging assumptions about the earning power of students who consider postsecondary education versus those who end their academic careers with a high school diploma. It even debunks the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard as a reliable data source.

In place of ROI, the authors suggest students should use their personal goals to determine whether attending college is a good choice for them. This advice tracks with the advice many college access professionals offer to students.

University Rankings

In 1984, US News & World Report released its first annual college ranking list, which many families now rely on to determine which colleges are “best.” However, the authors cite data to argue that graduation rates are a much better predictor of individual student success. Graduation rates are readily available, are more difficult to “game,” and positively correlate to student success.

Selectivity

Nearly every prospective student will say, “I want to go to a good college,” and selectivity has captured the public’s attention as an indication of college quality. Certainly, no one wants to attend a “bad” college, but does a higher selectivity rate correlate to a better college, a better college experience, or a better career outcome?

Selectivity is not a measure of quality; it’s a measure of the percentage of prospective students a college admits. Colleges can increase their selectivity rates by simply boosting the number of applicants, which artificially inflates demand without altering any other aspect of the program. The authors posit that rather than selectivity, the per-student amount the college spends on instruction better reflects the quality of education it offers.

Tuition Sticker Price

The authors cite research showing that a high sticker price alone can discourage applications — even for students who would receive enough financial aid to make the net cost manageable. However, families of all income and privilege status consistently overestimate college costs.

Unfortunately, the authors feel that while the net price calculators statute requires institutions to post on their websites are an improvement over no consumer information, they are clunky and time consuming. They instead endorse the more precise, individualized results provided by “second-generation” net cost calculators. Private independent colleges are the primary users of these tools; for a variety of reasons, public colleges and universities have not embraced them at the same rate.

Scorekeeping Student Debt

In their discussion of student debt, the authors shift from the main theme of students evaluating and choosing the right college to the effect student loan debt may have on this choice. They provide a quick history of the student lending program over the past 50 years and swipe at the Department of Education’s College Scorecard, which “assumes that college is primarily a financial investment whose rewards will exclusively benefit the buyer rather than the public” and how this influences college choice.

Average Wages by College Major

According to the authors, available data on average earnings by college major are prone to problems in selection, measurement, and extrapolation. Without good, reliable data, they suggest students choose their major based on their preferences, independent of the average wage-by-major data.

Access to Preferred Major

When schools do not have the capacity to serve every student interested in a high-demand major, they sometimes create policies restricting access to that major. These policies can move students (especially those who haven’t had the privilege of attending a well-resourced high school) from a sought-after STEM program into a less popular program in the humanities, for example.

The authors believe students should consult the websites of prospective colleges to investigate the acceptance process for their chosen major. Barriers to entry for a given major can mean a student will not receive a degree in their field of choice. This should be a caution for students choosing a college with restricted majors.

Encouraging Independent Thought

As someone who advocates for students to think independently about their college choices, the premise of this book is particularly exciting to me. Given its academic treatment of higher education metrics, it’s not the type of book an average high school student will devour. However, it can help students and families, and those advising them, to become familiar with the downsides of several common metrics for evaluating colleges and recognize the importance of creating customized, individualized criteria when developing their college list. It’s critical to reach students with this information early in their high school careers — well before their senior year. This will help them rely on a more logical, discerning approach rather than being swayed by trends and popular rankings lists when selecting a college.

“Metrics That Matter: Counting What’s Really Important to College Students” by Zachary Bleemer, Mukul Kumar, Aashish Mehta, Chris Muellerleile, and Christopher Newfield. Johns Hopkins Press, 2023, pp. 200.

***

Jennifer Satalino is the director of The College Place—Oregon. She has more than 30 years of experience helping students pursue higher education. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon and a master’s degree in business administration from Portland State University. Jenn is an National College Attainment Network Certified Access Advisor and has earned NASFAA's FAAC® 100 Club credential, among other certifications.

Publication Date: 10/27/2025

Comments Disclaimer: NASFAA welcomes and encourages readers to comment and engage in respectful conversation about the content posted here. We value thoughtful, polite, and concise comments that reflect a variety of views. Comments are not moderated by NASFAA but are reviewed periodically by staff. Users should not expect real-time responses from NASFAA. To learn more, please view NASFAA’s complete Comments Policy.