Today, some in higher education answer this question by tracking outcome measures such as degree attainment and gainful employment. Others provide data about graduates' average starting salaries or alumni satisfaction rates. Still others cite the fact that people with bachelor's degrees earn $1 million more over their lifetimes than those with only a high school diploma. Boards of trustees may rely on these data to make important decisions about the institutions they govern, but all of these metrics fall short of explaining why college is worth it.

As a result of the recent economic downturn, many graduates are not finding well-paying jobs. Meanwhile, over the past two decades, average tuition at American colleges and universities has jumped 248%. As a percentage of household income, tuition has risen from 23% in 2001 to 38% today.

How have Americans afforded this? The simple answer is that they haven't. Student loan debt in the U.S. recently surpassed $1 trillion -- more than all credit card debt combined. Americans are spending money they don't have to finance educations they're not sure are worth it. This raises the fundamental question: What should be the ultimate outcome of a college education? If college trustees are not already asking themselves this question, they must start.

What should be the ultimate outcome of a college education?

When I first joined Gallup about a year ago, I spent six months informally asking college presidents and trustees this very question. After dozens of interviews, a pattern emerged. Although the words and perspectives differed, the answers were consistent: "To improve one's lot in life" or "To prepare people for long-term success in life." Those are solid, inspiring answers. So I asked the next obvious question: "How are you measuring this?" The unanimous answer was: "We aren't."

There is an expression: "We value what we measure." It seems clear that leaders in higher education are not measuring what they value right now. But there is an alternative -- one that would lead to better educational and career outcomes for students and provide an affirmative answer to the question of whether college is worth the time, money, and effort.

Most people would agree that helping someone attain a better, fuller life is much more important than good grades and a degree. These same people also stress that college prepares a person not just for a first job out of college but for many different jobs over his or her lifetime. But how do you measure these longer-term outcomes? Gallup has conducted research that can point higher education in the right direction.

Well-being closely tied to education.

Every night, Gallup surveys a representative sample of Americans, asking them to rate their lives and whether they are happy with them; we also regularly pose these same questions to people worldwide. As a result, we have discovered what the most satisfied and successful people do and, subsequently, why they rate their lives highly. In other words, we are studying the well-being of people around the world. Our research reinforces the fact that the ultimate outcome of an education is fundamentally about well-being. People often view well-being as happiness or wealth, but it is much more than that, and it is closely tied to education.

From their data, Gallup found five essential elements of well-being: Career, Social, Financial, Physical, and Community. These well-being elements represent the broad categories that are essential for most people to live a life that matters. (See sidebar "The Five Essential Elements of Well-Being"

The Five Essential Elements of Well-Being

For more than 50 years, Gallup scientists have been exploring the demands of a life well-lived. More recently, in partnership with leading economists, psychologists, and other acclaimed scientists, Gallup has uncovered the common elements of well-being that transcend countries and cultures. This research revealed the universal elements of well-being that differentiate a thriving life from one spent suffering. They represent five broad categories that are essential to most people:

Career Well-Being: how you occupy your time -- or simply liking what you do every day

Social Well-Being: having strong relationships and love in your life

Financial Well-Being: effectively managing your economic life

Physical Well-Being: having good health and enough energy to get things done on a daily basis

Community Well-Being: the sense of engagement you have with the area where you live

Of those five elements, Gallup finds that Career Well-Being is the most important predictor of well-being across the board. Though not a guarantee, it is likely that someone with high Career Well-Being also has high Social, Financial, Physical, and Community Well-Being. Across every country Gallup surveyed, people said that a good job trumps everything, including health and happiness. People certainly still value these things, but they usually view them as most achievable through a good job.

Source: Business journal

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