While a college education represents far more than just job training, a substantial return on that tuition investment certainly doesn’t hurt. Amy and Mike invited policy expert Michael Itzkowitz to compare the most popular and most lucrative college majors.

What are five things you will learn in this episode?

1. Do college graduates tend to earn more than non-graduates?

2. How should we evaluate the return on investment of college?

3. Which college majors currently pay the most right out of school?

4. How does this list compare to the most popular college majors?

5. How do timeline and future education impact calculations of ROI?

MEET OUR GUEST

With 10 years of experience in federal education policy, Michael Itzkowitz has held senior roles inside and outside of government. His work and expertise are often cited by national news outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and NBC.  

Prior to beginning the HEA Group, Michael worked as a Presidential Appointee in the Obama Administration at the U.S. Department of Education, assuming a number of roles in K-12 and higher education. Most notably, he was the Director of the Administration's College Scorecard, an initiative focused on higher education transparency and accountability. The Scorecard, announced by the President in February 2013, is the largest release of higher education data ever by the Federal government.  

Michael also served as the Deputy Chief of Staff in the Office of Postsecondary Education, where he helped oversee the policy and administrative functions of the office, which includes over 180 employees across three divisions that disburse approximately $2.5 billion in grants and establish policy for nearly $120 billion in Federal student aid every year. There, he led the office’s Organizational Performance team and directed policy initiatives on accreditation, minority-serving institutions, financial aid award letters, and data transparency.  

Find Michael at https://www.theheagroup.com.

LINKS

Which College Majors Pay the Most?

Evaluating College ROI

College Scorecard

RELATED EPISODES

DO COLLEGE MAJORS MATTER?

STRATEGIES FOR SELECTING A COLLEGE MAJOR ON TIME

RETURN ON INVESTMENT IN COLLEGE

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS

Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you’re interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.