About Us

The top reason students pursue higher education is to increase their employability and gain financial security. With tens of billions of dollars in tuition checks and taxpayer dollars flowing to schools each year, it’s critical that students and families understand how long it will take to see a return on their investment. In response, Third Way has developed higher ed value metrics that offer insight into how well institutions across the United States are delivering economic returns to their students. Our Price-to-Earnings Premium and Economic Mobility Index metrics offer a fresh approach to assessing whether institutions are setting students up to recoup their educational costs quickly—or leaving them worse off than if they had never attended.