Huffpost College   Lisa Petrides Headshot  Measuring the Value
of a College Degree  Posted: Updated:  Not long ago, a degree
was all it took to open doors. While a diploma from an Ivy
League school still gets attention, the reality is that the
value of a college diploma is being questioned from all sides.
Parents and students want to be reassured that they are not
being shortchanged when they sign a student loan. Employers need
to know their new hires are capable of the adaptive and
innovative thinking required for their businesses to remain
competitive, and lawmakers in Congress and state capitols want
to know exactly what their increasingly scarce dollars are
paying for.  In the past, those in the academy have been
reluctant to quantify the value of a college education. In fact,
it has long been argued that academic inquiry and other
intangibles are what have made the college experience so
valuable. While some might disagree with that claim, the reality
is that in order for our system of higher education to