[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-583246-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-583246-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","the-value-proposition-for-post-secondary-education-report","The Value Proposition for Post-Secondary Education - Report","","Higher education’s value is often presented as a “guaranteed-gains” return proposition supported by ROI metrics linking higher attainment to measurable benefits for individuals and society. Yet public and learner confidence has declined, and standard ROI evidence can be narrowly limited by time, risk, and qualitative factors, yielding oversimplified conclusions. 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Certainly, the return on investment (ROI) metrics for tertiary education show a strong, consistent association between higher rates of educational attainment and demonstrable benefits at both the micro (individual) and macro (social) levels. For postsecondary graduates, virtually any amount and type of formal schooling completed beyond high school graduation produces an increase  \nin lifetime earnings (Battaglia & Xu, 2024; Fry,  \nBraga & Parker, 2024; Government of British Columbia, 2024), and these graduates go on to deliver important human capital returns to their communities, not only through their skilled labour contributions but also through the positive externalities of increased tax revenue and civic engagement, as well as reduced dependence on public assistance programs (Whistle, 2019; Ma et al, 2025; Pullman et al, 2025) .  \nGiven the many advantages attributable to higher educational attainment, post-secondary learning should be nothing short of a winning value proposition for learners and society alike. However, in North America, learner and public confidence in post-secondary education as a profitable investment has diminished over the past several decades (Fischman & Gardner, 2022; Parkin, 2023; Ma et al., 2025; Nyugen, Fishman & Cheche, 2025; Gallup & Lumina, 2025a), with this skepticism persisting despite conspicuous efforts to make higher education accessible and attainable for more learners.  \nThis report examines the incongruence between post-secondary ROI data and learner and public perceptions of the value of post-secondary. Conventional ROI data are logical but very limited, and in the ongoing public discourse about whether post-secondary education is “worth it” to average learners and their families, the narrow entrepreneurial interests of standard ROI methodology are frequently mismatched with the “squishiness” of human decision-making and the complex factors that nudge someone to opt into or out of higher learning. Raising post-secondary education’s perceived value requires a gap analysis of standard ROI measures, a reframing of costs and benefits to include the missing markets of learners lost through noncompletion, and a reconsideration of the myriad nonfinancial dimensions that intersect to define value in an emergent “vibe economy.”  \nThe Value Proposition for Post-Secondary Education BCCAT 1  \nWHAT IS ROI?  \nIn its simplest form, return on investment, or ROI, is a business formula for estimating the actual or anticipated profitability of an investment. To calculate ROI, the net gains of an investment are divided by the total costs; if the investment produces a positive return (in most scenarios, a 10% return is considered “good”), then its ROI is considered favourable.  \nROI’s straightforward approach to cost-benefit analysis makes it an elegant and versatile framework for modelling a project’s feasibility or comparative advantage. However, as its very name makes clear, ROI can provide only a basic estimate of returns without contextualizing those profits or losses. As such, the use of ROI, especially for complex initiativesand systems, is constrained by the following limitations1:  \n• ROI does not account for time: factors like inflation and discounting are absent, which means that the profit/ loss amount is reported the same regardless of h","cbCair49TYzjn1xQ","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCair49TYzjn1xQ","pdf",1127779,"English","# Introduction\n## What is ROI?\n## Limitations of ROI\n## Reframing value beyond ROI","[{\"question\":\"How does the report define ROI in its simplest form?\",\"answer\":\"ROI is defined as a business formula estimating actual or anticipated profitability by dividing net gains by total costs. A positive return is considered favourable under common scenarios, such as a 10% return.\"},{\"question\":\"What are the main limitations of ROI discussed in the report?\",\"answer\":\"The report highlights that ROI does not account for time (e.g., inflation and discounting), does not account for risk, excludes qualitative/nonfinancial measures or captures them only through proxies, and can be biased due to variability, selective curation, and oversimplification.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the report argue that ROI alone is insufficient to measure post-secondary value?\",\"answer\":\"Because ROI offers only a basic financial estimate without contextualizing profits and losses, its snapshot of success can be detached from the overall, longer-term experience of post-secondary participation. The report argues that value also depends on negotiation, human decision-making factors, and nonfinancial dimensions.\"}]","The Value Proposition for Post-Secondary Education - Report | PDF",1792046455]