Under federal rule, colleges must leave grads better off or lose financial aid
Under federal rule, colleges must leave grads better off or lose financial aid
根据联邦新规，高校必须确保毕业生收益，否则将失去联邦资助
This month, the U.S. Department of Education began rolling out a new accountability test that most colleges and universities will soon have to pass. The test itself is simple: If an undergraduate program’s graduates don’t earn more than workers who never went to college, that program could be cut off from federal student loans. The same goes for any graduate program whose graduates earn less than someone with only a bachelor’s degree.
本月，美国教育部开始推行一项新的问责测试，大多数高校很快都必须通过该测试。测试内容很简单：如果一个本科专业的毕业生收入不高于从未上过大学的劳动者，该专业可能会被切断联邦学生贷款资格。研究生专业亦是如此，如果其毕业生的收入低于仅拥有学士学位的人，也将面临同样的后果。
“If a program cannot show that it leaves its graduates financially better off than if they had never enrolled, it should not be underwritten by federal taxpayers,” said Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent in a recent statement.
美国教育部副部长尼古拉斯·肯特（Nicholas Kent）在最近的一份声明中表示：“如果一个专业无法证明其毕业生在经济状况上比未入学前更好，那么它就不应该由联邦纳税人来买单。”
But this new test, known as “do no harm,” raises some thorny questions about the purpose of college. Like: Is it just about making more money? Some advocates for postsecondary arts education think not. “Earnings is only a small piece of that puzzle,” said Lee Ann Scotto Adams, executive director of the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP), a nonprofit that studies the careers of arts graduates.
然而，这项被称为“不伤害原则”（do no harm）的新测试，引发了一些关于大学教育目的的棘手问题。例如：大学的意义仅仅是为了赚更多的钱吗？一些高等艺术教育的倡导者认为并非如此。研究艺术毕业生职业生涯的非营利组织“战略性国家艺术校友项目”（SNAAP）执行董事李·安·斯科托·亚当斯（Lee Ann Scotto Adams）表示：“收入只是拼图中的一小部分。”
She and Doug Dempster, the president of SNAAP, worry the new test might lead colleges and universities to preemptively slash low-earning creative arts programs in music, theater, studio art and design. Dempster says that could lead to a further devaluing of jobs that are critical to a well-functioning society. “We know we need nurses. We know we need journalists. We know we need early childhood educators,” he said. “We don’t know how many artists we need, but I can guarantee that if you eliminate access, we will impoverish our cultural life nationally.”
她与SNAAP主席道格·邓普斯特（Doug Dempster）担心，这项新测试可能会导致高校为了规避风险，预先削减音乐、戏剧、工作室艺术和设计等低收入创意艺术专业。邓普斯特认为，这可能导致对社会正常运转至关重要的职业进一步贬值。他说：“我们知道我们需要护士，需要记者，需要幼儿教育工作者。我们虽然不知道需要多少艺术家，但我可以保证，如果你消除了获取艺术教育的途径，我们将使国家的文化生活变得贫瘠。”
The new earnings test comes courtesy of last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which included a slew of big higher education policy changes meant to address rising concerns over the cost and value of college. Higher education experts across the political spectrum told NPR the test sets a pretty reasonable expectation: In many states, federal data shows, graduates of bachelor programs will have to earn a minimum of about $30,000 to $41,000 a year for their program to pass.
这项新的收入测试源于去年的《一个美好大账单法案》（One Big Beautiful Bill Act），该法案包含了一系列重大的高等教育政策改革，旨在解决人们对大学成本和价值日益增长的担忧。跨越不同政治立场的高等教育专家告诉NPR，该测试设定了一个相当合理的预期：联邦数据显示，在许多州，学士学位项目的毕业生年收入至少需达到约3万至4.1万美元，其专业才能通过测试。
“This is really a very low floor,” said Christopher Madaio, a senior adviser at the nonprofit The Institute for College Access & Success. “I mean, high school earnings is not an exceedingly high metric for a program to meet.” Programs fail the test when they don’t meet the earnings requirement for two out of three consecutive years.
非营利组织“大学准入与成功研究所”（The Institute for College Access & Success）高级顾问克里斯托弗·马代奥（Christopher Madaio）表示：“这确实是一个非常低的门槛。我的意思是，高中毕业生的收入水平并不是一个难以达到的指标。”如果一个专业在连续三年中有两年未能达到收入要求，即被视为测试不合格。
The current test does not take student loan debt into account, which means there’s no way to distinguish between a graduate who is struggling with low pay while being debt-free and a graduate who is struggling with low pay while also paying off tens of thousands of dollars in loans. The Education Department says it will begin calculating the first year of graduate earnings in early 2027, and “some programs could be designated as low-earning outcome programs beginning in the 2028-2029 [financial aid] award year.”
目前的测试并未将学生贷款债务纳入考量，这意味着无法区分那些虽然收入低但没有债务的毕业生，与那些既收入低又背负数万美元贷款的毕业生。教育部表示，将于2027年初开始计算第一年的毕业生收入，并可能从2028-2029学年的（财政援助）年度开始，将部分专业指定为“低收入成果专业”。
According to Education Department estimates, the vast majority of undergraduate and graduate programs should easily pass the new earnings test. But more than 800,000 students attend a program that would likely fail the measure, according to department data. Roughly half of those students are enrolled in for-profit schools, which already have a reputation for shortchanging students.
根据教育部的估计，绝大多数本科和研究生专业应该能轻松通过这项新的收入测试。但根据部门数据，有超过80万名学生就读于可能无法通过该测试的专业。其中约一半的学生就读于营利性学校，这些学校向来以坑害学生而闻名。
Other takeaways from the department’s data: About 18% of undergraduate certificate programs, which often bill themselves as career-focused fast tracks, would fail the earnings test. Specifically, certificate programs in cosmetology and somatic body work have the highest predicted failure rates. Two-year associate degree programs have the next highest failure rate, at 6%. Associate programs that train specialized educators, including early childhood educators, are the most likely to fail.
该部门数据的其他要点包括：约18%的本科证书课程（通常自诩为以职业为导向的快车道）将无法通过收入测试。具体而言，美容和躯体疗法证书课程的预计失败率最高。两年制副学士学位课程的失败率次之，为6%。培养专业教育工作者（包括幼儿教育工作者）的副学士学位课程最容易失败。
Most traditional, four-year bachelor programs fare well, with roughly 1% failing the earnings test. When these programs do fail, it’s often in areas like theater, music and studio art. About 4% of master’s degree programs would fail, with the highest failure rates for programs teaching mental and social health services.
大多数传统的四年制学士学位课程表现良好，约有1%未能通过收入测试。当这些专业失败时，通常集中在戏剧、音乐和工作室艺术等领域。约4%的硕士学位课程会失败，其中心理和社会健康服务教学专业的失败率最高。