For six years New America has been collecting data on Americans’ views about higher education for its Varying Degrees survey. Surprisingly, despite significant social, cultural, political, and economic changes, there was remarkably little change in views on the value and opportunities provided by higher education. One area that did change was the perception of online education.

MDRC published a policy brief titled Under Audit: Equity Audits in State Higher Education Finance in June 2022. This brief discusses the potential use of equity audits to identify and address inequities in the distribution of state funds to public institutions of higher learning. Community colleges and other broad access public institutions disproportionately enroll students from underserved populations and rely more heavily on state funds.

Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce published a report on Ranking 4,500 Colleges by ROI (2022) using data from the College Scorecard. The rankings include a metric that compares earnings ten years after enrollment with those of workers with a high school diploma as their highest credential.

According to InsideHigherEd.com, a report released by Moody's, Converging Forces Will Squeeze Budgets for Many Colleges and Universities, projects institutional expenses will skyrocket in the 2022-2023 academic year due to wage inflation, labor shortages, and a nationwide hiring push.

Employers have long cited an inadequately skilled workforce as the primary reason jobs go unfilled. However, there is considerable debate over whether a mismatch truly exists between workers' skills and employers' needs. A report from the Congressional Research Service, Skills Gaps: A Review of Underlying Concepts and Evidence, notes the possibility of other contributing factors such as: