"Students who fail math are much likelier to drop out than students who don't, and tutors help students pass. Librarians are crucial for students to learn to do research, especially in the age of AI. Academic advisers help students avoid wasting time on courses that won't help them. Financial aid staffers enable students to get the money they need to go to college. They're all helpful, and they're all important."
"In baseball, people with too much time on their hands came up with a single statistic to rule them all: wins above replacement. A player's WAR score-seriously, that's what they call it-indicates how many more (or fewer) games a team would expect to win in a given season if they used this player, as opposed to an average player at the same position. That way, a team could measure the value of a particular pitcher against the value of a particular outfielder."
A college must choose one new staff position—tutor, librarian, academic adviser, or financial aid staffer—given limited funds and similar salaries. Each role plausibly improves student outcomes through different mechanisms: tutors increase course passing, librarians support research skills, advisers prevent wasted coursework, and financial aid staff enable enrollment. Comparing those roles requires a common causal metric to weigh their marginal effects on retention and graduation. The absence of a single summary statistic analogous to baseball’s wins above replacement complicates prioritization. A clear, comparable measure of incremental impact on graduation or persistence would enable evidence-based allocation.
Read at Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs
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