One Metric to Rule Them All

There’s only ONE number that matters in higher ed . . . and not a single college tracks it.

Higher ed loves its metrics:

• Acceptance rates

• Graduation rates

• Diversity stats

• U.S. News & World Report rankings

• Blah blah blah

but none of these measure what actually matter

Because to understand what matters, you have to first understand who higher ed’s real customer is.

“Wait, Jeremy . . . isn’t it the student?”

Nope. It’s the employer.

(I explained why here last week)

And if employers are the “true” customer, then what matters most to universities employer satisfaction.

So, what do employers want?

Easy. They want to hire employees who can provide the most lift the fastest with the least amount of hand-holding.

Super. So, given this definition, what’s the gold-standard metric for customer satisfaction?

Accreditation status? No.

Number of papers published? Nyet.

U.S. News & World Report ranking? Nah bruh.

the answer . . . is net promoter score (NPS)

It’s the only number that tells the truth.

While NPS can sometimes be an overly worshipped metric, in the case of higher ed, it is unspeakably perfect:

1. It’s Implicit. Higher ed doesn’t need to come up with some complicated, esoteric determination of value. Employers do it on their own by implicitly factoring in whatever’s important to them at the time and then ascribing a single number to it.

2. It’s Incorruptible. Employers don’t owe higher ed anything. Unlike accreditation bodies or ranking organizations, they don’t have conflicts of interest, they can’t be bribed, they can’t be lobbied. If graduates fall short, the NPS will show it. If they’re outstanding, that NPS will show it.

3. It’s Universal. A high employer NPS says to the world: This school produces talent that works. Students notice. Parents notice. Other employers notice.

Imagine a school with an employer NPS in the 90s.

• Top employers would be lined up.

• Students would flood in.

• It would actually signal career readiness.

but of course, no college tracks this

Because if they did, we’d all see how badly they’re failing.