Billy Beane revolutionized the game of baseball by determining which factors improved the performance of players.

The book Moneyball details how he strategized to develop winning players rather than accept the untested school of thought prevalent at the time. When Beane came on the scene, most of those involved in decision-making in the sport judged potential based on ossified notions of reputation and physical appearance. However, Beane objectively evaluated players, used new statistics to judge them, and trained them in aspects of the game that others did not consider important. The result was an inexpensive way of beating teams with better reputations and larger budgets.

Currently, reputation in higher education is correlated with the amount of money an institution has and spends, with no objective measure of the knowledge gained or skills acquired by students. Almost all factors used in the U.S. News and World Report ranking system are either direct measures of wealth or can be improved simply by spending money; therefore, institutions seek to maximize their revenue.

This unfounded reputation metric increases demand for the limited supply of seats at prestigious colleges and universities, allowing them to charge more and receive more money from tuition and donations.

The incentive for colleges and universities must change from raising and spending money to increasing student learning and skills. Determining what and how to teach students and implementing those factors in a curriculum would result in more learning in postsecondary schools. This process would undoubtedly involve making the college more student-centric. That is not to say that students should be determining what is taught, but rather that student success should be the priority when making policy. Systems should be tailored to improve outcomes rather than what is most convenient or preferred by the faculty and administration. If the students need instruction in writing, give them an intensive course in writing. Don’t allow them to choose from a list of English literature courses offered based on the interests of the professors teaching them. William F. Massy wrote, “Professors often view themselves as autonomous agents whose job it is to pursue self-defined teaching and research goals rather than to function mainly as team members in a larger enterprise.”

This needs to change.

Ironically, leading research universities spend few resources and little energy trying to discover what methods lead to better student learning. The federal government can encourage and fund this type of research. The value added—that is, how well colleges and universities improve student knowledge, skills, and critical thinking—should then be objectively measured with the outcomes made available to the general public. The initial measurements do not need to be perfect. Additional improvements in assessing students’ academic growth can occur incrementally as the evaluation process evolves.

Individual student results can also be reported. This would free the student from the college’s reputation and allow him or her to be judged independently. If students from low-cost institutions can prove themselves equal to those who attend expensive ones, then expensive colleges and universities will lose their ability to command high tuition.

It is in the interest of non-wealthy colleges to embrace the change to such a system. There is no way they will ever win a competition based on wealth. So why not change how one competes and how one defines success?

Unfortunately, the trend is away from testing and measuring outcomes. It is hard to imagine how higher education can reverse the tuition spiral if there is no way to demonstrate high quality at a lower cost. Unless colleges and universities are evaluated on objective measures of student knowledge and skills, they will depend on the dollar to maintain their reputation, the cost of attendance will rise, the rich will be favored, and access for the less-than-wealthy will be reduced.

Just as baseball teams must win games to prove that the system they employ and the money they spend to be the best is worth it, so should colleges and universities have to demonstrate objective value to substantiate their reputation and the tuition they charge. It’s time for colleges and universities to “Play ball!”

Image designed by Jared Gould using Brad Pitt by Dimon97 on GoodFon.com (background removed) and university by gnagel on Adobe Stock, Asset ID#: 287463204