Grads in US – A Well-Being Index

Traditional metrics for measuring the value of a college education — namely, job and graduate school placement rates and alumni salaries — may be the simplest evaluations of alumni outcomes, but they do not fully capture the experience and impact of a college education. Conventional outcomes do not adequately re ect the missions of higher education institutions. They fail to address some of the primary reasons students attend college: not only to obtain a good-paying job — but to follow a ful lling career path that allows them to make meaningful, lifelong contributions to society.

Since 2014, Gallup has surveyed a nationally representative sample of more than 75,000 college graduates to assess their post-collegiate well-being and workplace engagement and identify links between these outcomes and their undergraduate experiences. This study — the Strada-Gallup Alumni Survey — represents a landmark effort to measure the long-term outcomes of college graduates, giving colleges and universities the opportunity to better understand their success in preparing students to lead purposeful lives and have successful careers. Gallup works with university partners to examine their graduates’ college experiences and outcomes and compare them with results from the national study. This gives university leaders insight into where their institution is excelling and where they have opportunities for improvement.

WESTERN GOVERNORS UNIVERSITY STUDY

This Western Governors University (WGU) study examines alumni outcomes based on Gallup’s measures of workforce and life outcomes — including employee engagement, well-being and emotional attachment to the university. The study maps these outcomes back to graduates’ reflections on their undergraduate experiences.

GREAT LIVES: WELL-BEING

The Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index measures the important aspects of a life well-lived. Based on decades of Gallup global research, the index employs 10 questions that measure well-being in ve, interrelated elements:

Career Well-Being: Liking what you do each day and being motivated to achieve your goals
Social Well-Being: Having strong and supportive relationships and love in your life
Financial Well-Being: Managing your economic life to reduce stress and increase security
Community Well-Being: Liking where you live, feeling safe and having pride in your community
Physical Well-Being: Having good health and enough energy to get things done daily

Gallup categorizes individuals as “thriving,” “struggling” or “suffering” in each element according to how they respond to the particular questions that relate to that facet of well-being:

Thriving: Well-being that is strong and consistent in a particular element
Struggling: Well-being that is moderate in a particular element
Suffering: Well-being that is low and inconsistent in a particular element

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Great Jobs, Great Lives — Gallup Study of Recent Western Governors University Alumni – WGU ALUMNI OUTCOMES REPORT 2019