Harvard Case - United States Department of Education: Launching the College Scorecard, a Digital Service
"United States Department of Education: Launching the College Scorecard, a Digital Service" Harvard business case study is written by Kathy Pham, Sahil Joshi. It deals with the challenges in the field of Business Ethics. The case study is 15 page(s) long and it was first published on : Oct 19, 2021
At Fern Fort University, we recommend the United States Department of Education (USDOE) implement a comprehensive strategy to enhance the College Scorecard's impact and address potential challenges. This strategy should prioritize transparency, data accuracy, user-friendliness, and stakeholder engagement, while ensuring ethical data collection and use.
2. Background
The case study focuses on the USDOE's launch of the College Scorecard, a digital service designed to provide prospective students with comprehensive information about higher education institutions. The Scorecard aimed to increase transparency and empower students to make informed decisions by offering data on college costs, graduation rates, and post-graduation earnings. However, the initiative faced challenges related to data quality, user experience, and public perception.
The main protagonists are:
- The USDOE: Responsible for developing and implementing the College Scorecard initiative.
- Prospective students: The primary target audience for the Scorecard, seeking information to make informed choices about higher education.
- Colleges and universities: Providers of higher education data, potentially impacted by the Scorecard's transparency and accountability measures.
3. Analysis of the Case Study
The case study highlights several key issues:
Data Quality and Accuracy: The Scorecard relied on data provided by colleges, raising concerns about potential inaccuracies and inconsistencies. This lack of transparency and data integrity undermined the Scorecard's credibility.
User Experience: The Scorecard's user interface was complex and difficult to navigate, hindering its accessibility and usability for prospective students. This impacted its effectiveness in empowering students to make informed decisions.
Stakeholder Engagement: The USDOE faced criticism for not adequately engaging with stakeholders, including colleges, students, and advocacy groups. This lack of stakeholder relations led to mistrust and hampered the Scorecard's overall success.
Ethical Considerations: The collection and use of student data raised concerns about data privacy and potential misuse. The USDOE needed to address these concerns to ensure ethical data practices and maintain public trust.
Strategic Framework: The case study can be analyzed through the lens of Porter's Five Forces framework:
- Threat of New Entrants: Low, as the USDOE has a monopoly on providing this type of information.
- Bargaining Power of Buyers: High, as students have many choices and can easily access information from various sources.
- Bargaining Power of Suppliers: Moderate, as colleges are dependent on the USDOE for funding and recognition.
- Threat of Substitute Products: Moderate, as alternative sources of information about colleges exist, such as college rankings and student reviews.
- Rivalry among Existing Competitors: Low, as the USDOE is the sole provider of this specific service.
4. Recommendations
The USDOE should implement the following recommendations to enhance the College Scorecard's impact and address its challenges:
Improve Data Quality and Accuracy:
- Implement rigorous data validation and verification processes.
- Establish clear data reporting standards and guidelines for colleges.
- Partner with third-party organizations to audit data accuracy.
- Encourage colleges to adopt data-driven practices and invest in data management systems.
Enhance User Experience:
- Simplify the Scorecard's interface and make it more user-friendly.
- Develop mobile-friendly versions of the Scorecard.
- Incorporate interactive features, such as data visualizations and personalized recommendations.
- Provide clear and concise explanations of data metrics and definitions.
Strengthen Stakeholder Engagement:
- Establish regular communication channels with colleges, students, and advocacy groups.
- Conduct focus groups and surveys to gather feedback on the Scorecard's usability and effectiveness.
- Create a platform for stakeholders to provide input and suggestions for improvement.
- Develop partnerships with organizations that support student access to higher education.
Address Ethical Considerations:
- Implement robust data privacy and security measures.
- Clearly communicate data collection and use practices to students.
- Ensure compliance with all relevant privacy regulations, such as FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act).
- Establish an independent oversight committee to review data practices and ensure ethical use.
Promote Transparency and Accountability:
- Publish detailed information about data sources, methodologies, and limitations.
- Provide clear explanations of how data is used and interpreted.
- Encourage colleges to be transparent about their data and practices.
- Establish mechanisms for students to report data inaccuracies or inconsistencies.
5. Basis of Recommendations
These recommendations are based on the following considerations:
- Core competencies and consistency with mission: The recommendations align with the USDOE's mission of promoting access to quality education and ensuring student success. By improving data quality, user experience, and transparency, the Scorecard can better fulfill its purpose.
- External customers and internal clients: The recommendations address the needs of both external customers (prospective students) and internal clients (colleges and universities). By providing accurate and accessible data, the Scorecard can empower students and encourage colleges to improve their performance.
- Competitors: The recommendations aim to position the Scorecard as the most comprehensive and reliable source of information about higher education, surpassing alternative sources like college rankings and student reviews.
- Attractiveness ' quantitative measures: While quantifying the impact of these recommendations is challenging, the USDOE can track key metrics like website traffic, user engagement, and student satisfaction to assess the Scorecard's effectiveness.
6. Conclusion
The College Scorecard has the potential to be a valuable resource for prospective students and a catalyst for positive change in higher education. By implementing the recommendations outlined above, the USDOE can transform the Scorecard into a more effective, transparent, and ethical tool that empowers students, promotes accountability, and fosters a more equitable and accessible higher education system.
7. Discussion
Alternatives not selected:
- Abandoning the Scorecard: This would be a missed opportunity to provide valuable information to students and promote transparency in higher education.
- Focusing solely on data quality: While important, this approach would not address the broader challenges related to user experience, stakeholder engagement, and ethical considerations.
Risks and key assumptions:
- Data accuracy: The recommendations assume that the USDOE can effectively implement data validation and verification processes.
- User adoption: The recommendations assume that students will find the improved Scorecard user-friendly and valuable.
- Stakeholder cooperation: The recommendations assume that colleges and universities will cooperate with the USDOE to improve data quality and transparency.
8. Next Steps
The USDOE should implement these recommendations in a phased approach, starting with:
- Phase 1 (Short-term): Improve data quality, simplify the Scorecard interface, and enhance communication with stakeholders.
- Phase 2 (Medium-term): Develop interactive features, expand data collection, and address ethical considerations.
- Phase 3 (Long-term): Establish a sustainable framework for ongoing data validation, user feedback, and stakeholder engagement.
By taking these steps, the USDOE can ensure that the College Scorecard fulfills its potential as a valuable tool for students and a catalyst for positive change in higher education.
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Case Description
The goal of the case is to understand how to design, build, and engage with digital technologies as they relate to civic participation, equity, governance, and accountability. Delivering critical services to the public requires building technology that works for people. In environments like the public sector, this can be a challenge, but it is possible and necessary. Students will learn how product managers set strategy, define products, advocate for the user, manage stakeholders, and understand market or policy factors in order to ship technology services and products that benefit people. In 2015, the Obama Administration asked a cross-governmental team to reimagine the College Scorecard, a website to assist high school students with their college decisions. This team consisted of the United States Digital Service (which fell under the Executive Office of the President), 18F (which fell under the General Services Administration), and the Department of Education. The team, whose members had diverse skillsets and backgrounds, understood the problem by conducting a thorough discovery sprint. This helped them understand users, particularly high school students from different backgrounds, parents, guidance counselors, and other stakeholder groups. The team then continuously engaged users as they built the product, working across three different government entities to get a digital product launched. The team members and technology leaders included in this case: Holly Allen, Sarah Allen, Shawn Allen, Lisa Gelobter, Michelle Hertzfeld, Jessica Teal, Sabrina Williams, David Nesting.
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