The chapter listed four ways that people react to a measurement that affects them: doing what the measurer wanted; doing something slightly different that is measured well; lying; and avoiding being measured. Note which type of behavior you think is being exhibited in each of 1 to 5 below. Also note if there are unintended consequences.

In December, 2014, the U.S. Department of Education asked for public comment on ways it was planning to measure two-year and four-year colleges in the United States.40 The goal is to have a system of ratings of colleges as “high performing,” “low performing,” and “in the middle.” Each college will be judged on: giving access to needy students; affordability after considering scholarships; and outcomes, “such as graduation and transfer rates, graduate earnings, and advanced degrees of college graduates.” Assume that one measure the Department of Education adopts to judge “outcomes” from four-year colleges is the percentage of graduates who earn more than some threshold dollar amount in the year after they graduate.

1. Schools encourage students to major in accounting, rather than sociology, because there are more job offers in accounting.

2. Schools discourage students from going on to graduate school, since the students will not earn much while in graduate school.

3. Schools improve the quality of their career counseling staff, and make greater efforts to match students with jobs.

4. Schools try to get rid of students early in their academic careers who the school feels will not be good job candidates. For example, the school makes it difficult for women who become pregnant to stay in school.

5. Schools admit fewer international students, since these students have difficulty getting U.S. employment and pay in their home countries is likely to be lower than U.S. salary rates.