A recent report from two researchers of Brookings Institution asks a new question when it comes to college rankings: “What additional value do you give your students?”

Released in April 2015, “Beyond College Rankings: A Value-Added Approach to Assessing Two and Four Year Schools” by Jonathan Rothwell, Brookings fellow and Siddharth Kulkarni, senior research assistant, looks into a multitude of colleges and universities, and how well the institutions properly enable students for economic earning.

“These college-specific data can be used to learn about, evaluate and improve college performance,” said Rothwell, in a written statement regarding the revolutionary new ranking system. “Colleges serve very diverse populations. The advantage of measuring value added is that it adjusts a school’s rankings based on the type of college and the characteristics of its student body.”

Differing from other college ranking systems, the report measures many more colleges and universities than others. Also, while other ranking systems look more toward selective higher education institutions, this report adjusts for the students’ characteristics as they enter the school. In this way, the new system doesn’t just glorify colleges who only accept well-prepared students, but also looks at how a college might better prepare a less stable student. The researchers used data from a variety of sources, including social media sites such as LinkedIn and Payscale, to discover potential earnings, highly valued skills and more to form the research.

From here, the report measures the outcomes of the alumni in the workforce and puts it up against the predicted outcomes with similar institutions.

The question is: how do local colleges fare in the new ranking system?

According to report, in 2012-13, the State University of New York at Fredonia had a value-added score of 8 for mid-career earnings of a typical graduate, however the occupational earning power of a typical graduate scored 45 in added value for the students. The highest possible score was 100 points,

The average labor market value of the 25 most common skills listed on the LinkedIn resumes of alumni who attended SUNY Fredonia equated to $63,765, while the labor market value of the mix of majors the college possesses, or curriculum value, equaled $51,452.

In 2012-13, Jamestown Community College scored 94 for the value-added occupational earnings power of the typical graduate, yet scored 59 in the loan repayment rate of a typical graduate.

The value of the 25 most common skills listed on LinkedIn resumes of alumni was reported at $61,934, or a value-added score of 82, while the curriculum value JCC offers equaled $51,170.

Jamestown Business College findings were limited, but did include a curriculum value of $59,079.

In a press release, Rothwell stressed the importance of a quality college education.

“College is a major investment for individuals and the taxpayers who subsidize it,” said Rothwell. “So, the public has a huge stake in promoting quality. No ratings system can capture everything about a college that matters, but these data can shed some light on how colleges compare in their contributions to student success and, hopefully, spark further research with even better data.”