VAM · The value-added field

Value-Added Matrix

Each school plotted by value-added graduation (x) and value-added retention (y), colored by classification and control. Filter the field, then search the list to highlight a school's point.

How to use this tool

Filters

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Value-Added Retention vs. Value-Added Graduation

0 plotted · click a dot to pin · scroll or use +/− to zoom, drag to pan

National PublicNational PrivateRegional & Liberal Arts PublicRegional & Liberal Arts Private

How to use

Reading the Value-Added Matrix

  1. 1

    Read the axes as value added, not raw rates

    The horizontal axis is value-added graduation and the vertical axis is value-added retention — how much better (positive) or worse (negative) a school does than its incoming students' privilege would predict. The origin lines mark “exactly as predicted.”

  2. 2

    Use the Value-Added Consistency line

    The dashed diagonal is the typical balance between the two scores. A school above the line adds more value on retention than its graduation would predict; below it, the reverse.

  3. 3

    Filter the field

    Narrow by classification, public/private, region, state, or US News rank on the left. Choosing a region limits the state list to that region.

  4. 4

    Highlight and pin schools

    Search or hover a name in the right-hand list to flag its dot. Click a dot to pin it (it stays put); click the pinned name to open its College Navigator page. Hover another dot to compare two at once.

  5. 5

    Zoom in on a cluster

    Scroll or use +/− to zoom and drag to pan; Reset returns to the full field.