Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

To the Editor:

Many high school [sic] students and their families will find value in the new website College Scorecard (“How One’s Choice of College Affects Future Earnings,” The Upshot, Sept. 15). For those of us engaged in the preparation of undergraduate (and graduate) students for public service careers, especially in this period of increasing income inequality, the promotion of financial return on investment as a critical decision criterion for college and university selection would appear to be misdirected.

A substantial educational experience beyond secondary school has great worth regardless of the size of the paycheck received in one’s career. For example, for our graduates with careers in social services, public education, local government and nonprofit organizations, return on educational investment should not be measured primarily by one’s own yearly income.

When a critical mission of a college or university is to motivate and prepare well-educated graduates for public service careers that will almost surely have lower salaries, let’s not be so exclusively focused on future earnings.

JOHN ROHRBAUGH

Cambria, Calif.

The writer is a professor of public administration and policy at the University at Albany, SUNY.

Note from KBJ: Can you say "self-serving"?

I couldn't have said it better.

Here.

Here.

A Kind of Magic (1986).

Seven-Inning Felix (18-9) didn't make it out of the sixth inning today (he threw a staggering 105 pitches to get 17 outs), but his team scored enough runs to make him a winner. He has two more starts this season. If he wins both of them, he will win 20 games for the first time in his career.

Another reason to love Ben Carson.

Ms. Wissner-Gross misstates what’s going on in the nation’s college classrooms. Far from deflating grades, faculty like me are confronting many students (and parents) for whom “A” might as well stand for merely “adequate.” Those of us pegged as tough graders are not artificially lowering grades that students deserve. We are bucking the “trophies for all” mentality, and instead challenging capable students to do truly outstanding work—awarding A’s to those who embrace the challenge.

ANDREW J. PERRIN

Chapel Hill, N.C.

The writer is a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Exactly right. I renew my claim that Donald Trump is five steps ahead of everyone else. Journalists are really quite stupid by comparison.

Here.