The growing availability of new data has pushed state policymakers to increasingly consider the return on investment of higher education. In this brief, we highlight key components of the return to higher education investments for both individual students and state taxpayers. By synthesizing research on how the value of education is realized at both individual and societal levels, we demonstrate that state policymakers may want to look beyond measures of individual and aggregate return on investment; they may also want to focus on mitigating risks for students and improving outcomes for specific student populations.