This CAPR brief focuses on multiple measures assessment (MMA) implementation in the state of Arkansas, where a decentralized governance model grants colleges considerable autonomy in determining their assessment and placement policies. Despite strong evidence supporting MMA, challenges remain for its widespread adoption. As the higher education…

Promise programs are discussed as a policy movement that began with the 2005 launch of the Kalamazoo Promise. Since then, programs bearing the Promise label or sharing similar features have spread across the higher educational landscape, appearing in most states and across postsecondary sectors. Simultaneously, scholarly literature discussing…

Basic Needs Oregon was established in 2021 through House Bill 2835 to ensure that students enrolled at Oregon's public colleges and universities can meet their basic needs--including food, housing, health care, transportation, and emergency financial support--so they can persist and succeed in higher education. Drawing on Basic Needs Oregon…

In response to urgent student mental health needs across Virginia's college campuses, the 2022 Virginia General Assembly appropriated funds to support a two-year mental health workforce pilot program at public institutions of higher education. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), in consultation with the Virginia Health Care…

"Pathways to Implementation" highlights innovative strategies and effective models in career pathways policy, implementation, and programming, as well as challenges states encounter in this work. This seven-part series addresses the key elements of Bellwether's framework for career pathways policy implementation. Each brief defines the…

In 2015, Tennessee launched Tennessee Promise (TN Promise), one of the most comprehensive and well-funded statewide free-college scholarship programs in the country. To support TN Promise students, and especially those from the lowest-income households, tnAchieves, a key partner facilitating all non-financial components of TN Promise, implemented…

Over the last few years, much attention has been focused on the nationwide teacher shortage. As teachers begin to retire in record numbers, and the number of students entering teacher education majors continues to decline, concern around the teacher shortage heightens (US Dept. of Ed., 2016). The numbers are even more dire when looking at Teachers…

This annual report of College Credit Plus (CCP) reflects data from the beginning of the program in 2015-2016 through the 2022-2023 academic year. The data for this year show that more than 80,000 students participated in College Credit Plus. Ohio's dual enrollment program has provided tuition savings for students and families of over $193 million…

Across the country, career pathways programs are a popular bipartisan tool for addressing state workforce shortages and ensuring students graduate high school with workforce-ready skills. Delaware Pathways is one such example, formally established by executive order in 2016 by then-Delaware Gov. Jack Markell. The program consists of state-approved…

Computer science (CS) education helps students acquire skills such as computational thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration, among others. As these skills take preeminence in the rapidly changing 21st century, CS education promises to significantly enhance student preparedness for the future of work and active citizenship. Based on prior…

This study employs difference-in-differences estimation to explore the relationship between the implementation of state merit-aid programs and students' participation in study abroad. The relationship between implementation of these financial aid programs and study abroad participation has not been tested explicitly in prior policy or education…

This study examined the implementation of high-stakes adoption of edTPA® in one state in the year prior to consequential use of edTPA scores for teacher licensure. Using a mixed methods design, we investigated concerns of coordinators who were responsible for edTPA implementation in their institutions. We utilized the Concerns Based Adoption Model…

This brief describes the types of college promises that exist in the state of California. In doing so, we summarize existing research on this topic. Furthermore, we provide a framework to study the California Promise Program in community colleges in California. We use publicly available data to highlight key aspects of our proposed framework: What…

From 2016 through 2019, 10 states strengthened their career readiness systems through the New Skills for Youth initiative (NSFY), a $75 million national investment by JPMorgan Chase & Co. to enhance state efforts to increase the number of learners across the country who are prepared for success in both college and career. As part of this…

Since the Student Education Loan Fund (SELF) Loan program's inception in 1984, over 250,000 students have received more than $2 billion in SELF Loans to pursue their postsecondary education (Minnesota Office of Higher Education, 2014a). The SELF Loan program provides undergraduate and graduate students with long-term, low-interest educational…