Objective: This study examines how accurately a small set of short-term academic indicators can approximate long-term outcomes of community college students so that decision-makers can take informed actions based on those indicators to evaluate the current progress of large-scale reform efforts on long-term outcomes, which in practice will not be…

This introductory report outlines the challenges of postsecondary completion, the variable value provided by a postsecondary pathway, and the corresponding cost and debt. Together, these challenges create an inequitable, ineffective, and unsustainable U.S. postsecondary system in which individuals are increasingly reluctant to participate or…

The need for STEM transfer students from low-income backgrounds to complete bachelor's degrees is a pressing issue. A substantial portion of those students start their educational journey at 2-year colleges. The lack of transfer and completion of these STEM students is deeply rooted in systemic and structural barriers, which leads to many students…

As full-time virtual learning moved from the fringe to the mainstream in mid-March 2020, onlookers expressed concerns about access for learners and accountability for the learning itself. Concerns have not applied only to full-time virtual schools, however. Alternative schools that serve students who have dropped out or transferred from…

Federal financial aid was established under the Higher Education Act of 1965. Since then, changes to the act have increased funding and expanded eligibility for students accessing federal financial aid. While the distribution of federal financial aid has expanded over the last 60 years, untapped financial resources remain every year because…

This report summarizes the fourteenth survey of states by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) at the University of Minnesota. Results are presented for the 50 regular states and eight of the 11 unique states. The purpose of this report is to provide a snapshot of the new initiatives, trends, accomplishments, and emerging issues…

In American higher education, it has become the accepted standard to measure graduation rates at four-year colleges on a six-year time frame. Evaluations of two-year community colleges are now based on three-year graduation rates. Metrics like these are unacceptable, especially when we consider that students and their families are trying…

Communities face powerful challenges that require powerful solutions: a high-school dropout epidemic, youth unemployment, teen pregnancy. In an era of limited resources, those solutions must help communities to achieve more with less. A new kind of community collaborative--an approach that aspires to significant community-wide progress by…

Communities face powerful challenges--a high-school dropout epidemic, youth unemployment, teen pregnancy--that require powerful solutions. In a climate of increasingly constrained resources, those solutions must help communities to achieve more with less. A new kind of community collaborative--an approach that aspires to significant,…

This longitudinal, mixed-method study explores how the financial burdens of college attendance impact student involvement and experiences throughout the first year of college. The student participants at 4 Midwestern, public universities were engaged to describe their experiences throughout their first year as they navigated a complex and…

With a national high school graduation rate, hovering around 70 percent, far too many of the nation's students are falling through the cracks of the education system and leaving high school without the skills necessary for success in college, work, and life. By preventing students from falling through the cracks and ensuring that they receive the…

Federal education policy in recent years has encouraged state and local education agencies to embrace data use and analysis in decision-making, ranging from policy development and implementation to performance evaluation. The capacity of these agencies to make effective and methodologically sound use of collected data for these purposes remains an…

When U.S. News & World Report began its ranking of American colleges in 1983, publishers in other countries quickly followed with their own hierarchical measures, providing consumer information (and opportunities for institutional marketing) while attempting to impact the quality of higher education. In the course of the last two decades,…