Placement policies are intended to match students with appropriate courses in order to improve student success, but how do you evaluate these policies? In this article, we evaluate four placement policies at Towson University by considering three categories of outcomes: long-term outcomes such as graduation and retention rates, short-term or…

In Spring 2022, Pioneer Institute published "The Boston Publics Schools' Road to Receivership," which detailed the findings of the 2019 state-commissioned, third-party report evaluating outcomes and operations in the Boston Public Schools (BPS). The report was scathing, citing years of declining enrollment, low test scores, financial…

Higher education systems globally have seen major increases in women's participation and the overall trend in OECD countries has been a transition from the traditional male majority in enrolments to a substantial female majority. Prompted by a recent reversal of this trend, this paper explores gender differences in participation in higher…

The "2023 Nebraska Higher Education Progress Report" is the latest edition of the annual progress report designed to provide the Nebraska Legislature with comparative statistics to monitor and evaluate progress toward achieving three key priorities for Nebraska's postsecondary education system. They are: (1) Increase the number of…

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…

California has long been a destination of opportunity--and challenge--for Black Californians. Known for its innovation and economic prosperity, California's higher education institutions play a critical role for social and economic mobility for Black residents. In "The State of Higher Education for Black Californians," published in…

The 2024 Nebraska Higher Education Progress Report is the 18th annual progress report designed to provide the Nebraska Legislature with comparative statistics to monitor and evaluate progress toward achieving three key priorities for Nebraska's postsecondary education system. These priorities were developed by the 2003 LR 174 Higher Education Task…

This digest provides descriptive, aggregated statistics related to the experiences of 10 cohorts of graduates of City Schools from school years 2010-11 through 2019-20. The compilers use multiple indicators of college access, including the process of applying for college and financial aid, enrollment in the fall following high school graduation,…

The Yearly Success and Progress Rates report goes beyond traditional student outcome measures by showing year-by-year rates of retention, persistence, transfer, completion and stop-out. It is designed to help institutions and states better identify and inform effective intervention points to increase student success. This report examines yearly…

As the ninth in the "Completing College" series, the report presents the latest information on the six-year completion outcomes of the fall 2014 cohort of beginning college students, nationally and by state, and the eight-year completion outcomes of the fall 2012 cohort of beginning students, through June 2020. The national completion…

As a supplement to "Completing College: A National View of Student Completion Rates -- Fall 2012 Cohort (2018)," hereafter "Completing College," this report focuses on six-year student outcomes by state. Three sets of tables organized by institution type display the results, presenting each state's outcomes for students who…

This report provides an annual update on performance metrics for the Maricopa County Community Colleges District (MCCCD), including progress toward MCCCD Governing Board Outcomes. Three key areas are analyzed to determine student and organizational performance as follows: (1) Leading Indicators of Student Success; (2) Completion Outcomes; and (3)…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires the state to calculate a four-year cohort rate. Utah implemented the federally defined cohort graduation rate in 2008. The graduation rate for the 2019 cohort includes all students who started ninth grade in the 2013-14 school year, plus students who transferred into the Utah public education system…

In 1960, over 60 % of bachelor degrees were awarded to men. However, the rate of women's college completion has steadily risen and, by 2004, women received nearly 60 % of bachelor degrees. Drawing on the theoretical contributions of James Coleman, this paper examines the ability of social capital to explain observed differences in college…

Latinx Californians represent the largest ethnic group in the state, with a demographic that is disproportionately young. The state must significantly increase the educational opportunity and success of Latinx Californians, ensuring that more of them are prepared for college, attend college, and graduate with the skills necessary to thrive…