Data at Work

In Data at Work, we highlight new developments in postsecondary data and present news and analyses on data issues.

Jun 22, 2019

On the 75th Anniversary of the GI Bill, Military-Connected Students Need The College Transparency Act

Seventy-five years ago, on June 22, 1944, the GI Bill was enacted.

May 31, 2019

Data-Informed College Decisions: Students Deserve Clear, Consistent, and Complete Financial Aid Offers

Financial aid offers, provided to students after they are admitted to a school, help students determine the costs of attending, along with the gift aid, work-study and student loans available to cover those costs. Yet a high degree of variation exists in financial aid offer letters sent from different colleges, and many are not clearly conveying critical information to their prospective students.

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Mar 15, 2019

New Legislation Would Provide Students Key Information About College Outcomes

This week, the College Transparency Act (CTA) was re-introduced in the House and Senate by a bipartisan group of legislators. By allowing the creation of a secure, privacy-protected postsecondary data system, this bipartisan, bicameral bill would help students and families, policymakers, institutions and employers to make informed choices by providing better information about college access, success, costs, and outcomes.

Dec 20, 2018

ED Debit Card Still Maxing Out Privacy Concerns

In October, the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) released a notice inviting applications from banking providers interested in participating in the Payment Vehicle Account Pilot Program after an earlier solicitation in January 2018. The new notice improves upon the previous proposal by describing clearer data privacy and security requirements for students who choose to use the services, but it does not detail key protocols that are needed to protect students.

Dec 19, 2018

Announcement: Application Open for IHEP – AIR Interactive Policy Summit

The Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) and Association for Institutional Research (AIR) are hosting an interactive policy summit for institutions of higher education that are using data to promote student success and affect policy change. The summit will be held at the Minneapolis Marriott City Center Hotel in Minneapolis, MN on August 1-2, 2019. We invite institutional teams of four individuals to apply for a spot at this event.

Jun 15, 2018

NPSAS:16 Data Suggests How Today’s Students are Affording College

Data from the newest National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) include new details on topics such as financial literacy, alternative repayment options, student veteran and military characteristics, and study abroad participation. These data build on existing data elements, like information on financial aid and enrollment, to help answer questions about college affordability, student characteristics, and socioeconomic gaps.

May 14, 2018

May 2018 NACIQI Meeting Will Highlight the Role of Postsecondary Data to Support Student Success through Accreditation

The National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) will host one of its regular public meetings next week on May 22-24 to review and make recognition recommendations for several postsecondary accreditors—a key facet of the committee's role in advising the Secretary of Education on postsecondary accreditation issues.

Feb 20, 2018

Federal Policy Proposal Leaves Community College Students with Incomplete Earnings Data

College leaders at institutions of all types often cite data-use as a driving factor in developing supports to help more students succeed in higher education and the workforce. And accurate, complete data can help students and families make fully-informed college and career decisions.

Feb 16, 2018

ED Debit Cards Rack Up Privacy Concerns

On January 19, the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) released a pre-solicitation notice for the Next Gen Payment Card Pilot Program, which would test a new way for FSA to disburse financial aid funds to current students.

Jan 29, 2018

PostsecData to NACIQI: Students, Institutions, Policymakers, and Accreditors Need Better Data to Make Informed Decisions About Higher Education

The National Committee on Institutional Quality & Integrity (NACIQI), first established by the Higher Education Amendments of 1992 and reconstituted under the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, advises the Secretary of Education on matters related to postsecondary accreditation.

Dec 20, 2017

New PostsecData Explainer on Student Outcome Metrics in IPEDS

IHEP released a new PostsecData fact-sheet this week, explaining how the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) measures student outcomes at colleges and universities across the country, and how those metrics have changed over time.

Dec 1, 2017

Why Incomplete Data Leaves Us With Incomplete Student Outcomes

How many times have we heard that graduation rates count just a fraction of current college students because data focus on only those who are first-time, full-time (FTFT)?

Dec 1, 2017

Establishing the College Dashboard through the Promoting Real Opportunity, Success, and Prosperity through Education Reform (PROSPER) Act

On December 1, 2017, Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC), chairwoman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce introduced the PROSPER Act to reauthorize the Higher Education Act of 1965.

Nov 30, 2017

Six Unanswered Questions about the 2017 Student Right to Know Before You Go Act

Since 2012, Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), and Representative Duncan Hunter (R-CA) have introduced four versions of the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act (SRTKBYG), designed to create a postsecondary student-level data network.

Nov 15, 2017

IHEP Letter to Secretary DeVos Urges Education Department to Make Diversity and Equity, Data and Evidence, Postsecondary Access and Success Official Priorities for Grant Programs

It's common for new leadership within the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to develop new priorities for ED, such as the proposed list of supplemental priorities for grant programs the Department announced in mid-October this year.

Nov 7, 2017

WDQC: House Committee Passes First Bill to Implement Recommendations from Evidence-Based Policymaking Commission

On November 2, the U.S. House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform passed H.R. 4174, the Foundations for Evidenced-Based Policymaking Act, by a voice vote. H.R. 4174 is the first bill based on the recommendations of the Commission on Evidenced-Based Policymaking.

Oct 18, 2017

Yes, A Federal Postsecondary Student-Level Data Network is Possible. Here’s How.

High-quality postsecondary data is essential for understanding student outcomes and identifying inequities within our higher education system. Accurate and complete data can empower college choices, promote student success, and inform federal, state, and institutional policies.

Oct 12, 2017

Newly Released Federal Student Outcomes Data Show More Detail, Provide Better Information, and Increase Transparency in Higher Education

New publicly available data on student outcomes, collected by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) for the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), tell a more nuanced story and do a better job of counting all students than in years past.

Oct 6, 2017

Letter to Secretary DeVos Urges Education Department to Protect Federal Regulations Related to Privacy, Equity, and Transparency

Late last month, 24 PostsecData members and partners sent a letter to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos as public comment on the Education Department's review of existing federal regulations.

Sep 29, 2017

U.S. Department of Education Releases New College Scorecard Data

On September 28, 2017, the U.S. Department of Education refreshed the College Scorecard consumer website and downloadable data files with new data for most elements.

Sep 22, 2017

PostsecData Letter to Education Department Applauds More Timely, Relevant Postsecondary Data

Last week, PostsecData sent a letter signed by 27 partner organizations to the Department of Education, commending the National Center for Education Statistics’ (NCES) plan to introduce the 2017–18 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, Administ

Jun 29, 2017

Better Data on the Horizon: An Analysis of Evolving Student-Level Data Legislation

This brief describes the growing interest in strengthening postsecondary data quality and provides an overview and detailed analysis of proposed legislation that would create a federal student-level data network. This brief was updated in January 2019 to reflect recent legislation and new co-sponsors for proposed legislation.

Apr 28, 2017

Does Income Driven Repayment Help Low-Income, Underserved Borrowers?

Cumulative student loan debt in the United States totals $1.3 trillion for just over 44 million total borrowers. The U.S.

Apr 25, 2017

PostsecData Members Applaud Proposed Student Loan Servicing Collection

Twelve members of the Postsecondary Data Collaborative (PostsecData) co-signed a letter that applauds the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) proposed Student Loan Servicing Market Monitoring initiative.

Mar 31, 2017

Letter to Secretary DeVos Encourages Data Quality and Transparency

Last week, PostsecData sent a letter signed by 47 partner organizations to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, encouraging her to support greater transparency in higher education.

Jan 23, 2017

Gainful Employment Data Provide Public Value

The Department of Education (ED) recently released the first debt-to-earnin

Dec 16, 2016

Exploring College Rankings Measures, 2016 Update

Given that college rankings have continued to grow in quantity and scope, IHEP is releasing an updated comparison of five college rankings.

Aug 31, 2016

Harnessing the Power of Data for AAPI Communities

Central to debates on better data quality is a concern for and desire to track and reveal gaps in services for underrepresented students.

Jul 28, 2016

Mapping Postsecondary and Workforce Information Gaps in State Data Systems

In partnership with the Workforce Data Quality Campaign (WDQC) and the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO), PostsecData released an infographic, Ma

Jul 26, 2016

Letter to the U.S. Department of Education on Pell Grant recipients in IPEDS

In February, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released a proposal to include a Pell Grant recipient cohort in the Outcome Measures (OM) survey component of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).

Mar 23, 2016

Letter to the Technological Community on College Scorecard Data

Last fall, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released an Application Programming Interface (API) that makes publicly accessible all of the data used to build the College Scorecard. A variety of journalists and researchers have already started building new tools using these data.

Feb 10, 2016

President’s 2017 Budget Prioritizes Using and Developing Evidence and Data

In the President’s 2017 budget proposal this week, the Department of Education (ED) budget includes $15 million for the new InformED initiative.

Jan 20, 2016

IHEP Releases Paper on Repayment Rates

Today, the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) released a paper, Making Sense of Student Loan Outcomes: How Using Repayment Rates Can Improve Student Success.

Sep 23, 2015

PostsecData Partners Commend Department of Education for Data Transparency

26 members of the Postsecondary Data Collaborative (PostsecData) applaud the Department of Education for the release of an abundance of data on higher education with the redesigned College Scorecard.

Sep 14, 2015

"Weighing the Options" Report Reviews Options to Improve the Postsecondary Data Infrastructure

We have reached a critical point in the pursuit of a national postsecondary data infrastructure that is capable of providing students, policymakers, and institutions with the information they need.

Aug 13, 2015

Federal Student Aid Launches Guaranty Agency Privacy and Security Self-Assessments

Earlier this summer, the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) initiated a program comprised of self-assessments for the Guaranty Agencies (GAs).

Jul 23, 2015

Employer Collaboration on Data is Key to Job Growth

As a champion of the free enterprise system, we at the U.S. Chamber firmly believe that competition drives innovation. Society benefits most when businesses can compete with one another to provide the highest quality product or service to their customers.

Jun 25, 2015

Student-Level Data Collection Gains Traction: A Brief Review of Federal Legislation

In preparation for Higher Education Act reauthorization, the House of Representatives and the Senate have been focusing on improvements to, and modernization of, the postsecondary data infrastructure.

Jun 1, 2015

Consensus Builds on Need for High-Quality Postsecondary Data: A Review of Comments on Senate HELP Committee White Paper on Consumer Information

A diverse array of stakeholders have expressed an unmistakable hunger for more comprehensive, higher-quality data on our nation’s postsecondary system.

May 8, 2015

Senate HELP Committee Hearing on Consumer Information: May 6, 2015

On Wednesday, May 6, 2015, the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee held a full committee hearing on “Reauthorizing the Higher Education Act: The Role of Consumer Information in College Choice.” In their opening remarks, Chairman

Apr 24, 2015