New IHEP, AIR Network Will Help Colleges Use Data-Informed Strategies to Drive Student Success
Washington, DC (October 21, 2025) — The Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) and the Association for Institutional Research (AIR) today launched the Postsecondary Data Action Network, a new community of practice to help colleges harness data to improve student outcomes and credential completion. The network includes twelve cross-functional teams from four-year universities, community colleges, and Minority-Serving Institutions from across the country.
Over the next year, these teams of college leaders, researchers, and educators will leverage their institutions’ data to pinpoint barriers to student success, inform policy and practice decisions, and implement evidence-based strategies that support persistence, retention, and completion.
“The Postsecondary Data Action Network is designed to be a catalyst for change and showcase how thoughtful, intentional data analysis can transform student outcomes.” said IHEP Associate Director of Research, Taylor Myers. “IHEP and AIR will create a learning experience that fosters collaboration, problem solving, insight exchange, and deep partnerships within and across campuses.”
Teams will investigate issues central to the success of their distinct student populations. Network participants shared the goals they will undertake as a part of their network learning experience:
“Austin Community College is thrilled to join the Postsecondary Data for Action Network. Data guides our way, whether by demonstrating the power of our new first-dollar tuition-free college model, aligning our instructional programs with labor market needs, or ensuring success for all the students we serve,” said Jenna Cullinane Hege, Vice Chancellor of Research, Effectiveness & Grants. “The opportunity to partner with our peers to stay on the leading edge of college analytics and attuned to rapidly changing policy dynamics is incredibly valuable.”
“We are excited by the opportunity to learn in new ways about how unmet financial need impacts retention and time-to-degree,” said John Dooris, Director of Research & Analysis in the Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Planning, George Mason University. “By integrating financial aid data with academic and student experience data, we can uncover insights to inform improvements that help more students stay on track and succeed.”
“Clear and seamless transfer pathways are essential to ensuring that students don’t lose time, money, or momentum as they move between institutions,” said Dr. Alex Brodersen, Assistant Director of Research and Evaluation, Nebraska Statewide Workforce & Educational Reporting System (NSWERS). “Through NSWERS, Nebraska is building a shared, statewide understanding of student progress that turns data into informed decisions. The Postsecondary Data for Action Network will strengthen this work by providing opportunities to formally collaborate and learn from national peers equally committed to improving outcomes for every learner.”
“Winston Salem State University has leveraged disaggregated data to shape policies and expand the impact of our work with Pell-eligible students,” said Tony Artimisi, Associate Provost for Academic Strategy and Institutional Effectiveness, Winston Salem State University. “These efforts have led to the revision of campus-wide advising strategies, development of targeted intervention strategies, and investment in student support services. Joining the Postsecondary Data for Action Network is a natural extension of that commitment to evidence-driven action, and we are excited to join this cohort.”
Participating Teams and Project Highlights:
- Austin Community College District will draw on data from across its campuses to evaluate the impact of free tuition programs on persistence and completion.
- Delaware State University will support stopped-out and returning learners by leveraging student data to reduce credit loss, expand pathways, evaluate targeted supports, and align degrees with workforce needs.
- George Mason University will utilize its financial, academic, and student engagement data to better understand how unmet financial need impacts student retention and degree pathways.
- Massachusetts Association of Community Colleges will build a framework to capture qualitative and quantitative data on historically underserved students to bolster institutional data capacity and improve student outcomes tracking.
- Montclair State University will develop predictive models to examine how changing majors affects time-to-degree and graduation rates, and to identify pathways of success for transfer students.
- Nebraska Statewide Workforce & Educational Reporting System (NSWERS) will standardize metrics, evaluate credit applicability, and pilot a framework for transfer student success across two-year and four-year institutions in the state.
- Oakland University will leverage academic and experiential student data to pilot predictive models for both transfer and first-time students and evaluate interventions designed to support students toward completion.
- Tribal Colleges & American Indian College Fund will build analytical tools and identify persistent student challenges across four Tribal colleges to form a framework that informs targeted interventions.
- University at Buffalo will apply advanced data analytics to address students’ financial stress and course performance challenges through proactive policy planning.
- University of Northern Iowa will analyze the factors behind the rapid growth in three-year graduates by examining outcomes for students with varying levels of financial need.
- University of Washington Bothell will establish and monitor key performance indicators to close second-to-third year retention gaps.
- Winston-Salem State University will monitor student advising data to refine policies to better support Pell-eligible, male, and rural students.
The selected teams will receive guidance from IHEP and AIR to enhance their data capacity and connect insights to ongoing state and federal policy developments.
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