College Students' Readiness for Work Varies by Their Major and Use of Career Resources
IR in the Know keeps you up to date on current and emerging issues related to higher education data collection, analyses, and reporting with a brief summary of topics and links to more detailed information. IR in the Know is presented in three categories: (1) Reports and Tools offers summaries of resources and research useful to IR professionals; (2) Emerging Topics presents information on developing ideas and discussions from the field; and (3) Policy Watch alerts readers to national policy news and topics that may warrant attention. We welcome your feedback and suggestions. If you discover a resource or article you think might be useful to other IR professionals, please send an email to irintheknow@airweb.org.
REPORTS AND TOOLS
College Students’ Readiness for Work Varies by Their Major and Use of Career Resources, National Survey Finds
At a time when a college degree and employability are increasingly intertwined, 93% of seniors believe what they’re learning in college is relevant to their career paths, according to new survey results released by NSSE - the National Survey of Student Engagement (School of Education, Indiana University Bloomington). In addition, most seniors are highly confident in their career and post-college plans. Notably, confidence is positively related to conversations about career interests with professionals in the field, academic advisors, and family. While most colleges/universities seek to help students prepare for workplace success, only about half of seniors use these resources during their final year. (NSSE)
Defining Student Success Data: Recommendations for Changing the Conversation (Kristina Powers)
More than 50% of students at colleges and university are adult students. Yet, many national metrics still focus on students ages 18-21. While many recognize the problem – current metrics do not reflect the majority of students – few organization/institutions have provided solutions. In their recently released position paper, the Higher Learning Commission aims to offer solutions for multiple measures of students success, both from internal and external viewpoints. As institutional researchers we need to help our institutions identify appropriate metrics that measures all students – in some cases with more than one metric. The suggested set of metrics will likely open up new policy conversations. (Higher Learning Commission)
SREB State Affordability Profiles (Eric Atchison)
The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) has released an update to their State Affordability Profiles series. Intended as a tool for postsecondary analysts, leadership, and policymakers, this work provides tailored reports on the policies, programs and prices that drive affordability for each of the 16 SREB member-states. Each report provides details on net price at different types of institutions, state financial aid based on need or other factors, student borrowing, and percentage of family income needed to pay for college at different income levels. (SREB)
Assessment, Accountability, and Student Learning Outcomes at HBCUs
This report presents the background and subsequent founding of the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Collaboration for Excellence in Educational Quality Assurance (CEEQA), as well as the role this collaborative can play in advancing assessment in higher education. CEEQA is the first collaborative of its kind, and seeks to help address accountability measures while being true to HBCU missions and culturally relevant assessment approaches. Hence, as both internal and external accountability mandates increase, so too has the need for a strong HBCU alliance. CEEQA can offer significant resources and specific expertise to both the HBCU community and higher education community writ large. (NILOA)
NCES UPDATES
TRP Suggestions Available for Comment
Suggestions from the most recent meeting of the IPEDS Technical Review Panel are posted and currently open for comment. Suggestions are from Technical Review Panel #57, "IPEDS Financial Metrics" that was held October 23 and 24, 2018, in Washington DC. Comments from interested parties should be sent to Janice Kelly-Reid, IPEDS Project Director at RTI International, at ipedsTRPcomment@rti.org, and are due by December 28, 2018.
Winter 2017-18 Provisional Data Release and First Look Publication
On December 4, 2018, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released IPEDS data collected during winter 2017-18: Graduation Rates for Selected Cohorts, 2009-14; Outcome Measures for Cohort Year 2009-10; Student Financial Aid, Academic Year 2016-17; and Admissions in Postsecondary Institutions, fall 2017. All data are also available through the IPEDS Use the Data page at the Provisional Release level. View the full report.
2018 Data Feedback Report Update
The 2018 Data Feedback Report (DFR) was emailed to Keyholders and Coordinators on December 7, 2018, and to Chief Executive Officers on December 18, 2018. The 2018 DFRs are based on the data collected during the 2017-18 IPEDS collection cycle and are the most recent data available. The DFR tool was also made available on December 7 within the IPEDS Use the Data portal, enabling the downloading, printing, and customization of the Data Feedback Reports. Please contact the IPEDS Data Feedback Report team at ipedsdatafeedback@ed.gov or the IPEDS Help Desk with questions.
Redesigned NCES MapEd page
The redesigned NCES MapEd page features tools that allow users to explore maps by sociodemographic characteristics, examine communities where schools are located, and search for colleges by program, size, or tuition. Users can explore American Community Survey (ACS) demographic data over time and determine distance of schools from potential threats with the new SAFE Maps tool.
New User Help Functions on Use the Data Page
NCES has added a new Help feature for data users to navigate and utilize the various tools on the IPEDS Use the Data page. It provides a refresher for the more underutilized data tools or an introduction into tools that have never been accessed. Users access the feature by clicking on the “?” icon next to each data tool or shortcut. Features include step-by-step instructions for retrieving data using each tool; screenshots within instructions for improved clarity; menus at the top and left for quicker navigation between data tools, shortcuts, and steps; links to additional resources; and the ability to download/print the guides.