1. Essential Steps for States
UNIFORMLY MEASURE
PROGRESS AND SUCCESS
Measure progress and success: Collect and publicly report data on students, colleges,
and the state using key metrics that can help drive improvement in college completion.
COMPLETE
COLLEGE WHY MEASURE PROGRESS n The public — including students and
AMERICA’S GOAL: AND SUCCESS? their families — needs consistent,
By 2020, six out of What we measure signals what we value. straightforward information about
10 young adults When it comes to college completion, common how well colleges are serving students
metrics empower leaders to use data to like them so they can make informed
in our country diagnose the obstacles students face and decisions about where to invest their
will have a identify opportunities for improvement. And valuable time and tuition dollars.
college degree or they reveal progress as soon as it’s made,
encouraging students and schools to stay n States and colleges need data that enable
credential of value.
on track or make adjustments quickly. Most them to establish a fair baseline, show
important, good metrics help hold everyone progress over time, make meaningful
involved — students, institutions, systems, comparisons, and provide accountability
and the state — accountable for success. that helps push all stakeholders to share
in the responsibility of wisely spending
Effective information on college completion the tax dollars invested in education.
must be publicly reported, comparable
College graduation and retention information
across campuses and states, and consistently
currently collected and reported by the
measured and collected from year to year.
Integrated Postsecondary Data System
Common metrics — uniformly designed and
(IPEDS) falls short of what policymakers
applied — help us frame our data collection to
U.S. students don’t just need to have a comprehensive picture of
be most useful for driving change. Moreover,
need to go to college; college completion in their state and on their
they need to complete adopting and reporting these common metrics
campuses. While all institutions report data
college. Access has unifies us in a shared goal and communicates
to IPEDS, critical data are missing, and this
improved — we are our commitment to doing the hard work
inhibits meaningful understanding, diagnosis,
sending more students necessary to bring about improvement. Now
and improvement.
to higher education more than ever, the collective success of our
— but success has country depends on the mutual pledge to help IPEDS does not collect and report the
declined. more students make it to graduation day. following data for all states and campuses:
In just 10 years, six of
n Policymakers need information about n Graduation rates for part-time
10 new jobs will require
how well the state is educating its students. Even though they make up
a college education,
future workforce and how the state’s more than a third of all college students
but fewer than half of
students who enter
investment in higher education is paying and more than 60 percent of those at
college today finish with off. public two-year schools, the federal
a degree or credential. n Campus leaders need the tools to analyze government doesn’t count them.
Those who do complete
patterns in the success of their students, n Graduation rates for transfer
college are taking
diagnose problems, and develop students. It is impossible to recognize
longer, paying more,
appropriate interventions. the valuable role of community colleges
and graduating with
more debt. and branch campuses as effective
WWW.COMPLETECOLLEGE.ORG

2. UNIFORMLY MEASURE Essential Steps for States
PROGRESS AND SUCCESS
and affordable entry points to higher Progress metrics. To complete college,
education if we fail to track the success of students must successfully pass through
those who transfer. a series of key milestones. Research has
identified a number of interim achievements
n Graduation rates for low-income
that are strongly linked to student success,
students. Billions are invested each year
and progress metrics measure these indicators.
to improve access to college for low-
Measuring and understanding these factors
income students without ever knowing if
is an essential part of designing interventions
these students are ultimately successful.
that will improve college completion.
n Graduation rates for remedial
students. With about 40 percent of Key progress metrics are:
all students requiring some type of n Remediation entry and success: 41
special assistance to address academic percent of all students enter college
shortcomings — and billions spent needing remedial education, at an annual
each year to deliver it — it is vital that national cost of $2.5 to $3 billion. Yet
we know if the extra help is producing evidence is mixed on the effectiveness
graduates. If it isn’t, we must fix it. of remedial education, and most
As important, IPEDS does not capture data states don’t have the data they need to
on critical milestones of students’ progress diagnose and monitor the tremendous
through college: entry and success in remedial investment states, colleges, and students
education, success in first-year courses, credit are making in remediation. States
accumulation, and the amount of time and should collect data on the number and
credits it takes to earn a degree or certificate. percentage of entering students who
place into remedial education, as well
WAYS TO MEASURE PROGRESS AND as their success in completing first-year
SUCCESS classes.
States should measure and report outcomes
n Success in first-year college courses:
as well as progress toward those outcomes.
Whether students begin in remediation
States and colleges should disaggregate these
or in regular credit-bearing courses,
data — by gender, race/ethnicity, Pell Grant
first-year gateway courses in math and
recipients, age group, and full- or part-time
English are often barriers to success.
enrollment status — to learn how critical
Research shows that the sooner students
subgroups of students are performing.
get through first-year courses in core
States and institutions should focus on subjects, the more likely they are to
measuring improvement over time as well as complete college.
transparently and publicly reporting progress n Credit accumulation: The number
and success. And they should use the data to of credits students accumulate each
identify both barriers to student achievement year strongly predicts their ultimate
and actions that can lead to improved student success in completing a degree or
success. certificate. It’s common sense, and it’s
been substantiated by research showing
Critical metrics that drive improvement in
that the intensity with which students
college completion fall into two categories:
enroll in college courses and accumulate
progress metrics and outcome metrics.
credits correlates with success. States
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3. UNIFORMLY MEASURE Essential Steps for States
PROGRESS AND SUCCESS
and colleges should know how many completion goals, state and campus leaders
students are moving through courses and need to know their success rates, whether
programs at a rate that ensures they will outcomes are improving over time, and if so,
be able to complete — and to complete whether they are improving quickly enough.
on time without wasted courses and
years. Key outcome metrics are:
n Retention rates: If colleges can identify n Degrees awarded annually: Is the state
the students who are least likely to return making adequate progress toward its
for a second year, they can actively goal of producing more college graduates
work to better engage those students each year? States need to look at the
during their first year. Retention rates number of degrees and certificates every
disaggregated by key demographics campus is awarding each year, by sector
can be a powerful diagnostic tool for and among critical student groups, so
colleges and systems and can give states that all levels of the higher education
an annual look at how successful colleges system move in the right direction. The
are at keeping the students they enroll. focus should be on improvement from
year to year.
n Time and credits to degree: Excess
courses — and often, the unnecessary n Graduation rates: The graduation
extra years of college that result from rate is the percentage of students who
them — waste resources for students, entered a college or university seeking
institutions, and the state. For students, a certificate or degree and attained
the delays mean forgone income and that goal. Both states and campuses
wasted tuition dollars. For campuses, need graduation rate data that reflect
students’ taking courses in excess of all students — including full-time and
what students need to graduate results in part-time and those who transfer — and
lost resources, cramped classrooms, and the data must be disaggregated to show
limited capacity for incoming students. which populations within the state are
For states, credit hours taken in excess of underrepresented on graduation day.
graduation requirements cost taxpayers Policymakers should focus on whether
millions of dollars each year. To help their state’s graduation rate is high
advance policies and practices that enough for the state to meet its overall
accelerate student success, colleges and education attainment goals.
states need data that show how many n Transfer rates: A state’s economic
credits students are accumulating along future depends on having more students
the way to earning a degree, which of complete college and earn credentials
those credits are necessary, and which are of value in the workforce. To make sure
superfluous. state policy is supporting this goal, states
Outcome metrics. Ultimately, states and and systems must know how many
colleges are accountable for the successful students successfully transfer each year
outcomes of students enrolled on their from two-year to four-year campuses
campuses. To make meaningful annual — and if some student groups have less
progress toward statewide and campus success transferring than others.
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4. UNIFORMLY MEASURE Essential Steps for States
PROGRESS AND SUCCESS
Disaggregation. Most states are facing a Meeting targeted goals for producing
simple economic and demographic reality: additional graduates with degrees or
They cannot meet future workforce needs certificates in specific fields, such as more
without graduating more students from STEM graduates or graduates with certificates
communities and populations who have been in high-demand health fields, requires that
historically underrepresented among college states also can disaggregate annual degree
graduates. States and campuses must have production and graduation rate data by
the ability to analyze all of these metrics for discipline and degree type.
specific targeted populations to effectively
close achievement gaps and ensure the Available data. Don’t make perfect the
economic growth that will benefit everyone in enemy of the good: Most of the measures
the state. Data should be disaggregated by: outlined above can be collected from available
data. While many states have extensive data
n Gender systems already in place and can collect these
data immediately, others will need to piece
n Race/Ethnicity
together the data from their institutions and
n Income (using Pell Grant eligibility as a use the National Student Clearinghouse to
proxy for income) supplement data collection where necessary.
Complete College n Age groups Complete College America can provide
America is a national technical assistance to help states find and
nonprofit organization n Full-time, part-time, and transfer collect data to report on these critical metrics.
working with states to students
significantly increase the
number of Americans
with a college degree
or credential of value
and to close attainment
gaps for traditionally
underrepresented
populations.
Five national foundations
are providing multiyear
support to Complete
College America: the
Carnegie Corporation
of New York, the Bill
& Melinda Gates
Foundation, the Ford
Foundation, the W.K.
Kellogg Foundation, and
Lumina Foundation for
Education.
Additional information and
data sources are available at
www.completecollege.org.
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