Working Toward a Statewide Information System to Track the Effectiveness of Student Aid Financial Programs in Maryland Michael J. Keller Director of Policy Analysis and Research Maryland Higher Education Commission Presentation at 2002 SHEEO/NCES Network Conference Washington, DC- May 30, 2002

The Project This year, the Maryland Higher Education Commission convened a workgroup to: o Identify the data needed to conduct comprehensive analyses of financial aid o Create the appropriate data collection mechanisms to achieve this task The Workgroup included representatives from all segments of postsecondary education: the Commission, the Governor’s budget office, and the General Assembly

The Rationale The ability to monitor the effectiveness of scholarship programs requires the collection, maintenance and analysis of accurate data on the recipients of financial aid. This information needs to be combined with enrollment and completion data to measure the effectiveness of scholarship programs and their impact on student success. To do this on a statewide basis, the Commission would need three unit record data collection systems o Enrollments o Completions o Financial Aid

What Currently Exists in Unit Record Format Type of Institution Enrollment Data Completion Data Financial Aid Data Public Collegiate Yes No. although USM maintains such a system Private Collegiate Only some No Private Career Schools Only for WIA No

Financial Aid Information Collected in Maryland All Maryland public and private institutions and many private career schools complete an annual form on financial aid called the S-5 The S-5 collects figures about the types of financial support received by students during each academic year o Grants o Loans o Scholarships o Employment This collection has been conducted in Maryland since the mid 1980s

Composition of the S-5 Information is presented about o The total dollars provided o The number of recipients o The percentage distribution by type of institution o Type of support Data breakdowns are available for oUndergraduates and graduate/professional students oMajor collegiate segment oIndividual institutions oAfrican-American v. Non African-American

Limitation of the S-5 The S-5 produces valuable information that the Commission has used in examining trends in student financial aid in the State But the S-5 information is provided in an aggregated summary level that cannot be used for the purpose of student tracking analysis A unit record collection would not only allow analysis through the collegiate system in Maryland but would provide the possibility of integrating this information with employment records maintained by the State’s labor department

The Impetus for Change Final Report of the Task Force on College Readiness for Capable and Disadvantaged Students o Recommendation: Collect the data to effectively analyze need- based and other financial aid programs to guide allocations for State financial aid programs o This recommendation resulted from the difficulty which the financial aid subcommittee of the Task Force experienced in obtaining comprehensive data to determine whether institutions are able to address adequately the needs of low-income students and to analyze the effectiveness of the State’s aid programs o Student unit record data should be collected for these purposes

The Impetus for Change (continued) Access and Affordability: Refocusing Financial Aid in Maryland o Recommendation: Establish goals for all existing Maryland financial aid programs and annually monitor the achievement of these goals o This monitoring requires the collection, maintenance, and analysis of accurate data on applicants and recipients

The Impetus for Change (continued) Managing for Results o A process initiated by the Governor to measure the performance of State agencies and to identify how well they are serving citizens o Participation is mandatory o Results are used as part of the annual budget review by both the executive and legislative branches o Each funded program is evaluated separately o Results-oriented information about scholarship programs is not available because of the lack of data about their impact on students

The Hammer for Change The budget committees of the Maryland General Assembly adopted language directing all higher education institutions to work cooperatively with the Commission to provide student unit record data for the purpose of analyzing financial aid in a timely manner Directed the Commission to provide a report by Oct. 1 containing o A framework for data collection from all higher education institutions o A multi-year timeline for the collection of this information o A multi-year research program to evaluate the effectiveness of the State’s aid programs and the amount of financial need of low- and moderate-income students being met by all types of assistance The Commission has statutory authority to collect this type of information from postsecondary institutions

The Results Private colleges and universities will be required to provide unit record information to the Commission related to enrollments and completions All institutions will be required to participate in a new unit-record financial aid information system

Overview of Other States The workgroup’s initial task was to review the efforts of other states that have significant experience in the collection and analysis of statewide financial aid data. o Types of data collected o Source of the data o Kinds of analyses performed

Characteristics of the Emerging Maryland Financial Aid Data Collection System Like the other three states, it will require the participation of all collegiate institutions. It will resemble Virginia and Washington State in terms of the method of data collection. Information will be supplied annually by the colleges and universities to the Commission on the basis of an established schedule. Parsimony will be exercised in the selection of data elements, and the system will be most like Washington State’s in that respect. o 14 demographic and enrollment variables. All but one (cumulative grade point average) are currently collected in one of the Commission’s other systems and will be matched to the financial aid data base. o 11 financial aid variables-most drawn from the current S-5 form. A multi-year research effort will be initiated, as in Indiana.

Policy and Research Issues- Access and Enrollment The resources which students and their families use to pay for college Access to financial aid- which students get it and which do not The matriculation decisions of students who are awarded aid Student, institutional and family characteristics related to receipt of different types of financial aid The relationship between class level and the type and amount of assistance received

Policy and Research Issues- Retention and Graduation Impact of different forms of financial assistance, the composition of financial aid packages, and the amount of aid on student retention, graduation and (for community colleges) transfer rates The role of financial aid in affecting persistence and completion rates of special populations (minority students, students from low-income families, and non- traditional students)

Policy and Research Issues- Affordability The relationship between the level of student need and the types of aid received The extent to which grants and scholarships cover the amount of money needed to pay college costs after factoring in family contribution, especially for low-and moderate-income students The relationship between financial aid availability and increases in tuition and fees in impacting access to college The extent to which there is increasing reliance on loans by students and particularly by those in special populations

Policy and Research Issues- Outcomes The post-graduation activities of aid recipients, particularly those participating in scholarship programs with service obligations The degree to which Maryland’s scholarship programs achieve their established outcomes- oriented objectives in the Managing for Results initiative