Higher Education Data Systems and High School Connections: The State of the States Peter Ewell National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) SHEEO Professional Development Meeting August 15, 2006

The Policy Imperative Demonstrated Links Between Postsecondary Attainment and Personal and Societal Economic Return U.S. Falling Behind in Postsecondary Attainment Among Young Adults Leaks in the U.S. “Educational Pipeline” at All Levels Misalignment of High School Exit Standards and College Level Placement in Reading, Writing, and Math Higher Education Needs Initiatives—and Data Systems—to Facilitate Transitions from High School to College

State-Level “Unit Record” Databases in Higher Education: The Context Established and Maintained by Public University System and SHEEO Offices Several Decades of Experience at this Point Originally Designed to Drive State Funding Formulas for Public University Systems Used More Recently to Calculate Student Retention and Graduation Rates for Accountability Purposes (“Student Right to Know”), and to Track Students from One Institution to Another (“Enrollment Swirl”

NCHEMS Unit-Record Database Inventory Updates a Previous Inventory Conducted in 2003 Looked at 47 Databases in 40 States Contents Cover 81% of Nation’s Headcount Enrollment Growing Number of Independent Colleges are Included Increasingly Compatible Data Structures and Definitions for Core Data Elements

Some Common Features Across States Growing Experience in Linking Data to Other State Databases (K-12, UI-Wage, DMV, etc.), but this is Still a “Frontier” to be Explored Virtually all use SSN as Key Link [and this will be a problem…] FERPA and Privacy Issues are Significant and Growing Concerns Many Systems Getting Old and Hard to Maintain, and State Money to Do This is in Short Supply

Findings Relevant High School Transitions Systems in 10 States Regularly Match SUR Data with High School Data (in Three Cases only One of Several Systems in the State do This) Systems in 16 States are in the Process of Establishing Matches with High School Data Most states with Postsecondary Databases carry High School Attended, but only 9 States Have More Than This Community College Systems More Likely to Establish and Use Links to High School Data Systems

Some Lessons from Experience Data Use Drives Data Quality Just “Having Good Data” Doesn’t Guarantee Good Policy or Aligned College-Ready Standards Higher Education Sends Powerful Signals to K-12— Sometimes Unintentionally  Success Demands Mutual Commitment and Joint Activity Between SHEEOs and State Departments of Education