1. Mark P Chisholm September 5, 2018
SUN PATH Participant Outcomes Compared to Similar Students in NM Institutions
Mark P Chisholm
September 5, 2018

2. Final selection of students used in the analysis:
This study looked at SUN PATH participants from the first four semesters of the project: fall ‘15, spring ‘16, summer ‘16, and fall ’16
Students were tracked through spring 2017 and employment outcomes were tracked through the third quarter of 2017
Student data from all two-year colleges in the state, who had similar degree program codes as the SUN PATH students, were pulled to serve as a Comparison Group
Final selection of students used in the analysis:
SUN PATH Participants – 1,821
Comparison Group – 17,996
The source of the data was the Department of Workforce Solutions (DWS) database and institutional files reported by institutions to the Higher Education Department. All analysis records were anonymized to protect individual student data.
Note that when students sign up to be part of the SUN PATH program they are often continuing students at the institution – the comparison group is distributed similarly.

3. Overall, SUN PATH students are much more likely to have completed a certificate or degree through spring 2017 than the comparison group.
However, the full set of study students encompasses four different starting semesters, so some of these students only had two semesters of data to track while others had five semesters – this issue is addressed in the next chart.

4. Because of the four initial starting semesters, the chart on the next slide looks at completion rates for students after two semesters (the semester they first enrolled and the following semester). All four cohorts were tracked for two semesters.
One of the major goals of SUN PATH was to help students complete quickly, with a focus on shorter certificates that could lead to employment in Allied Health fields.
The previous chart shows that a far higher percentage of SUN PATH participants complete a less-than-one-year certificate than the comparison group (25.6% compared to 1.6%) within two semesters, and that a majority of the completers complete in their first semester.
Overall, after two semesters, 34.7% of the SUN PATH participants have completed a program after two semesters.
The next chart looks at only the fall 2015 cohort, to track the percentage of completers after five semesters (through spring 2017)

5. This chart looks at only the fall 2015 cohort, to track the percentage of completers after five semesters (through spring 2017)
Over half of the SUN PATH participants had completed a certificate or a degree after five semesters (52.1%), compared to 15.2% for the Comparison group
(note, these are not they same as typically reported graduation rates – these represent only a sample of each institution’s enrollment, and each cohort is comprised of continuing students, transfer students, as well as first-time students.)
There was a larger completion percentage at all award levels, but the largest difference was with the less-than-one-year certificates.
The other main goal of SUN PATH was to help participants get jobs after graduation.

6. This chart focuses both on non-incumbent workers (those participants who were not employed in the quarter prior to enrollment) and on incumbent workers (those who were previously employed)
Employment after graduation was measured by matching to DWS unemployment insurance (UI) files in the first full quarter after graduation, for example, graduates in spring 2017 were matched to UI files for the third quarter of 2017.
The chart shows a large benefit for non-incumbent workers, with 46.2% employed after completion compared to 31.5% for the Comparison group. This advantage occurred for all certificate and degree levels.
However, for incumbent workers, there wasn’t much difference in subsequent employment of SUN PATH participants versus the Comparison group, and in one case the Comparison group was slightly higher – basically, if employed before, still employed afterwards.
The next chart looks at average salaries before and after the program.

7. This chart shows that the SUN PATH participants experienced, on average, a higher increase in salary than the Comparison group (the salary is the average quarterly salary pulled from the DWS UI database).
This salary increase wasn’t consistent across all award levels, the 1-2 year certificate students in SUN PATH had a salary increase, but it was smaller than for the Comparison Group, while the increase for Associate Degree recipients was much higher.
Overall, the SUN PATH participants had a $962 increase compared to $712 for the Comparison group.

8. Conclusions
The charts in this presentation provide a very high-level summary of how SUN PATH participants fared comparted to a large group of similar students at similar institutions:
SUN PATH students completed a certificate or degree at a 34% higher rate, when compared to similar non-participants
SUN PATH participants who were unemployed at enrollment, became employed after program completion at a 14% higher rate when compared to similar non-participants
The average overall gain in salary for SUN PATH students was almost $1000 per quarter compared to $700 for non-participants