Dive Brief:
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A new report from the American Institutes for Research suggests a revision in the metrics that define institutional success, including graduation and persistence.
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The report suggests that the way the U.S. Department of Education measures graduation — as a rate determined by six-year completion, measuring only first-time, full-time enrolled students — means many graduates are never counted; 70,000 students earned degrees last year but didn’t count towards their institutions’ graduation rates, the study said.
- The authors note “incremental improvements” to reconsider the framework for evaluation, suggesting the long awaited reauthorization of the Higher Education Act will provide an appropriate forum for the conversation.
Dive Insight:
As the profile of the “traditional” student continues to change, more students are enrolling in higher ed programs part-time, or returning to complete their degrees after years away. Still others are persisting continually, but not at the same institution at which they started. None of these students count toward an institution’s graduation numbers.
With pressure increasing for institutions to demonstrate ROI and with metrics like graduation rates possibly being tied to federal funding, the current measurement standards leave many institutions at a severe disadvantage. Historically black colleges and universities, for example, are often seen as having perpetually low graduation rates overall, but few consider the dire financial circumstances or high transfer rates for students they serve. Changing the measurement standards would positively impact these institutions’ graduation data.