About

The Postsecondary Data Collaborative, better known as PostsecData, is an initiative created by the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) that advocates for high-quality postsecondary data. Thoughtful use of higher education data has the power to:

  • Promote student success. College administrators and faculty can use data to encourage learning, retention, completion, and successful post-college outcomes.
  • Evaluate and inform federal, state, and institutional policies. With better data, decision-makers can assess public resources and target them to the postsecondary system's needs, with a focus on institutional improvement.
  • Empower college choices. Students and families can use data to make educated decisions about where to attend college, how to pay for it, and what to study.

We realize that developing robust and impactful postsecondary education data policies is far from simple. Policy leaders must make critical decisions about what data to collect, how to collect it, who should have access to it, how to define metrics, and how to present data to the public. The PostsecData Collaborative is leading an effort to tackle these challenges through a three-pronged approach:

IHEP is facilitating critical conversations on postsecondary data via reports, presentations, the @PostsecData Twitter handle, and a Google Group of postsecondary data experts. Data at Work describes our most recent publications.

​IHEP has created this site to serve as an online knowledge center for information on postsecondary data initiatives and research. Explore curated knowledge on postsecondary data, including voluntary data initiatives, national data collections, and other publications produced by the PostsecData Collaborative on the Resources and Reports page.

IHEP is building coalitions through the PostsecData Working Group, a diverse set of organizations who seeks to create change through dialogue and shared action. Working Group statements, as well as other PostsecData work, can be found in Policy and Advocacy.

​By working together, we can promote the use of data to improve outcomes for all students. If you have questions about the PostsecData Collaborative, e-mail us at PostsecData@ihep.org.

This initiative is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.