Metrics Framework Technical Guide
Over the last decade, the field has identified key metrics that measure postsecondary performance, efficiency, and equity. This report reflects the results of this progress and recommends definitions for 31 metrics.
Resources and Reports
PostsecData Resources
Explore all of the resources published by the PostsecData Collaborative, from brief analyses to longer publications.
Featured Resources
A Roadmap to Better Data: Developing a Census Bureau Partnership to Measure National Postsecondary Earnings Outcomes
This report describes a creative solution - a first-of-its-kind collaboration between the UT System and the U.S. Census Bureau - to provide better data on student outcomes.
Postsecondary Data GPS: A Guidebook for Navigating Data to Promote Student Success
This online resource is designed to help other institutions mirror these successes by using data to uncover trends and identify areas for improvement.
National Postsecondary Data Infrastructure
IHEP convened an expert working group to develop targeted recommendations for improving the national postsecondary data infrastructure, resulting in 11 policy papers.
Voluntary Data Initiatives
Many nonprofit organizations collect data tools to help institutions improve, inform policy, and identify best practices. Discover what data they collect and how they use it.
National Data Collections
Large, national data systems collect a wealth of information on postsecondary students and institutions. Explore how these systems evolved and what data they collect.
Latest Resources
January 2021
Implementing a Student-Level Data Network (Part II): Insights from Institutional Representatives
Implementing a Student-Level Data Network (Part II): Insights from Institutional Representatives is the second brief in a series to support the modernization of our postsecondary data infrastructure.
August 2020
Implementing a Federal Student-Level Data Network: Advice from Experts
This brief outlines the data elements and definitional options needed to meet pending legislative requirements for a student-level data network, maximize the quality and utility of the data, and minimize the burden on institutions.
May 2020
“Everyone Deserves to be Seen:” IHEP and SEARAC Release Recommendations for Improved Federal Data on AAPI Communities
This report sets forth clear policy recommendations for Congress, federal, state, and local agencies, and institutions of higher education to collect disaggregated data for the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.
February 2020
Postsecondary Data GPS: A Guidebook for Navigating Data to Promote Student Success
Postsecondary Data GPS: A Guidebook for Navigating Data to Promote Student Success is an online resource designed to help other institutions mirror these successes by using data to uncover trends and identify areas for improvement.
December 2019
A Roadmap to Better Data: Developing a Census Bureau Partnership to Measure National Postsecondary Earnings Outcomes
In A Roadmap to Better Data: Developing a Census Bureau Partnership to Measure National Postsecondary Earnings Outcomes, Stephanie Bond Huie and David Troutman of the University of Texas (UT) System describe a creative solution - a first-of-its-kind collaboration between the UT System and the U.S. Census Bureau to provide better data on student outcomes.
November 2019
Better Data, Better Outcomes: Promoting Evidence, Equity, and Student Success through the Framework for State Postsecondary Data Solutions
Better Data, Better Outcomes: Promoting Evidence, Equity, and Student Success through the Framework for State Postsecondary Data Solutions introduces a new framework that highlights the barriers to effective data use by states and identifies approaches to eliminating those barriers, with solutions at the federal, state, and regional levels. The Framework identifies opportunities to build innovative partnerships and develop messaging and advocacy strategies to champion a culture of data use.
June 2019
Informing Improvement: Recommendations for Enhancing Accreditor Data-Use to Promote Student Success and Equity
The report puts forth three key recommendations as opportunities for accreditors to build upon and strengthen their data-use practices to promote student success and make equity a real and meaningful priority
March 2019
The College Transparency Act
This one-pager provides information on recent legislation titled the College Transparency Act.
January 2019
Better Data on the Horizon: An Analysis of Evolving Student-Level Data Legislation
This brief describes the growing interest in strengthening postsecondary data quality and provides an overview and detailed analysis of proposed legislation that would create a federal student-level data network. This brief was updated in January 2019 to reflect recent legislation and new co-sponsors for proposed legislation.
October 2017
A Blueprint For Better Information: Recommendations For a Federal Postsecondary Student-Level Data Network
A Blueprint for Better Information: Recommendations for a Federal Postsecondary Student-Level Data Network underscores the need for a coordinated and comprehensive network that leverages data from existing federal systems to paint a more complete picture of student outcomes. A Blueprint for Better Information outlines the details necessary to create a secure and effective student-level data network
October 2016
IHEP Provides Public Comment for Commission on Evidence-based Policymaking
IHEP Research Analyst, Amanda Janice Roberson, provided public comment on the value of federal higher education data and the need to link and leverage existing data for policymaking.
July 2016
Mapping Postsecondary and Workforce Information Gaps in State Data Systems
State Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) match data from different sources about individuals over time, and serve as an important resource for state policymakers, researchers, and the public. This infographic shows which data are missing from most SLDS.
May 2016
Toward Convergence: A Technical Guide for the Postsecondary Metrics Framework
Drawing on lessons learned from a decade of efforts to collect and use better data, Toward Convergence provides important, foundational details that support and build on the findings outlined in Answering the Call and enumerates the technical details of the metrics framework.
April 2016
Leading with Data: How Senior Institution and System Leaders Use Postsecondary Data to Promote Student Success
Institution and system leaders play a critical role—perhaps the most critical—in promoting student success in higher education. This reports shows how some institutional leaders have improved student success through a focus on data.
February 2016
Answering the Call: Institutions and States Lead the Way Toward Better Measures of Postsecondary Performance
This report shares what the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has learned from leading institutions and states about how to improve and use postsecondary data to improve student outcomes.
February 2016
Michelle Cooper for Higher Ed Data
Michelle Cooper, president of the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP), explains we need to “know our numbers” in higher ed so we can see how we’re doing and how to improve. Learn more at http://HigherEdFacts.org.
January 2016
Making Sense of Student Loan Outcomes: How Using Repayment Rates Can Improve Student Success
The Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) convened institutions and policy experts to investigate if and how repayment rates should be incorporated into our postsecondary systems to help advance student success. The report highlights 11 major findings from the convening.
January 2016
Executive Summary: Making Sense of Student Loan Outcomes
This is the Executive Summary for the Making Sense of Student Loan Outcomes: How Using Repayment Rates Can Improve Student Success report.
October 2015
Primer on Repayment Rates
This resource was created for a convening of policy and institution experts on repayment rates. It reviews the history of repayment rates and the technical specifications of various calculations.
September 2015
Weighing the Options for Improving the National Postsecondary Data Infrastructure
This report reviews seven options to improve for a national postsecondary data infrastructure.
September 2015
Testimony for the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance
Mamie Voight, Director of Policy Research at IHEP, testified at a hearing for the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance on consumer information and data transparency.
June 2015
The Evolution of Student-Level Data Legislation
This memo provides an overview of and side-by-side comparisons of the four pieces of bipartisan legislation introduced since 2012 that call for student-level data collection in varying forms.
April 2015
Driving Toward Greater Postsecondary Attainment Using Data
This primer fact sheet explains how different sectors - education, business, policy, and nonprofit and community-based organizations - can collaborate to use data along different points of the attainment pipeline to increase college access and completion.
March 2015
Mapping Revisited: Feedback on Mapping the Postsecondary Data Domain
This brief reviews feedback IHEP received on its listening tour for Mapping and outlines what we got right, what needs refinement, and next steps.
March 2015
Workforce Data Primer
This brief, an excerpt from the Mapping Technical Report, describes the data systems and elements that can be used to better understand employment and earnings outcomes.
March 2015
NCES Sample Studies Primer
This primer on the National Center for Education Statistics' sample studies describes how the surveys are administered and how they overlap.
January 2015
Federal Student Aid Data in PIRS
This presentation describes how data from the Office of Federal Student Aid in the U.S. Department of Education could potentially be used in the Postsecondary Institution Ratings System (PIRS).
September 2014
IHEP Testimony on Postsecondary Institution Ratings System
In this testimony, IHEP President Dr. Michelle Asha Cooper provided recommendations for the Postsecondary Institution Ratings System (PIRS).
September 2014
Exploring College Rankings Measures
This brief provides a snapshot comparison of the measures used in several major publications that publish annual college rankings.
September 2014
Data Collection, Use, and Dissemination in the Higher Education Affordability Act
This document presents the major data provisions in the Higher Education Affordability Act and prompts the reader to consider how data will be incorporated in future versions of the Higher Education Act.
August 2014
Analysis of the 2014 House Higher Education Act Reauthorization Bills
This brief provides an overview of the main components of H.R. 4984 and H.R. 4983 and compares them to current policies.
August 2014
Analysis of 2014 Federal Student Aid Data
This series of graphs analyzes data released by the Office of Federal Student Aid in August 2014 and describes trends in student loan borrowing and repayment behavior.
March 2014
Mapping the Postsecondary Data Domain: Problems and Possibilities
This report outlines how existing national data sets can be amended, added to, or linked together to gain better data on postsecondary students.
March 2014
Mapping the Postsecondary Data Domain Technical Report
This technical report builds on the accompanying white paper to detail how existing national data sets can be amended, added to, or linked together to gain better data on postsecondary students.
March 2014
Executive Summary: Mapping the Postsecondary Data Domain
This summary covers IHEP's March 2014 report, Mapping the Postsecondary Data Domain, and highlights data measures that are vital to understanding and promoting student success.