Using the National Student Clearinghouse for Outcomes Data

1. Using the National Student Clearinghouse for Outcomes Data Mary Ann Coughlin Jean Wyld Joseph R Bjerklie Rachel Albert

2. Agenda • National Student Clearinghouse • What is the Clearinghouse? • What Data is Available Through the Clearinghouse? • National Discussion -- Measuring Student Outcomes • Traditional Retention / Grad Rates • Non-first Full-time Degree Certificate Seeking Students • Campus Level • Common Research Questions • Admitted/Did not Enroll • Students who leave -- Where did they go • Other Questions that NSC can shed some light on… • Enrollment in Graduate Programs • Student Swirl & Concurrent Enrollment • Implications for Academic Leaders • National Student Clearinghouse Research Center

3. Quick Facts • National Student Clearinghouse founded in 1993 • Non-profit organization • Board of Directors comprised of leaders in postsecondary education, K-12 education, research and education finance • National Student Clearinghouse Research Center created in 2010 • Non-profit organization • Board of Directors comprised of research experts from postsecondary education, K-12 education, and multistate organizations • National Reports – Hot off the Presses – Signature Report on“Completing College: A National View of Student Attainment Rates” • Advisory Committees • Data Access Advisory Committee • Provides guidance on use of data and research • Clearinghouse Advisory Committee • Provides guidance on institutional burdens and how NSC can help

4. What Services? • NSC offers a wide range of services to both K-12 and postsecondary institutions. • Services range from enrollment verification to degree verification to transcript ordering, to student tracking to gainful employment reporting. • Three main services: • EnrollmentVerify • DegreeVerify • Student Tracker • Services are most well known to Registrars and Financial Aid Officers. • Also many Institutional Researchers familiar with Student Tracker.

5. Scope of Services

6. Clearinghouse -- IPEDS • It is important to note the differences between NSC data and IPEDS data.

7. Measuring Student Success Outcomes:A National Discussion

8. Recent Initiatives

9. Accessing NSC Data – Student Tracker

10. Campus Analysesto Support Program Review

14. Enrollment in Graduate Programs

22. Benefits of StudentTracker System • Institutional-level data are readily available • Opens up options for studies on the topic of access • External data sources, both local and national • Inform the discussion of postsecondary access for students • Inform decisions regarding college access and student success

23. Importance of NSC StudentTracker Data Today • Fast-paced change in education • Changing demographics • Value of higher education • College administrators under greater pressure • Transitioning from “data-poor” to “data-rich” • Need to remain competitive • Data driven decisions 

24. Implications for Academic Leaders • Enables enhanced information for decision making • Provides easy access to information • Promotes cost-effective analyses • Improves understanding of patterns that helps to better serve students • Assists in answering key questions

25. Potential Value-Added for Academic Leaders • Provides a more complete picture of student success outcomes • Only source of data that can be used to track students longitudinally across state lines and across sectors • Data can also be analyzed at the program level • Raise student achievement and success

26. Recommended Actions to Effectively Use Data • Establish a clear vision for institutional data use • Provide support that promotes a data-driven culture within your institution • Make data an ongoing part of instructional improvement - ask the questions • Use data to promote student achievement and success • Focus on efforts that support students’ paths to graduation

27. National Student Clearinghouse Research Center • Purpose: • The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center collaborates with higher education institutions, states, school districts, individual high schools, educational organizations and the U.S. Department of Education as part of a national effort to better inform education leaders and policymakers. • Goal: • Through accurate longitudinal data outcomes reporting, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center enables better educational policy decisions leading to improved student outcomes. • Products: • Signature Reports • Snapshots

28. Signature Reports provide comparison data that reveal patterns and valuable insight on students' postsecondary access, persistence, and other success outcomes. • Four Reports have been released • Understanding the Recession's Impact on U.S. College Enrollment and Persistence Patterns • Transfer & Mobility: A National View of Pre-Degree Student Movement in Postsecondary Institutions • Reverse Transfer: A National View of Student Mobility from Four-Year to Two-Year Institutions • Completing College: A National View of Student Attainment Rates • Available at: • www.studentclearinghouse.info/signature/

29. Completing College • Report explores the six-year outcomes of a cohort of first-time-in-college degree-seeking students who started in fall 2006 (N=1,878,484). • It enhances the traditional graduation rate by reporting in four key ways: • Student completion anywhere, beyond institutional boundaries, across state lines, and over time; • Persistence anywhere, not just at the starting institution, for those who have not yet completed but are still pursuing a degree; • College outcomes broken out by student age at first entry and enrollment intensity, thus addressing questions about the role of students’ varied postsecondary pathways in progress toward national completion goals; • Enrollment intensity based on the enrollment status in all terms of enrollment, and not just the first term.

30. Completing College: Interesting Finding • Within six years, 12 percent of first-time students completed a degree or certificate at an institution other than the one where they started, raising the overall completion rate from 42 to 54 percent.

31. Transfer & Mobility: Interesting Findings • One third of all students transferred at least once within five years. • Part- and full-time students had similar transfer rates over five years. • Over one quarter of all transfers crossed state lines.

32. Snapshot Reportsexam national enrollment trends • The report data come from student-level college enrollment data and present unique snapshots in time that reveal college enrollment patterns and student pathways to student outcomes • Reports are organized into five categories: persistence, mobility, concurrent enrollment, adult learners, degree attainment. • Available at: • http://www.studentclearinghouse.info/snapshot/ .

34. DiscussionQuestions