Is the US higher education system providing a baseline level of quality for college students? To answer that question, Third Way has been regularly examining institutional outcomes in three key areas: completion, post-enrollment earnings, and student loan repayment. These metrics are informative in their own right, and they are also Read more
Colleges and universities fail to graduate just under half of all students who enter their programs. This is often due to external factors and barriers that affect students’ ability to focus on learning—like being a student parent or provider for their family, encountering mental health difficulties, or the rising cost Read more
Recently, EducationNext released research on the predictive analytics that colleges and universities are using to identify at-risk students who may benefit from additional support. Excerpts from the piece appear below: Colleges and universities are facing mounting pressure to raise completion rates and have embraced predictive analytics to identify which students Read more
At its most effective, advising is a collaborative process between a student and an advisor designed to help the student realize their educational potential. Most postsecondary institutions have historically used advisors to help students select and register for courses, but postsecondary institutions are increasingly asking advisors to play an instrumental Read more
Writing for AEI, Michael Poliakoff makes a case for a three-year Bachelor’s degree. Excerpts from the piece appear below: College students, regardless of their majors or professional programs, need a rigorous liberal arts core curriculum. That curriculum must efficiently develop college-level skills and knowledge in the arts and sciences disciplines Read more
Some solutions in education are expensive. Take early college high schools, which give students a head start on their college degrees but cost about $3,800 extra per student. Are they worth it? New research suggests that these schools might actually pay for themselves in long-term benefits to both students and Read more
Building on a previous randomized experiment of the impact of Early Colleges (ECs) (Berger et al., 2013), the American Institutes for Research (AIR) has released a new follow-up study that assesses the longer-term impacts of ECs on students’ postsecondary outcomes 6 years after expected high school graduation. Using data from Read more
A working group that includes members from some of the country’s most influential education groups released new recommendations aimed at high school programs offering college credit. These programs, often dual-enrollment partnerships with local colleges, have grown in popularity, as have concerns about the rigor, costs and ultimate impact on college Read more
Writing for The 74, Kate Stringer reviews a new randomized controlled trial that finds that one-on-one, in-person mentoring that starts in high school and continues through university study can have a significant effect on college persistence rates for low-income students. Excerpts from the article appear below: A college mentoring program Read more
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released new data that provide a more comprehensive look at the percentage of degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students who are successfully completing postsecondary education. Unlike the previously reported graduation rates, the new Outcome Measures (OM) account for non-traditional students, such as those who attend part Read more
The College & Career Readiness & Success Center at the American Institutes for Research (AIR) has released a new brief, Evidence-Based Practices to Support College and Career Readiness in High School: Early College High School. Early-college high schools are a partnership between secondary and postsecondary institutions and businesses that allow Read more
Writing for The 74, Richard Whitmire explores new data that show charter school students are graduating from college at three- to five-times the national average. Excerpts from his article appear below: About a decade ago, 15 years into the public charter school movement, a few of the nation’s top charter Read more
The number of students finishing high school has increased over time for students in all racial/ethnic groups. However, the rate of progress has varied and racial/ethnic gaps persist. The National Center for Education Statistics released a new report in July entitled Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Read more
The National Center for Education Statistics released The Condition of Education 2017 on May 25, a congressionally mandated report that summarizes important developments and trends in education using the latest available data. This year’s report provides new analyses on a wide range of issues, including homelessness in public schools and Read more
The latest edition of the Digest of Education Statistics is a compilation of a wide array of data about education, including new information about important issues in public education. The Digest, compiled by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), is a comprehensive statistical reference for all levels of education, Read more
In a sea of bad news, Dick Startz, writing for the Brown Center Chalkboard at Brookings, reflects on the good news in American education: Graduation rates are up Over the last fifteen years, high school graduation rates have risen. The vast majority of adults have a high school diploma. White, Read more