On May 21, Secretary DeVos announced that improvements have been made to the College Scorecard, the Department of Education’s consumer-facing postsecondary outcome research tool. Among the improvements is more comprehensive information about student graduation rates, now including part-time and transfer students in some calculations. In the past, graduation rates were only provided for first-time, full-time students, who make up only a small percentage of students at some postsecondary institutions, like community and technical colleges.
New information has also been added for approximately 2,100 non-degree-granting institutions that participate in federal financial aid programs, including many area CTE centers. About 3,700 degree-granting institutions were included previously. And finally, the Department is releasing preliminary information on student loan debt by postsecondary program (previous information on loan debt was only available at the institution level). Researchers have been cautioned that this information is still under review by colleges though, and could be adjusted.
In announcing these chance, Sec. DeVos said, "We committed to students that we would continually improve the College Scorecard so that they could access relevant, accurate and actionable data as they make decisions about their education after high school. The updates released today are another step in fulfilling that promise. We look forward to seeing how students, parents, institutions and researchers utilize this important information."
Unfortunately, much of the most valuable information in the Scorecard as it relates to CTE is limited—with only institution-level data or only information on students participating in federal financial aid. ACTE will continue to work with policymakers to increase the amount of robust, valid data that is available on CTE student outcomes.
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