Emerging Postsecondary Labor Market Insights: The Education and Employment Research Center at Rutgers University recently published a report that examined existing and emerging Labor Market Information (LMI) practices at postsecondary institutions. The report revealed that the usage of LMI at two-year institutions was primarily motivated to develop academic and strategic plans, tended to focus more on workforce development and aimed at helping students achieve their future educational and career goals. The report also highlighted the impact of Perkins and the requirements around using LMI as a key driver of this work.
The following recommendations on policies and processes can assist school administrators in the adoption and institutionalization of LMI within their organizations:
- Examine potential LMI applications related to institution core activities like program review, academic planning, recruitment and enrollment management.
- Understand that institutional needs may require multiple LMI data sources apart from publicly available material and that these sources may result in additional costs from private vendors.
- Establish an infrastructure with organizational processes that provide centralized support; offer internal professional development for LMI in postsecondary contexts; and create policies from senior leaders on shared LMI expectations.
Researchers recognize the importance of LMI and recommend its use to leaders as postsecondary institutions face a looming enrollment cliff and as politicians and parents demand more accountability about how degrees connect to work.
Updated Equitable Value Explorer Tool Provides New Disaggregated Student Earnings Data: The Institute for Higher Education Policy recently released an update to the Equitable Value Explorer tool, an interactive data visualization platform. The tool has been updated to include the latest data from the College Scorecard, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, and American Community Survey. In particular, it includes new disaggregation of the median earnings of students by gender and family income for each institution.
Overall, the tool measures the economic value that institutions deliver through a series of economic thresholds and is designed to assist leaders, researchers and policymakers in better understanding student outcomes to improve equitable postsecondary value.
Credential Engine Equity Advisory Council Report and Recommendations: Credential Engine’s Equity Advisory Council recently published a report with recommendations focused on improving equity through data usage across the educational spectrum. The council’s findings centered on data transparency from providers for better informed decisions and optimal outcomes and on data principles for better student counseling on career pathways.
The report lists three tiers of data that the advisory council believes can assist school leaders and administrators in improving student outcomes:
- Tier One, No Excuses: Data points like cost of programs; time to completion; possible transfer pathways; enrollment, persistence and completion rates, licensure exam pass rates; earnings and placement data; and others that providers should make publicly available now.
- Tier Two, Time to Stretch: Data points like the availability of digital student records, the modalities of program offerings (online vs. in person); accreditation status, credential acquisition and others that providers should be working to make publicly available.
- Tier Three, Future Forward: Data points like advisor-to-student ratios, tutoring offered, number of transfer credits accepted, return on investment and others that providers should assess to make publicly available in the near future.
The advisory council also calls to action owners of occupational credentials, credential engine stakeholders and policymakers, developers of counseling tools and other individuals to follow these recommendations to meaningfully and collectively bring about a more equitable education and training marketplace.
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