Credential Transparency: Judging the Return on Investment: The American Enterprise Institute recently published a report exploring the major shortage of highly skilled workers across the nation and the actions that state leaders and policymakers can take to close the talent gap through increased credential transparency methods. Researchers found that 26 states across the nation are working on increasing Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL) adoption and registries within their territories. The analysts focused particularly on Texas, Indiana and Arkansas and found the following:
- Texas is publishing in-house data about credentials, competencies, program quality and student outcomes across three states agencies that hold responsibility for education and occupational credentials in an effort to widen its registry.
- Indiana’s Commission on Higher Education is working to increase transparency and publish information on more than 3,600 state credentials like certificates, degrees, apprenticeships, micro-credentials, occupational licenses, industry certifications and more.
- Arkansas created the Governor’s Workforce Cabinet and appointed local workforce leader Mike Rogers from Tyson Foods as the chief workforce officer to jointly spearhead creating an easily navigable Employment Record (LER) System for workers and employers that will match the two parties based on job skills using digital technology.
New Measures of Postsecondary Transfer: A report recently published by the U.S. Department of Education analyzes recent transfer and completion rates for community college students to better understand the barriers that learners face and inform leaders and policymakers working to change transfer policies and practices. Researchers discovered that only 16% of students who start in community colleges go on to earn bachelor’s degrees within six years, with lower rates for individuals of color and individuals from low-income backgrounds.
Researchers looked at both the community college with the highest transfer-out rate and the four-year institution with the highest transfers’ bachelor’s completion rate in each state and found the following:
- The average community college transfer-out rate was 38%, ranging from a high of 71% to a low of 19%.
- The average transfer bachelor’s completion rate at four-year institutions was 66%, ranging from a high of 89% to a low of 30%.
- Dyad completion, the rate at which students transfer and graduate between specific pairs of institutions, was 8%, ranging from a high of 20% to a low of 1%.
- Having high-performing dyads in a state is significant to learners’ overall transfer performance with Virginia and California topping the list for the best-performing states.
Three Ways States Can Lead on Postsecondary Education Reform: The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity recently published a brief that analyzes the current state of the postsecondary education landscape by focusing on outcomes-based funding (OBF), state authorization reform and state-imposed degree requirements as three key policy areas for immediate state reform consideration.
The report describes recent trends for each policy area across multiple states, including the following:
- At Texas State Technical College (TSTC), alumni wages have increased by 42% over the past 10 years thanks to an OBF formula. The “Returned-Value’’ formula calculates the difference between former students’ wages and the minimum wage, with a portion of that added value returning to TSTC as state funding for instruction and administration.
- Maryland is one of the first states in the country to remove degree requirements for employment within the state executive branch. This initiative led to a 34% increase in job applications from individuals with relevant skills and experience, which emphasizes the need to expand these types of measures across the board.
- State authorization reform is the policy area making the slowest progress. As demand for postsecondary education increases, the number of degree-granting institutions is stagnant owing to logistical hurdles.
Comments