State-level policies can change the nature of college and career advising across the United States. Through our current Postsecondary Pathways Project,
the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) identified eight of these policy levers and is currently focused on how states adopt and advance them. More information on these levers, and states current conditions related to them, are available via
an online interactive dashboard.
What’s the lever? States should use state-level National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) contracts to share student-level postsecondary outcomes data with K-12 districts and schools
to raise awareness of where students matriculate after high school and how they do when they get there.
Why? Covering 97% of students in public and private institutions’ enrollments and 70% of high school students, the NSC is the nation’s most comprehensive source of postsecondary outcomes data. These data are valuable for understanding students’
matriculation and completion patterns. Districts and high schools can access their students’ postsecondary outcomes data through the NSC’s Student Tracker for High Schools service. Unfortunately, analytical capacity constraints, like a lack of personnel or know-how, make it difficult for many districts to make the best use of these data. Many state education agencies contract with the NSC to obtain the outcomes data
for all recent graduates within the state. Once analyzed at the state-level, the state can send data to districts and schools and inform postsecondary advising practices. This represents a significant economy of scale that would save local education
agencies time and also increase their likelihood of using this data.
Background: Many district and school leaders and practitioners lack a complete understanding of their students’ college matriculation outcomes after high school. State-level data on these outcomes varies considerably according to state systems. The NSC represents the best, most complete source of this data. By getting real data on where student
matriculate, K-12 systems can incorporate that information into postsecondary advising to better serve future classes of students.
What should states do? Almost every state has at least one agency with an NSC contract, but how these data are used varies widely. Some states use these data to populate state longitudinal data systems (SLDS), for federal reporting accountability,
to populate state report cards, or to supplement in-state data from public institutions. Others have mechanisms for sharing these data, in the aggregate or by student, with districts and schools. States can increase the usage of this data by proactively
provisioning data to local education agencies and putting the data into appropriate data portals for viewing student-level outcomes. At a minimum, provisioning data at the district or school levels will begin to paint a clearer picture for leaders
to understand their students’ outcomes. Ideally, states can provide professional development/technical assistance (PD/TA) to local education agencies (LEAs) on how to use NSC data effectively in postsecondary advising efforts.
How does NCAN categorize states for this lever?
Insufficient Information: To this point, NCAN has been unable to collect enough information to understand if and how a state is using a statewide NSC contract.
Planning: The state has at least one statewide NSC contract, but the data obtained largely go to federal reporting accountability or populating an SLDS. There is not a clear mechanism for an LEA to obtain postsecondary outcomes data,
either in the aggregate or at the student level.
Progressing: The state has at least one statewide NSC contract, and the data mainly populate state report cards, a state postsecondary outcomes dashboard, or another public-facing resource. LEAs may be able to obtain postsecondary outcomes
data but might have to make a request to do so or might only be able to receive school-level data.
Established: The state proactively provisions data obtained from the statewide NSC contract to districts and schools. This data may be sent to LEAs or appear in a data portal with appropriate FERPA protections. LEAs do not need to make
a request for these data, the state will provision it in some form, either in the aggregate (district or high school level) or at the student level, as part of an established process. The state provides periodic TA/PD opportunities to LEAs for
using data.
What’s the status of this lever for my state? Our current understanding of the landscape for this state policy lever appears in the map below.
NCAN is updating these analyses frequently, and the most updated version lives here. Have questions about your state or want to make an update? Contact Bill DeBaun,
Senior Director of Data and Strategic Initiatives.
Stay tuned as we continue to highlight how states can advance their students’ college and career readiness and increase educational attainment!
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