Using Postsecondary Data Resources
The resources on this page are free to download and represent a collection of best practices for using postsecondary outcomes data to improve pathways for students. Have a resource you'd like to share with the CoP? Upload files.
Featured Resources
Education Commission of the States’ 50-State Comparison: Dual/Concurrent Enrollment
This interactive tool helps users compare state policies on dual/concurrent enrollment, including credit transfer, funding, instructor requirements, and reporting.
Effective Advising for Postsecondary Students: A Practice Guide for Educators
This guide presents evidence-based recommendations for building comprehensive, personalized postsecondary advising systems with coaching, mentoring, and incentives to improve persistence and completion.
Eight CCR-Related Survey Findings from School Leaders That Will Surprise You
This article highlights surprising insights from the RAND Corporation’s survey of school leaders on college and career readiness. It focuses on low data access, advising gaps, and barriers rooted in school-level capacity.
Ensuring College Readiness and Academic System Alignment for All Students
This guide and infographic provides actionable steps for improving college readiness across underserved communities using a seven-point framework and local partnerships.
Exploring Equitable Postsecondary Value
This data tool describes methodology for assessing postsecondary economic value using threshold earnings, value indices, and data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Scorecard, and Census sources.
Factors That Impact Hoosiers’ Decisions to Pursue Education and Training After High School.
This presentation highlights Indiana’s research and strategy to motivate students and adults to pursue postsecondary pathways by addressing cost misconceptions and enhancing messaging around careers and return on investment (ROI).
Increasing Degree Attainment Among Low-Income Students: The Role of Intensive Advising and College Quality
Increasing Degree Attainment Among Low-Income Students: The Role of Intensive Advising and College Quality Title: Increasing Degree Attainment Among Low-Income Students: The Role of Intensive Advising and College Quality Type: Working Paper Series Author: National Bureau of Economic Research Date Published: 2025 Summary: A multisite randomized controlled trial shows that intensive advising in high school and college significantly boosts bachelor’s degree attainment for low-income students. The gains are largely due to improved college choices, suggesting that targeting enrollment decisions may be more effective than focusing solely on affordability. Access Resource
Making Career Readiness Count A 2025 Update: 10 Years of Measuring What Matters
This report examines nationwide federal and state accountability data over the past decade to provide insights on how states have evolved, increased, and innovated the way they use career-focused indicators in accountability
Mapping Postsecondary Pathways: Understanding State Student College Enrollment Trends
This brief examines six years of enrollment data (2018-19 through 2023-24) across all 50 states to understand student enrollment patterns and the trends influencing higher education outcomes.
Noncredit Data Taxonomy 2.0 and Implementation Guide for States : Lessons Learned from Phase 2 of the State Noncredit Data Project
This report offers state-level entities a practical guide to improve noncredit data infrastructure, including a taxonomy, operational definitions, a how-to guide for data collection, and implications for various sectors. It refines earlier versions based on work with the SNDP’s second phase of states.