Report: Federal Outcome Metrics Need to Better Reflect Missions of Community Colleges – NASFAA
Many higher education advocates have pointed out that current federal outcome metrics do not accurately capture the unique student demographics and missions of community colleges. However, lawmakers have a chance to reform the federal data collection process as they work toward the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA), according to a new report.
According to the report, “How Outcomes Metrics Can Better Reflect Community College Performance,” published by Third Way last week, to accurately reflect student outcomes at community colleges, existing federal metrics need to be improved and new metrics need to be created, such as an enhanced graduation rate, a transfer performance metric, and the employment rate on an institutional and program level.
“[W]hen it comes to evaluating the performance of two-year institutions, traditional outcomes metrics can provide an incomplete picture, failing to account for the multiple missions of community colleges, the diversity of the students they serve, and the variety of educational pathways those students pursue,” the report said. “… While both transparency and accountability for student outcomes need to exist for all sectors of higher education, we can and should also recognize that not all institutions are the same.”