Topic: Access to higher education
Past Event
November 9, 2023
Increasing Adult Learner Enrollment and Resolving Stranded Credits
“Stranded credits” are credits that students have earned but can’t access because their former institution is holding their transcript as collateral for an unpaid balance to the institution. Ninety-five percent of institutions withhold transcripts when students have a balance, and Ithaka S+R estimates that 6.6 million students nationally have stranded credits. Like student loan debt, stranded credits are inequitably distributed: institutions with higher shares of students of color and Pell-eligible students are estimated to have more former students…
Past Event
July 12, 2023
NISTS Award Winner Spotlight
AACRAO Technology & Transfer Virtual Summit
Join a AACRAO Technology and Transfer Virtual Summit session honoring this year’s Bonita C. Jacobs Transfer Champion-Rising Star Award winners, including Ithaka S+R’s Emily Tichenor. Learn about their journeys as transfer agents, connectors, and advocates, how they’ve overcome challenges to find success, and their top tips and strategies for influencing change. Both seasoned professionals and newcomers to the transfer community will walk away with valuable insights and practical takeaways for creating and sustaining transfer-focused policies, programs, and supports. This…
Blog Post
June 5, 2023
Humanizing Language in Policy
This is the third and final entry in a series of blog posts reflecting on findings from our recent report on state media review directives, Security and Censorship. The first blog post announced the report publication, offered key findings, and emphasized how the research connects to broader debates about education, censorship, and policy. The second blog post zoomed in on the report recommendations and model policy, highlighting aspects of the report that may be of most interest…
Past Event
May 24, 2023
The Role of Technical Assistant Providers in Higher Education in Prison
On May 24-25, Ithaka S+R’s Managing Director, Catharine Bond Hill, and Senior Program Manager for Justice Initiatives, Kurtis Tanaka, took part in a summit in Nashville, hosted by the Alliance for Higher Education in Prisons with support from Ascendium Education Group, on the role of technical assistance (TA) providers in the field of higher education in prisons (HEP). With the restoration of Pell grants for incarcerated students right around the corner, there is urgent need to convene intermediaries to discuss…
Past Event
June 14, 2023
The Chair’s Role in Enrollment, Retention, and Student Success
At 11 am on June 14, 2023, Martin Kurzweil will moderate a panel on “The Chair’s Role in Enrollment, Retention, and Student Success,” hosted by the Chronicle of Higher Education. Featuring conversation with panelist Allison Calhoun-Brown, the 75-minute session will explore how and why department chairs should recruit students and put in place systems that support them to remain enrolled and on track, and to complete their degrees. Register here.
Past Event
June 13, 2023
National Trends in Higher Education
At 11 am on June 13, 2023, Martin Kurzweil will participate in a session on national trends in higher education, hosted by the Chronicle of Higher Education. The 75-minute session will focus on key trends in higher education and its economic and policy context, moderated by current department chair Manya Whitaker. Register to attend.
Blog Post
May 31, 2023
Advancing Student Success through Academic Equity Topical Research Projects
Research Reports by ATI Honorarium Awardees George Mason University, Marist College, and Muhlenberg College
Student success and equity are intrinsically linked. Students from lower-income, first-generation, and historically underserved backgrounds face deeply entrenched systemic inequities and a myriad of obstacles both on college campuses and beyond. To help address these challenges, with funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Gray Foundation, three American Talent Initiative members each received a $7,250 honorarium to tackle research on key topics of academic equity.
Past Event
July 19, 2023
Addressing Return on Investment in Higher Education
Students and the general public are increasingly interested in whether higher education is worth the cost. While it is important to showcase the value of higher education beyond individual economic benefits, we must also directly respond to the growing skepticism of higher education’s cost and economic benefits. One clear way to showcase the extent to which higher education is a worthwhile investment is to measure a student’s return on investment (ROI) from their degree or credential. In this session, a…
Past Event
May 18, 2023
Martin Kurzweil at (Re)Engage Alabama
On May 18, Martin Kurzweil and Kent State University’s Chris Dorsten will talk about stranded credits and the Ohio College Comeback Compact at the (Re)Engage Alabama Convening in Montgomery, Alabama.
Past Event
August 7, 2023
Bans, Compacts, and Collections… Oh My! State Approaches to Addressing Stranded Credits
Institutions and states are facing increasing pressures to stop the practice of withholding student transcripts for failure to pay balances in full. In fact, over half of states have enacted or considered policies on this issue over the past several years. The Department of Education and the CFPB have also weighed in with guidance and new policies. In this session at the 2023 SHEEO Higher Education Policy Conference, leaders from three states that have taken unique approaches to addressing…
Past Event
July 11, 2023
CUNY Transfer Explorer
A Cross-Organizational Effort to Promote Credit Transparency
In May 2020, the Articulation of Credit Transfer (ACT) team, a collaboration between Ithaka S+R and the City University of New York (CUNY), introduced CUNY Transfer Explorer, an online, public tool which allows anyone to see how courses at one college are treated at any other college in the CUNY system upon transfer. At a presentation at AACRAO’s Technology and Virtual Summit on July 11 at 4 pm ET, CUNY Lehman’s Juan Villalona, ITHAKA’s Maddie Danks and Jessica…
Blog Post
April 20, 2023
Media Review Directive Model Policy
In Security and Censorship: A Comparative Analysis of State Department of Corrections Media Review Policies, we examined media review directives from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, analyzing common policies, procedures, and language across these documents. Based on this analysis, we recommend a series of changes to media review directives and related policy. We believe that the suggested changes will benefit departments of corrections (DOC) by streamlining procedures and improving communication with people who are incarcerated. The…
Blog Post
April 20, 2023
Education, Information, and Security
Key Findings and Context from New Report on Prison Media Review Policies
With federal Pell grant funding set to resume for college students in prison, higher education in prison programs sit at a critical juncture. As students in prison gain access to additional educational programming, how can we ensure that the courses and curricula they receive are comparable to offerings on the outside? One necessary step is to ensure that the same quality course materials and readings are available. Under the current media review policies of many departments of corrections (DOC), we…
Research Report
April 20, 2023
Security and Censorship
A Comparative Analysis of State Department of Corrections Media Review Policies
Despite resurgent public interest in censorship issues, research and reporting on prison censorship policies remain largely localized, with few wide-scale studies of the issue. The highly decentralized nature of the carceral system in the United States complicate such an undertaking. In an effort to make available policy information more accessible and to develop a sense of how censorship policies might impact higher education in prisons, Ithaka S+R examined media review directives across all 50 states and Washington DC.
Blog Post
March 28, 2023
Rural Student Conferences Recap
From Small Town to Campus and Roadmaps to Rural Student Success
In February I attended two virtual conferences—From Small Town to Campus (February 10-11) and Roadmaps to Rural Student Success (February 23-24)—both centering on the experiences of rural students pursuing and obtaining higher education degrees. A bevy of speakers and attendees shared personal experiences about growing up rural or working with students from rural backgrounds. As these talented individuals spoke on the advantages and challenges associated with rural student success, a number of themes emerged, not only across sessions,…
Blog Post
March 23, 2023
Using Data to Uncover Barriers to Student Success and Increase Retention
One of the most significant challenges that higher education institutions are currently facing is shrinking undergraduate enrollment, a trend accelerated by the disruptions of the pandemic. Among four-year institutions, enrollment declines have been particularly acute for those institutions that admit a relatively large percentage of their applicants and are dependent on tuition for a significant share of their revenue.[1] Between fall 2020 and 2022, colleges and universities that admit between 75 and 85 percent of applicants experienced…
Past Event
April 3, 2023
Innovative Approaches to Re-Enrollment, Retention, and Completion
Supporting Undergraduate College Students
Declines in enrollment and retention are increasingly common challenges in higher education. At the 2023 National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Annual Conference on April 3, 2023, Brittany Pearce and Daniel Rossman will present a session addressing the issue. The presenters will share research and explore two solutions that can inform practice: retention and completion grants and addressing stranded credits. Participants will learn about how these new approaches can help students and higher education institutions. Through an interactive activity,…
Past Event
March 24, 2023
Innovation in Access and Equity for Incarcerated People in Massachusetts
On March 24 at 11 am ET, Ithaka S+R’s Kurtis Tanaka will speak on a panel at Emerson College’s Education in Prison Conference alongside Robert Tynes and Sally Davidson. The panel is titled, “What Does the Date Tell Us?” The conference will look at the social and economic benefits of providing college in prison in Massachusetts and nationally, including leading analysts and policy-makers alongside college-in-prison alumni, and keynote speaker Reginald Dwayne Betts on how college-in-prison is part of a new…
Research Report
March 9, 2023
The Texas Student Success Program Inventory
How Public Undergraduate Institutions Are Supporting Student Success Across the State of Texas
Executive Summary The Texas Student Success Program Inventory (SSPI), available at https://www.highered.texas.gov/sspi, is an online database of information related to student success programs at public colleges and universities, commissioned by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB). Consistent with nearly every other state, prior to the creation of the SSPI, there was no organized source of information about student success programming in Texas. By creating a user-friendly tool for publicly sharing information, the SSPI is…
Past Event
March 7, 2023
Beyond Transfer: Learner-Centered Credit Mobility
Session at SXSW EDU 2023
Ithaka S+R’s Sarah Pingel will join panelists Marty Alvarado, Allson Kadlec, and Kenyatta Lovett at a SXSW EDU session presented by Ascendium Education Group, focused on learner-centered credit mobility and what’s needed from policymakers, system leaders, institutional leaders, and innovators to make progress. The session will discuss Ithaka S+R’s project on transfer and holistic credit mobility. Learn more about the event, scheduled to take place on March 7 at 2:30 – 3:30 pm CT.