Publications
Issue Brief
July 16, 2026
Postsecondary Value in the Age of AI
AI is rapidly changing the conversation about postsecondary value because it changes the production function of postsecondary education and academic research. By “value,” I mean more than the individual return on investment to students, though that matters enormously. Postsecondary value also includes the costs and benefits for institutions, communities and states, the research enterprise, and society more broadly. It includes whether students gain the education and credentials they need to build meaningful lives and careers; whether institutions can deliver that…
Research Report
July 14, 2026
Part Time, Full Potential
Strategies for Improving Outcomes for Part-Time Learners
Ifeatu Oliobi, Ini-Abasi Umosen, Christy McDaniel, Pooja Patel, Emily Schwartz, Elizabeth Davidson Pisacreta
Part-time students represent about one-quarter of all undergraduate students at four-year institutions and nearly two-thirds at two-year institutions, yet they complete credentials at roughly half the rate of their full-time peers. These gaps are driven primarily by constraints due to work schedules, caregiving obligations, and limited financial aid, rather than by student characteristics or motivation. Added to this, the systems meant to support postsecondary success are largely designed for students who can attend full time.
Research Report
July 13, 2026
Serving Incarcerated Patrons
Barriers, Innovations, and Lessons from Law Libraries Across the United States
People in prison have a constitutional right of access to the courts to challenge their convictions, contest conditions of confinement, and otherwise protect their legal interests. Granting access to legal information and resources to incarcerated individuals also serves a broader public purpose, helping to expose wrongful convictions, identify unconstitutional conditions, and ensure that correctional institutions remain subject to legal oversight and accountability.
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Research Report
May 14, 2026
US Library Survey 2025
Under Pressure
The US Library Survey examines how library leaders conceptualize their work—what they prioritize, how they navigate decision-making, and how they align the library with the goals of their parent institutions. The 2025 cycle examines leaders’ perspectives on the library’s core role, governance, and key dimensions of strategy and operations. The report also includes their perspectives on generative artificial intelligence (AI), developments in the scholarly communication ecosystem, and change management.
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Research Report
May 7, 2026
Examining Employers’ Perceptions of Online Credentials
A Discrete Choice Experiment
In this study, supported by Strada Education Foundation and the Joyce Foundation, we conduct a discrete choice experiment with professional recruiters and hiring managers to better understand how they respond to online credentials, including those earned from out-of-state institutions.[9] Our research asks whether employers prefer hypothetical job applicants with in-person degrees compared to online degrees, if this preference differs based on whether the degree was earned from an in- or out-of-state institution, and how these preferences may vary by other…
Issue Brief
April 20, 2026
The Impact of State and Federal Policies on Academic Researchers
Findings from a National Survey
Last fall, Ithaka S+R fielded a national survey of researchers at US academic institutions. The survey included several questions about academic freedom within the research enterprise, and those findings are the subject of this brief.
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Research Report
April 14, 2026
Academic Momentum and Credit Mobility
Examining the Role of CUNY’s Transfer Explorer
This report examines whether using T-REX is associated with improved early transfer outcomes for CUNY students who move from a CUNY community college to a CUNY bachelor’s-degree-granting college. Using administrative data for first-time vertical transfer students initiating transfer between Fall 2020 and Spring 2025, we compare outcomes for students who logged in to T-REX before or during the year they transferred and students who did not. We focus on two outcomes measured at the bachelor’s-degree-granting college: (1) the total number…
Research Report
April 10, 2026
Assessing Mississippi’s Higher Education in Prison Data Infrastructure
This report documents Phase 1 of a multi-phase effort to understand Mississippi’s current higher education in prison data landscape and identify opportunities for improvement. Drawing on stakeholder interviews, document review, and engagement with MCHEP and other state partners, the assessment examines what data are currently collected, how those data are used, where there are gaps and inconsistencies, and what limits the usefulness of existing data for decision-making.
Issue Brief
April 9, 2026
Perspectives on Academic Publishers
Evidence from a 2025 Study of Academic Library Professionals
Between August and December 2025, Ithaka S+R conducted a national survey and complementary structured interviews with 13 library professionals to examine how library professionals evaluate academic publishers. The project was guided by the primary aim of understanding the qualities and practices library professionals consider most and least important when evaluating relationships with academic publishers. Together, these data provide insight into the values, expectations, and pressures shaping libraries’ relationships with publishers.
Issue Brief
March 31, 2026
Operating Open Source Program Offices at the System Level
A Case Study of the University of California and University of Texas System-Wide OSPO Projects
In this issue brief, we extend our earlier study of Open Source Program Offices (OSPOs) to focus on two system-wide frameworks in the University of California and University of Texas systems. By operating at the system level, the UC and UT OSPOs aim to further embody principles of openness and more widely and effectively enable open source work by making resources and expertise more scalable as well as by establishing a framework to facilitate community-building and cross-institution collaboration.
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Issue Brief
March 30, 2026
AI Adoption in Research Administration at Emerging Research Institutions
Research administration, an essential component of a university’s research enterprise, is growing more complex, costly, and cumbersome each year. As generative AI transitions into an everyday technology, university research offices are exploring its potential to reduce administrative burden and increase operational efficiency. With funding from the National Science Foundation’s GRANTED program, Ithaka S+R, Chapman University, and Montclair State University organized two workshops to help research administrators consider how to leverage AI to build research capacity at emerging research institutions.
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Research Report
March 25, 2026
Sustaining Open Source Software in the Research Enterprise
Findings from a One-Day Workshop
“Sustaining Open Source Software in the Research Enterprise” (SOSSRE), a one-day in-person workshop made possible with generous funding from the National Science Foundation, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and a gift from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, was designed to bolster the ecosystem of open source research software and develop holistic pathways for sustaining it within higher education.
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Playbook
March 24, 2026
Library Partnership Development Framework
Drawing on a qualitative inventory of library websites, national case studies, and insights gathered through an in-person institute , the project has informed the development of the Library Partnership Development Framework. This framework is designed to support libraries at all stages of partnership: exploring new opportunities, formalizing emerging collaborations, or enhancing and scaling established initiatives.
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Case Study
March 12, 2026
Targeted Financial Aid and Workforce Opportunity
Five State Case Studies
States play a pivotal role in financing higher education and shaping the pathways that connect learners to opportunity. In an era of federal uncertainty and shifting policy priorities, state leaders face increasing pressure to ensure that public investments in postsecondary education advance both broad attainment goals and more specific workforce needs. This paper is intentionally oriented toward helping states advance policy decisions and understand investment tradeoffs related to their financial aid and workforce alignment strategies.
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Research Report
March 12, 2026
Aligning State Investments with Workforce Opportunity
A Framework for Targeted Higher Education Funding
State and local spending on higher education represents a significant public investment, and states have a responsibility to deploy these dollars in ways that maximize their social and economic returns. Policy discussions about how states can ensure their investments maximize these economic and social returns, however, have largely centered on states’ direct appropriations to public institutions and, more recently, on how those dollars can be tied to credentials of value. Far less attention has been paid to state financial aid…
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Issue Brief
March 5, 2026
How First-Generation Students Engage with Comprehensive Support
Lessons from an Evaluation of the Kessler Scholars Program
First-generation college students—those whose parents did not earn bachelor’s degrees—demonstrate remarkable resilience in pursuing higher education, yet they face greater obstacles to degree completion than their continuing-generation peers. These challenges include fewer financial resources to pay for education and living expenses, lower levels of academic preparation, and limited guidance to help them navigate the complex environment of higher education.[1] As a result, first-generation students are less likely than their continuing-generation peers to persist from year to year, graduate within six…
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Research Report
February 23, 2026
Art Museum Director Survey 2025
Museum Strategy and Operations
The Ithaka S+R Art Museum Director Survey seeks to understand the opportunities, challenges, and strategic issues art museum directors face in their work, particularly in relation to budgeting, public trust and engagement, collections care, and talent management. For the third iteration of this project, we continue to explore how museums are governed, how they serve the public, and what kinds of strategies they develop to respond to complex challenges.
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Research Report
February 18, 2026
Beyond the Median: Earnings Dispersion Across Programs in South Carolina
Findings from Postsecondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) Data
Which academic programs provide consistent economic returns and which leave graduates facing greater uncertainty? This brief uses Postsecondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) data to examine earnings dispersion within programs of study in South Carolina. While median earnings are often used to assess program outcomes, they can obscure wide variation among graduates. By analyzing the 25th and 75th percentile earnings, this study highlights which programs provide consistent economic returns and which leave graduates facing greater uncertainty.
Research Report
February 18, 2026
Industry Concentration and Workforce Pathways in South Carolina
Findings from Postsecondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) Data
Which academic programs lead to clear labor market placement, and which lead to more diffuse or uncertain employment outcomes? This Ithaka S+R report uses South Carolina’s Postsecondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) data to examine how graduates from different fields of study are distributed across industries, in collaboration with the PSEO Coalition.
Research Report
February 18, 2026
Rural Graduate Retention and State Workforce Contributions in South Carolina
Findings from Postsecondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) Data
This Ithaka S+R report uses Postsecondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) data to examine how the earnings, employment locations, and contributions to South Carolina’s workforce differ for graduates of rural- and urban-serving institutions in the state. By comparing outcomes for associate and bachelor’s degree graduates, the analysis highlights how the urbanicity of where students study shapes both individual economic trajectories and the extent to which graduates remain employed in South Carolina.