Publications
Research Report
October 29, 2026
Scaling Transfer Transparency
Institutional Experiences with Transfer Explorer
Transfer students often struggle to understand whether prior coursework will transfer to a new institution and how those credits will apply toward a specific degree. ITHAKA developed the national version of Transfer Explorer to make this information more transparent. Building on CUNY Transfer Explorer, the publicly accessible platform draws directly from participating institutions’ course equivalencies and program requirements to show students, advisors, and staff how specific courses and other validated learning may transfer and apply toward a degree. This report…
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Research Report
October 26, 2026
Balancing Affordability and Access
A Review of the Current Landscape of Textbook Affordability Models
Empire State University, in collaboration with Ithaka S+R, Monroe Community College, and SUNY Canton, undertook a comprehensive research study on textbook affordability. By studying best practices for providing high-quality and affordable resources, the three SUNY campuses plan to pilot new approaches for supplying free or low-cost educational resources to students, with a long-term goal of testing the viability of these options in the SUNY system.
Research Report
October 22, 2026
Toward a Student-Centered Understanding of Basic Needs Insecurity
A Literature Review on Definitions, Help-Seeking, and Institutional Response
Despite emerging research on the prevalence and consequences of basic needs insecurity, few studies comprehensively examine how student perspectives shape definitions of basic needs, their thresholds for recognizing and seeking help, and institutional responses. This literature review synthesizes existing research and practice-based evidence on student perspectives, help-seeking, institutional strategies, communication approaches, and public benefit navigation, while identifying gaps that the project’s subsequent student-focused research and institutional strategy work aim to address.
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Research Report
October 8, 2026
Buffeted by Change, Researchers Seek Continuity and Investment
Results from the Ithaka S+R US Researcher Survey
The research enterprise in the United States, established after the second world war, is experiencing massive disruption, and researchers at US higher education institutions are operating in an unstable environment. Against this backdrop, the findings from our survey of 4,003 researchers, fielded in late 2025, demonstrate that they remain committed to carrying out essential work and that they are doing so in innovative ways—through collaboration, the creation of valuable educational experiences, and pushing knowledge towards the next frontier.
Research Report
October 6, 2026
Addressing College Affordability through Emergency Aid
A Study of the Petrie Foundation’s Student Emergency Grant Fund at CUNY
The Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation’s (Petrie Foundation) Student Emergency Grant Fund provides participating New York City colleges and universities with money to disburse grants to students experiencing financial hardship to help cover non-tuition expenses. Among the participating institutions are 20 City University of New York (CUNY) campuses, each of which operates and administers the program locally.
Research Report
October 1, 2026
Open in Prison Spaces
The Potential and Limitations of Open Educational Resources and Practices in Higher Education in Prison
Ithaka S+R was commissioned by the Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC) to explore the potential for, and limitations of, open educational resources (OER) and open education practices in higher education in prison. Conducted in dialogue with MHEC and the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE), this exploratory study draws on research, interviews, and a focus group with stakeholders from MHEC and NEBHE member states.
Research Report
August 20, 2026
Beyond Access
Policy and Collaboration in Addressing Student Basic Needs Insecurity
Students’ ability to succeed in higher education is closely tied to their access to food, housing, technology, transportation, mental health, and other essential support. While a range of public benefits programs and institutional initiatives aim to address these basic needs, access to support is often shaped by a complex and fragmented policy environment. State and federal policy related to basic needs has a direct impact on the support students can access.
Research Report
August 18, 2026
AI Skills for College Graduates
Exploring How Instructors and Employers Prioritize AI Skills Differently
Since the public release of ChatGPT in 2022, both higher education institutions and employers have been keenly focused on how to prepare college students, and ultimately graduates, for the new world of AI-inflected work. But what does it mean to be ready for the AI workplace? We embarked on one of the first major efforts to vet a comprehensive framework of what constitutes AI skills with college and university instructors as well as to understand how instructors prioritize these skills.
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…
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.
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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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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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.