tag: Policy
Blog Post
July 1, 2025
Informing Postsecondary Education Policy
How Researchers Are Using PSEO Data
In "How Researchers Use the PSEO Data to Study Postsecondary Outcomes and Inform Policy," we examine how scholars, systems, and agencies leverage PSEO to answer key policy questions. This report was commissioned by the PSEO Coalition, which brings together state, system, and institutional partners committed to expanding access to and use of PSEO data as a foundational tool for data-informed decision-making.
Research Report
July 1, 2025
How Researchers Use PSEO Data to Study Postsecondary Outcomes and Inform Policy
A report for the PSEO Coalition from Ithaka S+R
This literature review summarizes key findings from research and practical applications related to PSEO data. By examining how PSEO data has been used in higher education research and policy, this review lays the groundwork for a national research agenda that strengthens understanding of the links between education and workforce connections, student success, and the economic value of postsecondary credentials.
Blog Post
June 16, 2025
An Endowment Tax Alternative
Estimating the Impact of a Five Percent Spend Policy
Currently, a set of the country’s wealthiest colleges and universities is subject to a 1.4 percent tax on net investment earnings. Over the past few months, several legislative proposals have taken aim at significantly increasing this tax, known colloquially as the “endowment tax.” The latest version, which was included in the reconciliation bill passed by the House in late May, includes a graduated rate structure that goes up to a 21 percent tax, depending on the size of the…
Upcoming Event
August 13, 2025
Supporting Adult Learners
Enrollment Strategies from a Pennsylvania Community of Practice
On August 13, 2025, Elizabeth Looker will be presenting and moderating a panel at the Higher Education Policy Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota from 10:00 AM-10:45 AM CST. With 36.8 million adults having some college experience but no degree (National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, 2024), re-engaging this population is critical as institutions face enrollment declines and workforce shortages. In Pennsylvania, nearly 100 representatives from 51 institutions have joined a year-long Adult Learner Re-Engagement Community of Practice, facilitated by Ithaka S+R…
Blog Post
March 19, 2025
How Have Institutions Responded to Transcript Withholding Limitations?
In recent years, institutions have started to move away from the practice of stopping students with unpaid balances from accessing their official transcripts. These transcript holds have been criticized as ineffective tools for debt collection and for their role in the creation of stranded credits, credits students have earned but cannot access. In July 2024, regulations from the Department of Education went into effect that limited this practice. By that time, at least 13 states had already adopted similar…
Research Report
March 19, 2025
Balancing Access and Accountability
Assessing the Implications of the New Federal Transcript-Hold Regulation for Higher Education - Part 3
This report is the third in a three-part series examining how institutions of higher education have responded to state and federal policies limiting the use of transcript holds for unpaid balances, produced in partnership between Ithaka S+R and AACRAO. The prior reports explored the anticipated and actual impacts of the July 2024 federal regulation limiting transcript holds on higher education institutions in states that did not have existing laws related to the practice.
Past Event
November 23, 2024
Scholars in the Real World
Utilizing Research in Program Implementation and Policy Decision-making
At the Association for the Study of Higher Education’s (ASHE) 2024 General Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota, an interactive symposium will engage audience members to think critically about about how research is used in higher education policy. Using their roles as researchers, knowledge brokers, and decision-makers in roles adjacent to academia, panelists Ifeatu Oliobi, Emily Parrott, Kristen Glasener, Vikash Reddy, KC Deane, and Kyle Southern will illustrate specific examples of policy-relevant research, expanding the definition of “scholars” and “scholarship.” The…