Topic: Access to higher education
Blog Post
May 5, 2025
Examining the New Carnegie Student Access and Earnings Classification at Four-Year Colleges and Universities
A bachelor’s degree remains a key lever to achieve economic success. Median earnings disaggregated by educational attainment demonstrate the importance of a bachelor’s degree for securing a job and making strong earnings. The difference in median weekly earnings of a person with a high school degree ($930) compared to someone with a bachelor’s degree ($1,543) adds up to an additional $32,000 over one year. This wage premium grows even larger as a person advances in their career. Despite…
Blog Post
April 29, 2025
The New York Prison Guards Strike
Impacts and Lessons for Higher Education in Prison
On February 17, 2025, correctional officers across New York state staged an unsanctioned strike—the second statewide walkout of the correctional workforce in state history. Following an incident and ensuing lockdown at Collins Correctional Facility, officers at Collins and Elmira began a series of wildcat strikes. At its peak, thousands of officers walked off the job, prompting Governor Kathy Hochul to deploy the National Guard to staff prisons. Officers cited low pay, chronic understaffing, and forced overtime as key grievances,…
Blog Post
April 25, 2025
Reflections on the 2025 National Conference on Higher Education in Prisons (NCHEP)
Ithaka S+R recently attended and presented (Alex Monday, Bethany Lewis) at the 14th annual National Conference on Higher Education in Prisons (NCHEP), held April 10-11 in New Orleans. The conference brought researchers, practitioners, correctional staff, and students together to consider this year’s theme: “A New Era? Pell Reinstatement and the Future of Prison Education.” From the opening remarks to the final sessions, the conference fostered a strong sense of community.
Blog Post
April 17, 2025
How Is Kentucky Supporting Adult Learner Engagement?
A New Brief Shares Lessons Learned
Across the nation, there are 36.8 million individuals under the age of 65 with some college and no credential. Approximately 557,000 of these learners have stopped out from Kentucky colleges and universities. Re-enrolling adult learners with some college, no credential is a growing priority across the US and in Kentucky. Credential completion helps individuals get high paying jobs, brings in new tuition revenue for institutions, and helps regions develop a workforce needed for a healthy economy. Individuals and…
Issue Brief
April 17, 2025
Supporting Adult Learner Engagement in Kentucky
Addressing Administrative Holds, Past Due Balances, and Targeted Supports
Ithaka S+R and Kentucky CPE worked together to understand how administrative holds and unpaid balances affect institutions and adults with come credit, no credential. This reportsummarizes our key findings and offers potential solutions for institutions and states across the country, using examples from Kentucky. Part one covers administrative holds, part two focuses on past due balances, and part three discusses how institutions can adjust to the changing landscape of administrative holds.
Blog Post
April 14, 2025
Holistic Credit Mobility Acceleration Cohort Kicks Off
Takeaways from the Community of Practice
Last month, Ithaka S+R and Complete College America officially launched the holistic credit mobility acceleration cohort. Over the coming year, the 11 state higher education and university systems and institutional consortia participating will convene regularly to develop a unified language around credit mobility, identify best practices, policies, and technologies, and collaborate to move the needle on credit mobility.
Blog Post
April 4, 2025
What Comes Next with Pell Restoration in Postsecondary Education in Prisons
An Interview with Ruth Delaney
As Ithaka S+R continues its work on enhancing data infrastructure for higher education in prison, we are committed to leveraging insights from experts across the field and highlighting key initiatives shaping the landscape. The restoration of Pell Grants for incarcerated learners, enacted through the FAFSA Simplification Act, has created a pressing need to examine program accountability, approval processes, and the role of data in supporting high-quality education. As we look forward to publishing findings from over 40 interviews with…
Blog Post
April 1, 2025
Assessing the Humanities
Announcing a New Project to Better Understand the Structure of Humanities Majors and the Perspective of Department Chairs
Ithaka S+R is excited to announce that we have been engaged by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences to conduct research on the state of the humanities in higher education. Our research will be part of a portfolio of commissioned work that will contribute to the Academy’s ongoing efforts to gather comprehensive data on systematic challenges facing humanities departments today. Over the coming year, Ithaka S+R will conduct interviews and focus groups with faculty and administrators from across the…
Past Event
April 16, 2025
Terrain Leveling
Design Strategies for Improving Higher Education in Prison
With support from Ascendium Education Group, Ithaka S+R and Ennead Lab have examined how educational spaces in prison impact the teaching and learning experience and developed actionable strategies for integrating educational best practices into the redesign of these spaces. Join us for a webinar on April 16, 2025 at 2:00-3:00pm ET as we speak with experts in the field about their experiences with college education in prison, the challenges they navigated, and how architects, designers, and educational leaders can…
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
April 8, 2025
Modernizing Credit Mobility in Support of Postsecondary Access & Achievement
As students navigate increasingly complex educational journeys, retaining the value of their credits and credentials remains a persistent challenge. Lost credits and inefficient pathways can derail student progress and drive up costs. However, new technologies, data-driven solutions, and AI-powered tools are changing the way institutions approach evaluating and recognizing credit for prior learning, and the information and resources that students can use to plan their route to a degree through multiple institutions. At the ASU-GSV Summit on April 8…
Blog Post
March 5, 2025
New Lessons for Improving Community College Transfer to Independent Institutions
Updates to the Playbook for Transfer Pathways to the Liberal Arts
While nearly four out of every five community college students aspire to earn a bachelor’s degree, only 16 percent do so within six years. One oft-overlooked method to increase bachelor’s degree attainment among community college students is to strengthen transfer pathways between two-year and independent (i.e., private, not-for-profit) four-year institutions. Independent institutions often provide flexible degree options, personalized supports, and greater efficiency in credit transfer, all of which can help community college students complete a four-year degree.
Playbook
March 5, 2025
Playbook for Transfer Pathways to the Liberal Arts
How to Design and Implement Statewide Pathways from Community Colleges to Independent Colleges
One way to achieve bachelor's degree attainment for community college transfer students at scale is through state- and region-level initiatives dedicated to supporting transfer from community colleges to independent colleges and universities. The Teagle Foundation and the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations’ Transfer Pathways to the Liberal Arts initiative aimed to create such pathways. This playbook draws on the experiences of grantees building pathways in 14 states.
Blog Post
February 28, 2025
Public and Academic Libraries Supporting College Readiness
How are students supposed to know where to start when applying to college? Once they arrive, how do they continue navigating complex institutional systems and advocating for themselves? For many students—especially first-generation students, English language learners, and adult learners—higher education can feel like an overwhelming maze of unfamiliar terminology, decentralized services, and bureaucratic roadblocks. Without clear guidance, students may struggle to access the support they need, impacting their ability to enroll, persist, and succeed in college. Join us for…
Blog Post
February 27, 2025
National Holistic Credit Mobility Acceleration Cohort
Announcing 11 Members
In collaboration with Complete College America, we’re excited to announce the selection of 11 distinguished higher education organizations for the Holistic Credit Mobility Acceleration Cohort. This initiative aims to enhance credential completion rates by promoting flexible and equitable credit mobility pathways for postsecondary students across the country. The cohort members’ efforts will build upon the best practices of early leaders in the field, as outlined in Credit Mobility Strategies in Action, a case study research report we published…
Past Event
March 25, 2025
Supporting College Readiness
How Public and Academic Libraries Can Foster College Literacy and Fluency
How are students supposed to know where to start when applying to college? Once they arrive, how do they continue navigating complex institutional systems and advocating for themselves? For many students—especially first-generation students, English language learners, and adult learners—higher education can feel like an overwhelming maze of unfamiliar terminology, decentralized services, and bureaucratic roadblocks. Without clear guidance, students may struggle to access the support they need, impacting their ability to enroll, persist, and succeed in college. Join us for…
Case Study
February 27, 2025
Holistic Credit Mobility Strategies in Action
A Case Study Report on State, System, and Institutional Efforts to Smooth the Path to a College Degree for Mobile Students
To understand the complex nature of learning recognition and credit transfer in American postsecondary education and examine the systemic barriers to entry many students face as they navigate its institutions, Ithaka S+R conducted a series of qualitative interviews in fall 2024 with state and system-level leaders in Idaho, Illinois, Ohio, and the University of North Carolina System, and representatives from Charter Oak State College and Florida International University.
Past Event
March 19, 2025
Conducting a Higher Education in Prison Needs Analysis
Varied Approaches and Perspectives
Join the New England Board of Higher Education’s New England Prison Education Collaborative on March 19 at 3pm ET for a virtual workshop on “Conducting a Higher Education in Prison Needs Analysis: Varied Approaches and Perspectives.” This workshop aims to equip such stakeholders as departments of corrections, state higher education executive officers, and program providers with the tools and knowledge needed to conduct a needs analysis and gauge barriers to increasing access to higher education in prison and student…
Blog Post
February 14, 2025
Supporting First-Year Success
Insights from the Kessler Scholars Program
The first year of college can be an exciting but difficult transition period for many students, marked by new academic demands, administrative processes, and social experiences. Many first-year students experience feelings of imposter syndrome, isolation, and financial strain and have difficulty balancing coursework with other responsibilities, all of which can contribute to attrition. These challenges are even more pronounced for students from underrepresented backgrounds. First-generation students, in particular, face additional obstacles compared to their peers with college-educated parents. They often…