Topic: Access to higher education
Upcoming Event
October 8, 2025
Transfer Explorer
Early Successes, Lessons Learned, and What Comes Next
At the 2025 South Carolina Transfer Excellence Convening, Ithaka S+R will present a session on the early experiences and successes of South Carolina colleges and universities participating in the Transfer Explorer project. Presenters Emily Tichenor and Chris Buonocore will share lessons learned from the pilot period and a roadmap for Transfer Explorer growth in the state and nationally. This session is scheduled to take place on October 8, 2025.
Upcoming Event
November 12, 2025
Reimagining Support: How Colleges and Policymakers Can Serve Student-Parents, Transfers, and Scholars of Color
Council on Public Policy Higher Education Pre-Conference
“Academic Momentum and Credit Mobility: Examining the Role of CUNY Transfer Explorer” evaluates CUNY’s Transfer Explorer (T-Rex) as a systems-level policy tool to enhance academic momentum and credit mobility. Findings show that CUNY T-Rex use increases the number of courses applied toward degree requirements, suggesting that transparent transfer information can strengthen student pathways, reduce barriers, and advance equity in degree attainment. In a session at the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE)’s Council on Public Policy Higher Education…
Upcoming Event
November 12, 2025
Building Strong Systems for Adult Learner Enrollment and Retention
Council for Adult and Experiential Learning Conference
This roundtable session at the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) Conference will explore the unique challenges adult learners face in higher education, including financial barriers, basic needs insecurity, and complex institutional systems. Drawing on research and case studies from Ithaka S+R’s adult learner engagement work in several states and the 2024 National College Fluency Survey, Ithaka S+R’s Liz Looker and Melissa Blankstein will discuss actionable strategies to reduce administrative barriers and improve cross-departmental communication, as well as ways…
Upcoming Event
November 12, 2025
Tools for Moving to a Holistic Approach to Credit Mobility to Support Adult Learners
Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) Conference
Student mobility is increasingly complex, with most graduates earning credits across multiple institutions and learning experiences. At the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) Conference, a session will introduce Ithaka S+R’s holistic credit mobility framework, highlight Eastern Washington University’s work to modernize pathways for adult learners, and share practical tools to help institutions better support seamless credit transfer. Participants include Ithaka S+R’s Elise Miller McNeely and Kyle Gray, alongside Sue Magyar, Jacqueline Coomes, and Christi Harter. The session…
Blog Post
August 12, 2025
Strengthening Credit for Prior Learning and Non-Credit to Credit Pathways
A Conversation with the Ohio Department of Higher Education
In June, the members of the Holistic Credit Mobility Acceleration Cohort met for the third time to share best practices and advance credit mobility through improvements in process, policy, and technology. Each learning session is dedicated to exploring one of the pillars of the Holistic Credit Mobility framework, and the June session focused on institutional strategies to strengthen non-credit to credit pathways and Credit for Prior Learning (CPL). June’s session featured presentations from the Education and Employment Research…
Blog Post
August 6, 2025
PanelPicker Is Open for SXSW EDU 2026
Vote Today
Over the past several years, we’ve had the opportunity to present at SXSW EDU on a range of topics. It’s a wonderful place to learn from our community and forge new connections. This year, in collaboration with some of the organizations we work with, we submitted four proposals—on AI, first-generation students, and transfer. If you would like to see us in Austin, vote now! AI in Higher Ed: Who’s Being Heard, Who’s Not? (Meet-Up) Speakers: Claire Baytas and…
Past Event
August 12, 2025
Data with Purpose
Advancing Educational and Reentry Outcomes Through BID
This session at the Correctional Education Association 79th International Conference and Training Event will explore the critical role of data collection in supporting the Best Interest Determination (BID) process, emphasizing why this practice is essential for informed decision-making and effective service delivery. Ithaka S+R will provide attendees with insight into data collection, reporting, and evaluation processes and infrastructure from a broad, systems-level perspective, mapping the data landscape across stakeholder institutions and charting how it might shape policy and be used…
Issue Brief
July 10, 2025
Examining the Impact of Automatic Admissions and Proactive Financial Aid Guarantees at the University of Texas at Austin
An Interview with Dr. Matt Giani
The University of Texas at Austin is piloting a bold, data-informed strategy aimed at removing key barriers to access for low-income students. This new initiative combines automatic admissions with proactive financial aid guarantees, with the goal of encouraging more students from low-income backgrounds to both apply and enroll.
Past Event
July 11, 2025
Student Veteran Pathways Through Admissions to Enrollment
Service2School VetLink Summit
Ithaka S+R’s Michael Fried will be facilitating a panel at the VetLink Summit in Washington DC on July 11, 2025. Fried will lead a discussion of the major decision points student veterans make during their transition from service to higher education featuring representatives from three American Talent Initiative member institutions. RSVP for the summit here.
Past Event
August 12, 2025
From Roadblocks to Roadmaps
Implementing Smart Transfer Policies and Practices Across States
On August 12, 2025, at the Higher Education Policy Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Ithaka S+R’s Martin Kurzweil will participate in a panel session exploring the critical intersections between state policy and higher education transfer student success, focusing on Kansas, Missouri, and South Carolina. As states strive to enhance degree attainment and workforce readiness, effective transfer policies are essential for improving student outcomes, particularly for historically underrepresented and nontraditional students. This session will highlight innovative state-level policies, cross-sector collaboration, and…
Past 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
June 5, 2025
Examining the Critical Role of Technology in Holistic Credit Mobility
Notes from the Cohort's Second Virtual Convening
In February 2025, Ithaka S+R and Complete College America launched the holistic credit mobility acceleration cohort. This community of practice comprises 11 state higher education and university systems, as well as institutional consortia, that are collaborating throughout 2025 and into early 2026 to identify best practices, policies, and technologies to advance credit mobility nationwide. This is critical to student success, as recent data from the National Student Clearinghouse demonstrates that transfer pathways are becoming increasingly non-linear, multidirectional, and…
Past Event
June 12, 2025
From Debt to Degrees
Strategies Drive Re-Enrollment
Join us on June 12, 1 pm CST for “From Debt to Degrees: Strategies Drive Re-Enrollment,” a webinar covering actionable strategies to tackle institutional debt and transcript holds while creating pathways for adult learners to successfully return and complete their degrees. Discover what’s working—from debt forgiveness to success coaching—with insights from ReUp Education, Ithaka S+R, and Ohio’s innovative College Comeback Compact. Panelists include Brittany Pearce (Ithaka S+R) and Ben Shoemaker (ReUp). Register to join the webinar.
Past Event
May 29, 2025
Addressing Enrollment Barriers for Students with Some College, No Degree
Data, Policies, and Solutions
At the Statewide Some College, No Degree Virtual Convening, hosted by the New Jersey Office of the Secretary of Higher Education, Toni-Anne Richards, Jonathan Barefield, and Christy McDaniel will present preliminary data from a collaborative research project between NJ OSHE and Ithaka S+R to help better understand the challenges students and institutions face when students with SCND have past due balances and want to enroll. The event will take place on May 29, 2025 at 10:45am.
Blog Post
May 20, 2025
Goal Refining and Progression within the Pennsylvania Adult Learner Re-Engagement Community of Practice
In December 2024, in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Department of Education, we launched the Adult Learner Re-Engagement Community of Practice. Since then, participants from colleges and universities across Pennsylvania have come together regularly to share resources and expertise as they work to re-enroll students with some college credits but no credential. Because engagement with adult learners can involve multiple departments and people at different times, goal-setting has been important in helping participants structure and track their efforts. Together we…
Blog Post
May 15, 2025
Recent Data Show Minimal Change in Veterans Enrollment Patterns
In October 2023, we published an analysis of GI bill beneficiary data that showed that these students were shifting away from for-profit institutions toward four-year public and private not-for-profit institutions, but in doing so were still not enrolling at the four-year institutions where they were most likely to graduate. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently released updated data on GI bill beneficiaries’ enrollment patterns, allowing us to explore whether these trends have persisted.[1] In short, trends…
Blog Post
May 13, 2025
From Chaos to Continuity
Bridging Basic Needs and Postsecondary Access for Adult Learners
Higher education is undergoing a profound transformation, with adult learners representing a growing and influential segment of the student population. Balancing employment, family responsibilities, and academic commitments, these students encounter unique challenges that significantly impact their educational trajectories. Among the most pressing barriers to success is basic needs insecurity, which encompasses food and housing instability, childcare access, physical and mental health access, transportation and technology needs, alongside financial insecurity. Despite the existence of numerous, public, state, and institutional resources…
Blog Post
May 8, 2025
Assessing the Best Interest Determination
An Interview with Macy Pickman
Recently, as part of our work on enhancing data infrastructure for higher education in prison, we published an interview with Ruth Delaney, director of the Vera Institute of Justice’s Unlocking Potential initiative. In that interview, Delaney provides her expert insights into the Best Interest Determination (BID) process of Postsecondary Education in Prison (PEP) program approval. The Best Interest Determination, or BID, is a comprehensive program review, conducted by the oversight entity (state department of corrections or bureau…
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,…