Topic: Educational Transformation
Research Report
June 20, 2024
Generative AI and Postsecondary Instructional Practices
Findings from a National Survey of Instructors
Understanding how instructors are (or are not) using generative AI in their classrooms is vital because most college and university guidelines leave decision making about how, when, and if generative AI use is permitted to the discretion of individual instructors. To gain insight into evolving instructional practices, we included a short four-question section dedicated specifically to generative AI as part of a national survey of instructors.
Past Event
July 9, 2024
Transfer Data Transparency as a Catalyst for Change
AACRAO Technology & Transfer Virtual Summit
Transfer process information is often inaccessible. What happens when details like transcript evaluation time, transfer credit applicability rate, and time to degree for transfer students are made visible to all? Institutions improve those outcomes. In a session at the 2024 AACRAO Technology & Transfer Summit, Ithaka S+R’s Martin Kurzweil and Queens College of CUNY’s Christopher Vickery will show how CUNY’s transfer information was brought into the light of day with positive effects. The presentation will include a demonstration of…
Upcoming Event
August 6, 2024
Aligning Policy and Practice to Address the Barriers Students Encounter from Institutional Debt
At the 2024 SHEEO Higher Education Policy Conference, Ithaka S+R’s Brittany Pearce, Maggie McGrath (Higher Education Compact of Greater Cleveland), Drew Felberg (Stark State College), and Mike Duffey (Chancellor, ODHE) will discuss two innovative projects aimed at addressing institutional debt in Ohio that impacts student enrollment, persistence, and completion rates, particularly for students from low-income backgrounds and students of color. View the full schedule and join the session on August 6 at 2:00-2:45 pm ET.
Upcoming Event
August 6, 2024
Universal Credit Transfer Explorer
States Collaborating to Open the Black Box of Credit Mobility
Losing credits when transferring to a new institution prevents many college students–especially Black and Hispanic students, older students, and lower-income students–from earning a degree. To support these students and the institutions that serve them, Ithaka S+R and three SHEEO agencies are launching a non-profit, national, credit mobility website in mid-2024. Unique among similar services, the “universal credit transfer explorer” will show how credits earned elsewhere transfer and apply toward degree programs at the multiple destination colleges and universities featured on…
Blog Post
May 9, 2024
From Debt to Degrees
Evaluating the Ohio College Comeback Compact
Across the US, the number of individuals who started college but stopped out before attaining a degree has continued to grow. Research shows that earning an associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree, or a targeted credential has wide-ranging benefits, from increased lifetime earnings to improved health outcomes. Postsecondary institutions and regional economies also benefit when students re-enroll and complete programs. Returning students face unique challenges to re-enrollment and completion, and this is especially true for students with past-due balances at their…
Research Report
May 9, 2024
Removing the Institutional Debt Hurdle
Findings from an Evaluation of the Ohio College Comeback Compact
This report provides findings from the evaluation of the pilot year of the Ohio College Comeback Compact, an institutional debt cancellation program being implemented at eight public institutions in northeast Ohio. Administrative holds preventing re-enrollment leave students unable to realize the benefits of a postsecondary credential. Fortunately, a number of initiatives and policies, including the Ohio College Comeback Compact, have sought to alleviate this barrier for students.
Research Report
May 9, 2024
Second Chances
A Qualitative Assessment of the Ohio College Comeback Compact
While the rise of institution-specific debt forgiveness programs and state-level policies limiting transcript withholding is encouraging, a regional or national approach could benefit returning students on a wider scale. In response, Ithaka S+R developed a regional solution, the Ohio College Comeback Compact, which launched in August 2022, to address the problems posed by institutional debts and provide stopped-out students with an opportunity to complete their credential and have their debt forgiven.
Blog Post
May 2, 2024
The NCAA Transfer Portal Chaos Says a Lot About the State of Credit Mobility
Will the Changes Institutions Are Making to Ease Transfer for Athletes Benefit All Mobile Students?
As the semester draws to a close and the glow of March Madness and College Football Playoff victories fade in our memories, the eyes of all college sports fans have been on the NCAA spring transfer portal. The college football and basketball transfer portals, which closed this week, had several live trackers on major sports sites so eager fans could see which athletes were looking to leave their current college or university and where they may land. This included…
Blog Post
April 25, 2024
Removing Barriers to Re-Enrollment for Adult Learners
Announcing A New Technical Assistance Project in Kentucky
In collaboration with the Kentucky Council for Postsecondary Education (CPE), Ithaka S+R is providing research and consulting to identify barriers to re-enrolling adult learners who have stopped out and assess intervention opportunities to improve adult learner re-enrollment in Kentucky. This project builds on Ithaka S+R’s prior research, implementation, and evaluation efforts to address stranded credits—credits that students have earned but cannot access because of administrative holds placed by the college or university they previously attended as collateral…
Past Event
May 1, 2024
Adult Learner Re-Engagement in Pennsylvania
Informational Webinar with PDE and Ithaka S+R
On Wednesday May 1 at 11:00am-12:00pm ET, join the Pennsylvania Department of Education and Ithaka S+R for a webinar providing practical information on how higher education institutions in Pennsylvania can better support adult learners. By working with students to resolve past due balances and administrative holds, institutions are able to enroll students who were previously blocked from returning to college. Register to attend by Friday, April 19 to learn about strategies to engage, enroll, and support adult…
Past Event
May 21, 2024
Providing Credit Transfer Visibility to Improve Credit Mobility
In DXtera Institute’s April Tuesday Session, Ithaka S+R’s Emily Tichenor and Andromeda Yelton from JSTOR Labs will discuss their Universal Transfer Explorer project, a new, public, non-profit, national credit mobility website that will help address the many challenges college students face when they move between institutions or attempt to transfer credits they earned in high school or elsewhere. This “universal credit transfer explorer” will go live later this year with data from an inaugural set of institutions across three states.
Past Event
April 12, 2024
Universal Transfer Explorer Pilot
At the Washington Intercollege Relations Commission Spring 2024 Meeting/Conference, Ithaka S+R’s Emily Tichenor will join Alex Tadio (Washington State University), David Berner (Shoreline Community College), and Abby Chien (Washington Student Achievement Council) in a session providing an overview of the universal transfer explorer pilot project. The session will take place on Friday, April 12 at 12pm EST. Learn more.
Past Event
April 11, 2024
CUNY Transfer Explorer
Making Smart Transfer Decisions
This session will provide a refresher on the widely used CUNY Transfer Explorer. Additionally, we will take a deep dive into introducing some of the newest features as well as engage in a discussion surrounding an upcoming expansion called “CUNY K-16 Gateway.” Attendees will leave the session more fully understanding how CUNY Transfer Explorer can help their students navigate the transfer credit process. Join Pooja Patel and Christopher Buonocore on April 11 at the CUNY Graduate Center to learn…
Past Event
April 2, 2024
The Evolution of T-Rex
Transfer Tuesday with the Business and Technical Teams
You may be familiar with the core functionality of CUNY Transfer Explorer, but how about some of the newer features and enhancements that have been made? How about our goals for this upcoming year? Did you know that CUNY will be joining the “Universal Transfer Explorer” model? In a virtual presentation on April 2, learn from the business and technical team, including Ithaka S+R’s Pooja Patel and Chris Buonocore, Kara Heffernan, and Deira Pereya. You will also have an…
Past Event
March 19, 2024
Promoting Belonging
Evaluating Holistic Supports for First-Generation College Students
Over one-third of college students today identify as first-generation students. To better understand how to support success for this growing population of students, this study explores whether participation in a comprehensive student support program influences levels of belonging and mattering and examines whether these outcomes are related to institutional satisfaction. On Tuesday, March 19, 2024, at 3:45 PM-4:45, join Ithaka S+R’s Ifeatu Oliobi and the Kessler Scholars Collaborative’s Kristen Glasener for a paper presentation on holistic supports for first-generation college…
Past Event
April 5, 2024
Resetting Tuition at Minority Serving Institutions
Implications for Enrollment and Institutional Finances
At NBER’s Financing Higher Education Spring 2024 Conference, Ithaka S+R’s Catharine Bond Hill and James Ward will join a panel with Daniel Corral (University of Toronto) and Bridget T. Long (Harvard University and NBER), which will focus on resetting tuition at minority serving institutions and the implications for enrollment and institutional finances. Learn more about the panel, scheduled for Friday, April 5 at 2:15pm.
Past Event
March 14, 2024
Estimating the Effect of Tuition Freezes and Caps on Graduate Program Expansion and Tuition
At the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP) Annual Conference in Baltimore, Ithaka S+R’s James Ward will present a paper, co-authored by Cameron Childress, Ifeatu Oliobi, and Robert Kelchen, estimating the relationship between state mandated tuition freezes and caps in undergraduate programs and institutions’ use of graduate programs to to protect against revenue shocks. The authors estimate the effect on graduate program enrollment, the number of graduate programs, and tuition levels. Learn more about the session, taking place…
Blog Post
February 22, 2024
Providing Credit Transfer Visibility to Improve Credit Mobility
Ithaka S+R’s “Universal Credit Transfer Explorer” Launching in Three States in 2024
To help address the many challenges college students face when they move between institutions or attempt to transfer credits they have earned in high school or elsewhere, Ithaka S+R is launching a new, public, non-profit, national credit mobility website. This “universal credit transfer explorer” will go live later this year with data from an inaugural set of institutions across three states, thanks to collaborations with the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system, the South Carolina Commission on Higher…
Blog Post
February 13, 2024
No Longer Stranded?
How New Department of Education Rule Creates Opportunities for Students and Institutions
In 2020, Ithaka S+R estimated that approximately 6.6 million students did not have access to their educational transcripts due to past due balances, resulting in stranded credits. This challenge may impact any student, but our research indicated it was more likely to affect students who identified as women, racial and ethnic minorities, and those from low-income backgrounds. During our initial investigation of stranded credits, we found that nearly all higher education institutions used transcript holds as a tool to…
Past Event
February 20, 2024
Expanding Access to Adult Learners with Institutional Debt
Achieving the Dream Conference 2024
Join us at the Achieving the Dream annual conference in Orlando, Florida for a session on the Ohio College Compact presented by Ithaka S+R’s Joanna Dressel and Brittany Pearce. The Ohio College Comeback Compact is a novel approach to re-enrolling adult learners with some college, no credential (SCNC) who stopped out with institutional debt that inhibits their return to higher education, whether back to their original institution or to a new institution. The Compact permits these students to…