Topic: Student learning and outcomes
Blog Post
December 18, 2025
Can You Measure It?
Moving from Intuition to Evidence in Understanding Students’ Experiences of a Liberal Arts and Sciences Education
The debate over the value of the liberal arts rages on. State policymakers and institutions face increasing pressure to demonstrate “value” to taxpayers and prospective students, which often means redirecting state funding to “credentials of value” as measured by students’ earnings. Yet those who have experienced a liberal arts and sciences education often describe deeply appreciating its value, even if they have difficulty quantifying that value or describing exactly which features of their education made it so meaningful.
Blog Post
December 17, 2025
The Importance of Assessment for Military-Connected Student Programs
As a former assessment professional, I became used to being the least popular person in the room. Assessment is often an afterthought, when thought of at all, or an obligation imposed by others as an act of compliance or obligation. This stance, of assessment as something separate and “other” from the program or activity at hand, does a disservice to our students and can become a self-fulfilling act of futility. If you are not curious about the impact of your…
Blog Post
December 16, 2025
New Regional Initiative to Strengthen Adult Learning and Workforce Development in Southwestern Pennsylvania
There are over one million adults under the age of 65 in Pennsylvania with some college, but no credential. At the same time, Southwestern Pennsylvania is struggling to meet workforce needs, with current postsecondary credentials meeting only 52 percent of workforce demand. Higher education and nonprofit leaders across Southwestern Pennsylvania are working to ensure adult learners have the support they need to enroll in and complete high-quality credentials.
Blog Post
December 11, 2025
Transfer Explorer Is Growing
Credit Mobility Website Is Poised to Add New States and Functionality in 2026
Today’s students are more mobile than ever before. A striking 45 percent of Associate degree holders and 67 percent of Bachelor degree holders have transcripts with learning from multiple institutions. Transfer student enrollment has increased by 8 percent since 2020, largely fueled by students who previously earned college credits and are now returning to higher education after a break to complete their degrees or credentials. To help ensure all those credits count toward a credential, we launched…
Blog Post
December 8, 2025
Lessons Learned from the Statewide Some College, No Degree Initiative in New Jersey
Sharing Challenges and Promising Practices in Two New Publications
Re-engaging and re-enrolling individuals with some college, no degree (SCND) is an increasing priority nationally. Credential completion not only enables individuals to access higher paying jobs, but also generates tuition revenue for institutions and supports regional economic development. Many states, including Tennessee, Ohio, and Michigan, have implemented reconnect or comeback programs targeted towards adult learners. Similarly, colleges and universities in New Jersey along with the state’s Office of the Secretary of Higher Education (OSHE) have made significant…
Issue Brief
December 8, 2025
Supporting Adult Learner Re-Enrollment Statewide
Key Considerations from Addressing Re-Engagement and Re-Enrollment for New Jersey Learners with Some College, No Degree
According to recent National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) data, at the start of the 2023-24 academic year the population of students with some college, no credential (SCNC) under the age of 65 nationwide reached 37.6 million. Over 757,000 of those working age, stopped out students are New Jersey residents. Re-engaging and re-enrolling these students supports individual economic mobility, generates new tuition revenue for institutions, and advances regional education and economic goals.
Research Report
December 8, 2025
Addressing Re-Engagement and Re-Enrollment Barriers for New Jersey Learners with Some College, No Degree
Data, Policies, and Solutions
Re-engaging and re-enrolling adult learners with some college credit but no degree is an increasing priority nationally and in New Jersey. Credential completion not only enables individuals to access higher paying jobs, but also generates tuition revenue for institutions and supports regional economic development. Recognizing this and the other benefits experienced when students return, New Jersey’s higher education institutions and the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education (OSHE) have made significant investments in re-engaging and re-enrolling stopped out students.
Research Report
December 4, 2025
From Concept to Campus
Lessons from the Design, Launch, and Growth of Transfer Explorer
This report tells the story behind Transfer Explorer—charting its design, pilot, launch, and ongoing improvements—to illuminate the decisions, and partnerships that made it possible and to highlight how Transfer Explorer may be leveraged in the future to improve credit mobility policies and procedures across the country. In doing so, the report is less about the outcomes of Transfer Explorer itself and more on the processes that shaped it.
Past Event
December 10, 2025
Thinking Holistically about Credit Mobility and Transfer
At the New Jersey Transfer Counselor Association Winter Meeting at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ, Ithaka S+R’s Martin Kurzweil will give a keynote address focused on thinking holistically about credit mobility and transfer. The session will take place on December 10 at 9:30am ET.
Past Event
November 19, 2025
Maintaining and Increasing Lower-Income Student Access During Times of Uncertainty
Lessons from the American Talent Initiative
At the First-Generation, Lower-Income Conference at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, Miriam Porras (Ithaka S+R) and Maile Symonds (College Excellence Program, Aspen Institute) moderated a panel discussion on the institutional commitments that have driven significant progress in enrolling Pell-eligible students at three member institutions of the American Talent Initiative. Attendees left with actionable insights and strategies on how to maintain institutional commitment to access and affordability. The event was held on November 19, 2025 at 4:30pm.
Blog Post
November 20, 2025
How Institutions Can Offer Students a Liberal Arts and Sciences Education
Our research shows that pursuing liberal educational experiences pays off. On average, students with greater exposure to liberal arts features achieve better academic outcomes without experiencing negative labor market returns. Since our findings are based on students enrolled in large public institutions, in this post we provide more targeted guidance on how to allocate their limited resources. To do so, we conducted additional analyses to examine whether the benefits of a liberal arts education vary across different groups of students.
Blog Post
November 4, 2025
The Liberal Arts in Challenging Times
Webinar Recording
Last month, I had the opportunity to take part in “The Liberal Arts in Challenging Times,” a webinar that explored the value of a liberal arts and sciences education and strategies for strengthening it across the higher education sector. As part of the session, I highlighted key findings from our recent report, Measuring the Economic Value of a Liberal Education, and suggested some ways to conceptualize what a “liberal education” encompasses, its impact on civic engagement and career adaptability,…
Past Event
November 12, 2025
Leveraging Collaboration to Address Barriers to Adult Learner Re-Enrollment
In this session at the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) Conference in Memphis, TN, representatives from the Tennessee Adult Learner Working Group will share insights from their collaboration across ten participating community colleges that audience members can bring home to their own institutions and systems. Panelists Lindsay Hager, Jessica Gibson, and Joanna Dressel will share how the working group structured collaborations within and across institutions, what participating members learned about adult learners with SCNC, and how they…
Blog Post
November 3, 2025
Strategies to Support Adult Learner Enrollment and Success
Highlights from a New Playbook
To celebrate the publication of our new playbook and the success of the Pennsylvania Adult Learner Re-Engagement Community of Practice, Ithaka S+R is hosting a virtual convening on Wednesday, November 5, 2025, from 9:30am-12:00pm ET. Individuals interested in supporting adult learner enrollment and success from institutions, community organizations, and policy spaces are invited to attend. The convening will feature presentations and discussions with institutions about strategies implemented during the community of practice, conversations about future work related to adult…
Playbook
November 3, 2025
Re-Engaging Adult Learners with Some College but No Credential in Pennsylvania
A Playbook
This playbook is designed to help institutions think about the key strategies and concrete next steps to engage and support adult learners from pre-enrollment through credential completion. It is organized around four areas of impact in the adult learner re-enrollment journey, which guided the year-long Pennsylvania Adult Learner Re-Engagement Community of Practice. Over 50 institutions were represented in the community of practice, including public and private four-year colleges, community colleges, occupational training providers, and more.
Past Event
November 15, 2025
Measuring the Economic Value of a Liberal Education
At the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) Conference in Denver, CO, Ithaka S+R’s Kyle Gray and Daniel Rossman will introduce a new methodological framework to measure how individual students’ exposure to a liberal arts educational experience relates to academic, labor market, and civic outcomes. The study found that greater exposure is positively associated with academic performance, educational attainment, career adaptability, civic engagement, and openness to diversity and pluralism. The session will take place on November…
Past Event
November 3, 2025
Accelerating Holistic Credit Mobility – What is it? Why now?
The Credit Mobility Convening, hosted by the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), will bring together stakeholders from Pennsylvania and surrounding states who care to improve credit mobility, with breakout sessions highlighting promising approaches related to improving transfer and credit mobility, technology tools to improve transfer resources for students, and granting credit for prior learning and military experiences. Madeline Trimble will provide an opening address laying out the holistic credit mobility framework and why it matters, and Pooja Patel…
Blog Post
October 14, 2025
Keeping the Value of the Liberal Arts in Mind as “Workforce Pell” Becomes Reality
Federal financial aid for short-term certificate programs, dubbed “Workforce Pell,” is now the law of the land. By making it financially feasible for more students to enroll in these programs, this policy creates an opportunity for higher education institutions to expand existing short-term programs or offer new ones. With public confidence in higher education broadly declining over the last decade and affordability and a focus on practical skills cited as areas where higher education most needs to improve,…
Blog Post
October 9, 2025
“Who Isn’t in the Room Yet?”
Reflections from the Carolinas College Food Insecurity Summit
On September 27, I joined more than 100 advocates for students’ basic needs at the second annual Carolinas College Food Insecurity Summit at Newberry College in South Carolina. Participants gathered from across North and South Carolina, as well as Georgia, to share ideas, strategies, and challenges in addressing students’ basic needs. The event began with a welcome from David Coffman, who helps lead Newberry College’s Wolves Pantry, and reminded us that the tables in our lives, whether at…
Past Event
November 12, 2025
Academic Momentum and Credit Mobility
Examining the Role of CUNY’s Transfer Explorer
At the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) and Council on Public Policy Higher Education (CPPHE) Pre-Conference on November 12 at 9am-10:30am, Ithaka S+R’s Alex Monday will join David Wutchiett (CUNY) and Alexandra Logue (CUNY) to discuss how colleges and policymakers can serve student-parents, transfers, and scholars of color. The session will share findings from a study that evaluates CUNY’s Transfer Explorer (T-Rex) as a systems-level policy tool to enhance academic momentum and credit mobility. Findings show T-Rex use…