Topic: Student learning and outcomes
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.
Past Event
June 24, 2024
Benefits of Summer Engagement and Transition Support for Incoming First-Year Students
Insights From the Kessler Scholars Program
First-generation students often enter college with limited knowledge of that environment. Targeted summer programs that introduce campus resources, build community, and prepare these students for college can foster belonging and ease the college transition. In this session at NASPA’s 2024 First-Generation Student Success Conference, staff at Bates College and the University of Dayton will share their experiences of implementing summer programs for Kessler Scholars, and leaders from Ithaka S+R and the Kessler Scholars Collaborative will share the benefits of…
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…
Past Event
May 9, 2024
Virtual Forum: The Strategic Value of Libraries
As higher ed faces more challenges, how can libraries play a greater role in student success and in other institutional goals? Today they are offering strategic value to a campus as hubs for student services, learning technologies, and academic innovation. How can libraries—and librarians—continue to play their pivotal roles on campuses in the current environment, where enrollment and budget issues abound? Join the Chronicle of Higher Education for a forum on Thursday, May 9, at 2 p.m. ET, featuring…
Blog Post
April 24, 2024
AI Chatbots in Education
A Comparative Analysis at Bryant University
A recent survey conducted at Bryant University reveals an interesting trend: while students and faculty are increasingly adopting AI chatbots, staff members seem to lag behind. This guest blog post delves into the possible reasons behind this disparity using the 77 faculty, 111 staff, and 224 student responses collected between November 2023 and February 2024.
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.
Research Report
April 3, 2024
Between Two Systems
Navigating Censorship and Self-Censorship in Higher Education in Prisons
Building on our previous research on the ways that media review directives and censorship policies may limit or protect student access to intellectual and education material, as well as on the technology students on the inside can access for educational purposes, this report explores how educators in higher education in prison programs navigate censorship and self-censorship and how the relationship between educational programs and departments of corrections may have an impact on the educational experience and learning outcomes of students.
Blog Post
March 12, 2024
The College Fluency Survey Is Open!
We are thrilled to announce that Ithaka S+R in partnership with the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) Library has launched our new, national College Fluency Survey. This survey is a part of a comprehensive, two-and-a-half-year initiative funded by IMLS aimed at understanding how institutions can better support a critical aspect of student success: college fluency—or the knowledge and abilities that enable students to effectively access, utilize, and advocate for needed college services and resources. Through this project we…
Past Event
March 12, 2024
Sharpening the Social-Mobility Mission
In a virtual forum hosted by The Chronicle of Higher Education with support from Ascendium, higher education experts will explore the connection between college degrees and social mobility, covering topics including college rankings and classifications, post-graduate outcomes, and strategies to ensure success for low-income students. The session will be hosted by Eric Kelderman, with panelists Elizabeth Davidson Pisacreta, Akil Bellow, Mary Dana Hinton, and Ellen J. Nuefledt. Register to join the forum on Tuesday, March 12 at 2pm ET.
Past Event
March 9, 2024
The Reality of Artificiality: Artificial Intelligence and the Academe
Northeast Modern Language Association Annual Conference
At the Northeast Modern Language Association Annual Conference in Boston, Claire Baytas will participate in a roundtable to discuss the impact of generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, on teaching and learning, sharing insights from Ithaka S+R’s GenAI Product Tracker and a recent issue brief on the product landscape of generative AI in higher education. Other panelists include Teresa Lobalsamo, Peggy Bloomer, Maria Dikcis, Joshua Marsh, and Summer Cardarelli. Explore the full conference schedule to learn more…
Blog Post
March 7, 2024
Keeping Up with the Educational Market for Generative AI Tools
Announcing Ithaka S+R’s Product Tracking Tool
Ithaka S+R has been closely tracking the generative AI product landscape through a unique Product Tracking Tool. The Product Tracker includes descriptions of tools marketed towards postsecondary faculty or student users, as well as information about the pricing model, key features, and other relevant detail.
Issue Brief
March 7, 2024
Generative AI in Higher Education
The Product Landscape
Generative AI has quickly gained a significant foothold in academia, and is now used widely for teaching, learning, and research purposes. New products are appearing so rapidly that just keeping up with them is difficult, and understanding the value of individual products in a now-crowded marketplace is a major challenge for end users and for university CIOs, IT departments, and others involved in decision making about which products will be supported and/or licensed for campus users.
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 14, 2024
From the Ground Up
Developing Robust Student Success Programming to Boost Statewide Credential Attainment
Like many states, Texas is seeking to increase the share of adults with postsecondary degrees and credentials. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB)’s Building a Talent Strong Texas strategic plan lays out the state’s ambitious goal: by 2030, 60 percent of Texans ages 25-65 will hold a credential of value. To meet this target, the state has activated and engaged institutions, agencies, and advocates across the state (and nationally) to address the highly-varied educational needs of Texas…
Case Study
February 14, 2024
Texas Student Success Programs Poised for Impact
Highlighting High Potential
Each student enters college with their own unique set of goals, lived experiences, challenges, and hopes. Postsecondary institutions are challenged to build robust student supports that help these students each achieve their own version of success. This requires developing supports that work for a wide variety of target populations, such as for traditional-aged students entering college directly after high school as well as for returning adults seeking to build on credits they earned elsewhere a decade ago.
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…
Blog Post
February 6, 2024
Unveiling AI in Academia
Insights from the University of Baltimore's Study
In September 2023, Ithaka S+R kicked off its Making AI Generative for Higher Education project, a two year collaboration with 19 universities who are committed to learning about generative AI’s impact on higher education and developing institution-specific strategies to best leverage the technology. This fall and winter, each university in the cohort has been focused on assessing the needs and experiences of their campus communities in relation to generative AI. One of these institutions, the University of Baltimore, surveyed…
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…