While higher education is often seen as a key to social mobility and economic opportunity, translating a college degree into a successful career is not automatic. A new report from the Strada Institute for the Future of Work and the Burning Glass Institute finds that many students struggle with this transition, with only about half of graduates with a bachelor’s degree securing employment in a college-level job within one year of graduating.
Author: Laurie Arnston
The Prevalence of Legacy Preference in College Admissions
recent Brookings Institution report, using data from the 2021-22 academic year, provides valuable insights into the prevalence of legacy admissions at U.S. institutions and the intersection of these policies with race-in-admissions policies.
HBCUs as Key Actors in Climate Justice: Sustainability on Campus and in Communities
A new report from UNCF shows how HBCUs are prioritizing sustainability and continuing their history of community engagement by furthering environmental justice.
Rural America’s Resilient Workforce
Disparities in educational attainment and job opportunities persist between rural and urban areas, with traditional rural industries in decline but certain blue-collar sectors still thriving. A new report highlights that rural regions offer viable job opportunities meeting defined income thresholds, emphasizing the need for ongoing education and training efforts for sustained economic prosperity.
The Number of Credits Counts: Understanding the Path to Degree Completion
To understand the relationship between students’ academic degree progress, retention, and completion, Ad Astra analyzed the academic journeys of 1.3 million students across two-year public, four-year public, and four-year private institutions. Its 2024 Benchmark Report identifies a correlation between the number of credits a student completes in a year and their likelihood of persisting and completing a degree.
Decreased Benefits and Lower Wages: The Growing Gulf Between Non-college and College-Educated Workers
A new report from Third Way investigates how both jobs and wages have evolved for the non-college-educated population by examining the growth and decline of various occupations for full-time wage and salaried individuals from 1992 to 2022.
Trends in Higher Education and Results-Driven Recommendations
Drawing from extensive research and experience collaborating with hundreds of higher education institutions, Hanover Research’s 2024 Trends in Higher Education report outlines critical trends and practical solutions to guide college and university leadership in facing current challenges in higher education.
Fall 2023 Sees Increases for Community College and Undergraduate Enrollment
The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center’s most recent Current Term Enrollment Estimates (CTEE) report has yielded a range of insightful trends from fall 2023 enrollment, using data collected in mid-October.
Common App Trends for 2023-24 Appear Encouraging
For students using the Common App, Jan. 1 is one of the most important dates in the college application cycle. In a recent report from Common App titled Deadline Updates, 2023-2024, application trends as of Jan. 1 depict that across most demographics, both unique applicants and total applications increased, with the number of distinct applicants up seven percent from the 2022-23 application cycle.
Hidden Struggles: How Discrimination Affects College Mental Health
The 2023 annual report from the Center for Collegiate Mental Health (CCMH) provides detailed information about various aspects of mental health, along with factors concerning treatment and care for college students in the United States throughout the 2022-2023 academic year.
Urban Institute Report Reveals Hidden Costs of Higher Education and Calls for Policy Response
Discussions on higher education affordability often prioritize reducing tuition costs, yet nontuition expenses like housing and food constitute a significant portion of student budgets, leading to increased loan debt, according to a new report from the Urban Institute.
From Enrollment to Employment: The Economic Returns of Degree Completion
The Urban Institute’s recent report, College Completion and Earnings: Including Noncompleters in Accountability Policies, delves into the issue of factoring students with some college but no degree into post-college earnings data analysis.