Higher Education Initiatives: Student Success and Outcomes
In recent years, HLC has engaged in a series of research projects focused on defining and advancing student success. The results of these projects enhance HLC's capacity to monitor and review institutional performance relative to student outcomes.
Evaluating Student Success Outcomes
2024–Present
In 2024, HLC launched a multi-phase project to improve our ability to track student success outcomes at member institutions. The outcome measures will be used for a number of important purposes:
- To identify concerns that require institutional attention or HLC follow-up.
- To identify opportunities for HLC to support institutions.
- To increase transparency with students and other stakeholders.
Phase 1: Educational Outcome Measures
In the first phase of this project, we will develop a process for evaluating institutions’ performance on three educational outcomes measures reported by IPEDS:
- First-year retention rate
- Graduation rate within 150% of normal time
- Completion and transfer rate at 8 years after entry to college
To identify benchmarks for these measures, we assigned institutions to peer groups based on their undergraduate enrollment profile and admissions selectivity. Then we identified benchmark values for each outcome measure based on the mean, standard deviation and lowest fifth percentile for each peer group.
To help ensure that the proposed benchmarks are appropriate for our membership, HLC will survey institutions that have at least one measure more than one standard deviation below the mean or within the lowest fifth percentile of their peer group. Responses received from these institutions will help us better understand the context, strategies and ongoing efforts made by institutions to address performance gaps in student success outcomes. We will use this information to finalize the benchmarking and evaluation process prior to formal implementation in spring 2025.
See Evaluating Student Success Outcomes: Phase 1 Update for full details about the peer groups and benchmarks, including HLC’s methodology and calculations.
Phase 2 Preview
HLC will begin planning Phase 2 of this project in summer 2024. The next phase will move beyond educational outcomes toward analyses of post-college labor market and other economic outcomes. This may include measures such as post-graduation employment rates, median earnings, federal loan repayment rates and median total debt after graduation, among others.
HLC is aware that institutions’ capacities and approaches to tracking these measures may vary greatly through our membership. We will work with institutions to identify and define measures for Phase 2, as well as to identify appropriate data sources.
HLC will keep institutions informed as we move forward with this project. If you have questions, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Growing With Data: A Partnership With the National Student Clearinghouse
2021–Present
Supported by funding from the Lumina Foundation, HLC initiated a data partnership with the National Student Clearinghouse in 2021. This partnership allows HLC to gain deeper insight into the student populations served by HLC’s member institutions and access to key student outcome metrics without placing the reporting burden on the institutions.
In the first phase of the data partnership, the Clearinghouse provided HLC with the student outcome metrics reported in aggregate for use as existing HLC benchmarks. In the second phase, the Clearinghouse will provide institutional-level reports upon receiving consent from participating institutions to release information. This more granular information will enable closer engagement with individual institutions for purposes of continuous improvement.
Growing With Data: A Partnership With the National Student Clearinghouse (September 2022)
Student Success Measures
2022
This HLC research initiative builds on the 2015-16 C-RAC project to analyze graduation rates and strives to better understand the practices and circumstances at member institutions that have improved their graduation rates, along with the reasons that have led to the status quo or in some instances declining rates. HLC’s aim is to help institutions improve student retention and completion. This initiative seeks to identify successful practices as well as continuing (and new) challenges.
Student Success Data Projects
2018–2019
HLC launched two joint initiatives on student success data designed to test variables that affect student success and to define key terms such as persistence, retention and completion. The Testing Student Success Data group, comprised of a diverse set of HLC member institutions, conducted research to test variables on a variety of student bodies. The Defining Student Success Data group, which included representatives from HLC member institutions, national higher education organizations, state agencies and national data organizations, identified ways in which HLC may contribute to the student success conversation. The group published recommendations for changing the student success conversation, differentiation for disaggregation of student success data, and developing a standard glossary of terms related to student success.
Defining Student Success Data: Recommendations for Changing the Conversation (December 2018)
Defining Student Success Data: Recommendations for Differentiation for Disaggregation (January 2019)
Defining Student Success Data: Recommendations for a Glossary of Terms (February 2019)
Testing Student Success Data: Findings and Recommendations (March 2019)
C-RAC Graduation Rate Survey
2016–2018
As part of a national initiative to increase focus on helping institutions improve retention and completion rates, in 2016 HLC surveyed a sample group of institutions for information that will help HLC understand how institutions track students’ academic outcomes, how institutions have been working to improve those outcomes, and the contexts affecting specific student populations.
C-RAC (the Council of Regional Accrediting Commissions) summarized the findings of the studies conducted by the seven regional accreditors, including HLC, and published a report in 2018.
HLC’s Survey Findings (July 2017)
C-RAC Summary Report (February 2018)
Related Student Success and Outcomes Resources
Questions?
Contact HLC at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..