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“The Clearinghouse holds tons of data—your data—that you entrust in us,” Shapiro said. “The Research Center was created to do something different with that data, to really analyze it…to understand it, make sense of it, and to understand trends.”

“It’s one thing to aggregate data and identify trends, but it’s something different to provide insights,” he added. “It is difficult to improve student success without good data, valid metrics and sound institutional context.” In order to do this, researchers need to: “measure consistently, benchmark frequently, and link locally.”

Shapiro noted that in four years of the NSCRC Completions Reports, most of the basic patterns have stayed the same. For example, more than half of all students graduate (in 6 years). Other findings have included large differences in outcomes by enrollment intensity, age and institution type. Full reports can be accessed at: 

Shapiro emphasized the difference between IPEDs data, which takes an institutional-level view of completion, to NSCRC’s data. “We have a system-wide view. We can follow students wherever they go. It’s a student-level view.”  This, he added, impacts the public perception of higher education, as it better informs policy, funding, and families’ investment decisions.

He said institutions can link such data to what’s going on at their campuses by: understanding how student age and enrollment behaviors affect outcome; tracking changes in the cohorts at your institution, linking national trends to your current students and to target populations; and asking how programs can better serve today’s students.

“What’s going on nationally can inform your institution and make sure your students have every possible path to success,” Shapiro said.