From the ECS State Policy Database: Postsecondary Success--Completion - This policy database—updated weekly—is made possible by your state's fiscal support of the Education Commission of the States....

Moving the Needle on Degree Completion: The Legislative Role PDF - The College Completion Agenda hinted at how legislators could initiate effective reform. This document, produced with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, provides a roadmap that state leaders can use to reach their goals and presents action-oriented policymaking models that could sustain reform. (Matthew Smith, ECS, February 2013) ...

The Progress of Education Reform: Producing Quality Credentials PDF - This issue of The Progress of Education Reform presents emerging research on the value of credentials and highlights ways that states can leverage data and accompanying strategies to strengthen the fit between the production of postsecondary credentials and workforce demand. (Matthew Smith, ECS, October 2012)...

Progress in the First Five Years: An Evaluation of Achieving the Dream Colleges in Washington State - This report examines six community and technical colleges in Washington State five years after instituting principles of Achieving the Dream initiative; ATD is dedicated to community college reform resulting in improved student outcomes. Compared to earlier ATD colleges, the Washington colleges focused more on changing instructional practices and tended more to make systemic changes rather than the less effective practice of scaling up discrete interventions. In the first five years student outcomes did not noticeably improve, but the authors think those numbers may change as reform takes hold. (mdrc, CCRC, December 2012)...

Completing College: A National View of Student Attainment Rates - This report measures college success outcomes by rates of first completion. This measure encompass postsecondary credentials of all levels and types at any institution in any state, whether it is the first, second, third, or more, college attended. This report draws near-census national coverage of enrollments and awarded degrees to explore the six-year outcomes of a cohort of first-time-in-college degree-seeking students. (National Student Clearinghouse Research Center and Project on Academic Success, Indiana University, November 2012)...

Complete College Ohio Task Force Report & Recommendations - The Complete College Task Force offers 20 recommendations to increase degree attainment ranging in categories from "Foundations for Access & Success" to "Strategic Communications." Recommendations are offered as a menu of possibilities; only the first is a requirement, that each college and career technical center develop its own campus completion plan. (University System of Ohio Board of Regents, November 2012)...

Fact Book Bulletin: Minority Enrollment Gains Show Region’s Progress Toward College Completion Goals - This report provides data that show that increases in minority student enrollment accounted for almost two-thirds of the total growth in college enrollment in the SREB region from 2005 to 2010. About 700,000 more minority students and 412,000 white students enrolled over the period, the report notes. This is encouraging progress toward meeting the nation’s and SREB states’ college completion goals for all groups of students, which many experts believe is needed to meet work force demands and increase international competitiveness. (SREB, June 2012)...

Latino College Completion in 50 States - This site details the current status of Latino college attainment in all 50 states and the country. (Excelencia in Education, 2012)...

A Longitudinal Study of the Illinois High School Class of 2002: A Six-Year Analysis of Postsecondary Enrollment and Completion - The authors provide a focused analysis of initial college enrollment and the attainment of intended outcomes for those enrolling at two-year and four-year institutions. They explore the participation and completion outcomes by several student characteristics in addition to select characteristics of the students' respective high schools, as well as the postsecondary institutions in which they enrolled. Overall, 79% of the students had enrolled in postsecondary education for at least one semester before the end of the spring semester of 2008. They found that nearly all (97%) of the students who initially enroll at a two-year institution are doing so at an Illinois community college. (Illinois Education Research Council, November 2010)...

Divided We Fail: Improving Completion and Closing Racial Gaps in California's Community Colleges - Educational attainment in California has been declining with each younger generation - a statistic that bodes poorly for the state's economic competitiveness. It is essential to increase educational attainment among the Latino population. (Colleen Moore and Nancy Shulock, Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Policy, October 2010)...

Open-Access Colleges Responsible for Greatest Gains in Graduation Rates - The largest gains in graduation rates over the past decade have been accomplished at open-access or nearly open-access colleges and universities. In addition, states could see even bigger increases if they directed their policies and supports toward improving graduation rates at these non-selective institutions. (William Doyle, National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, February 2010)...

Measuring Up: A Midwestern Perspective on the National Report Card--2002 to 2008 - This report enables Midwestern states to make comparisons regionally and nationally in the following areas: preparation for college, participation, affordability, completion and benefits. The report is created to provide policymakers and the public with non-partisan information about state progress in higher education. (Educational Policy Institute, October 2009)...

Several Universities Have Improved Systems to Track Student Progress - Have the Board of Governors and universities addressed the findings and recommendations included in the 2006 report on student tracking systems used by state universities. (Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability, Report 09-22, March 2009)...

Adding It Up: A State and National Imperative - This report - comprised of key indicators and projections related to postsecondary attainment - is designed to help institutional, system and state leaders advance a conversation about the urgent need to increase college access and success for all students. The profiles show that while states vary considerably in their current and expected performance in producing a college-educated population, all states must strengthen their postsecondary pipelines to be internationally competitive, meet emerging workforce needs and promote social mobility and equity of opportunity. (The National Center for Higher Education Management Systems and Jobs for the Future for Making Opportunity Affordable, 2007)...

By the Numbers: State Goals for Increasing Postsecondary Attainment - This report is based on a 2005 50-state survey of state higher education plans to determine which states have set numerical targets for enrollment and completion and how they set, measure and publicize these goals to institutions, the public and policymakers. The report addresses an important state-level approach to assessing – and increasing – the value of public higher education: setting and publicizing clear, numerical goals for expanding student access and success. [Free registration required to access report.] (Michael Collins, Jobs for the Future, January 2006)...