Post-secondary education experts are lauding the addition of data to the College Scorecard, enhancements announced this week by U.S. Department of Education secretary Betsy DeVos in efforts to improve transparency through more detailed information for prospective students.
At the same time, some question whether the enhancements go far enough and how much more they will help students who use the online tool to compare options, particularly students from underrepresented groups who have lower completion rates.
“This is a great step in the right direction for making sure students and families have the needed information so they can make the best decisions about where to go to college,” said Wesley Whistle, senior adviser for policy and strategy at New America.
The added information, which follows President Trump’s executive order in March aimed at improving transparency and accountability in higher education, includes:
· Graduation rates and other data for 2,100 post-secondary institutions that award certificates rather than degrees and were not included prior.
· Information about non-first-time and non-full-time students and the percentage of students who transferred or were still enrolled in school, a step beyond the current data provided only on first-time, full-time students.
· The most recent s on average annual cost, graduation rate, student demographics and other data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) of the National Center for Education Statistics.
