President Obama has embraced an audacious ambition--to renew America's status as the world leader in college attainment. That goal is daunting, and it leads many people to conclude that they should focus federal investments on four-year colleges. If individuals want to realize the president's goal, that would be a terrible mistake. Located in…

Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count is a national initiative dedicated to the premise that community colleges should be as successful at student retention and graduation, particularly for students of color and low-income, as they are at enrollment. On campus, the initiative is focused on creating a culture of evidence, one in which data…

The authors point out that offices of institutional research are valuable resources for collecting data to help faculty improve their teaching, and can involve the whole institution in a collaborative effort towards improved student learning. Defining institutional research as a capacity to work closely with faculty to explore questions about what…

Summative measures of learning collected at the conclusion of an associate or bachelor's degree program are insufficient to help educators and students maximize learning and personal development across the college years. Managing the desired outcomes of college requires an understanding of when learning and growth occur during the educational…