Build a statewide longitudinal data system utilizing unique student identifiers

Two-year to four-yearappliesFour-year to two-yearappliesFour-year to four-yearapplies

Mechanism

A state longitudinal data system with a single student identifier follows students from school through college into the workforce. Cohort-level transfer analysis becomes possible statewide.

Preconditions

State mandate and funding to build and run the system.

Owner, by role

State Higher Education Executive Officer / IT Systems Analyst

Who can act

System, state or accreditor

Effort

Large, 24 to 36 months to first visible effect

Outcome metric

Share of transfer cohorts tracked and disaggregated by demographics

Failure modes

Poor data governance or slow upload schedules from individual campuses can degrade data utility.

Contra-indications

None stated