States must ensure their state data systems enable access to information that helps people navigate postsecondary transitions into education or the workforce.
WASHINGTON (March 27, 2025) –Whether students are moving from high school to postsecondary education or entering the workforce, these pivotal moments of transition can be complex. Without useful information to help navigate them, students may not know which choices will help them meet their goals. Data users at all levels—including policymakers and education officials; institutional decisionmakers such as K–12 and postsecondary institution leaders and workforce and training providers; counselors and direct service providers; and students and their families—need clear and timely information to make decisions. Too often they lack access to data that could illuminate options and guide decisionmaking. State data systems that provide tailored, user-friendly insights can bridge this gap, ensuring that students are equipped to navigate their journeys with confidence and leaders have the necessary information to support them.
The Data Quality Campaign’s (DQC) latest resource, Powering Potential: Using Data to Support Postsecondary Access, Completion, and Return on Investment, is a comprehensive landscape of the data ecosystem related to postsecondary access, completion, and return on investment (ROI). It unpacks current data challenges, leaders’ data needs, and shares actions states can take to improve their SLDSs and use data to support students navigating postsecondary transitions. Key insights from this report include:
- The existing postsecondary and workforce data landscape varies from state to state, and postsecondary education and workforce data systems can differ substantially. DQC’s research has shown that states and systems have struggled to effectively incorporate and proactively use postsecondary and workforce data. Right now, many states and institutions are missing opportunities to put information to work to support students and inform policy because of arbitrary silos.
- Some states are taking steps to use the data available to them to support postsecondary access, completion, and ROI. Indiana’s Pivot tool generates personalized career and training recommendations, Kentucky’s Future Skills Report enables leaders to align education and workforce programs with evolving labor market demands, Maryland integrates data from their Apprenticeship and Training Program into their state data system to assess the outcomes of apprenticeship completers, and Minnesota’s Graduate Employment Outcomes tool offers detailed insights into employment rates, wages, and industry sectors for graduates to enable program evaluation and career planning.
- States can and should take action to support postsecondary access, completion, and ROI. DQC recommends that states accomplish this by developing and improving their state data systems to connect data across sectors, and by working together with postsecondary institutions to use data to create policies that provide more targeted supports to students who need them.
“High-quality, connected K–12, postsecondary, and workforce data empowers leaders, institutions, and researchers to identify and offer data-driven support at critical junctures to students who need it,” said Data Quality Campaign President and CEO Jennifer Bell-Ellwanger. “When data tools are built to illuminate the links between education choices and future career options and earnings, students are better equipped to make informed decisions that maximize their long-term economic mobility.”
“As uncertainty about federal education data grows, it is critically important that states continue to develop statewide longitudinal data systems capable of providing timely, personalized insights that illuminate pathways to success and address barriers to persistence,” said Bell-Ellwanger.
For more information, visit DQC’s website.
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The Data Quality Campaign is a nonprofit policy and advocacy organization leading the effort to ensure that data works for everyone navigating their education and workforce journeys. For more information, go to dataqualitycampaign.org and follow us on LinkedIn.
