Graduate Job Placement Rates

Opportunities and Challenges

What kinds of jobs do students have when they graduate?The U.S. Department of Education is working to provide information about the average earnings of former undergraduate students at York Technical College who borrowed Federal student loans. In the meantime, ask York Technical College to tell you about how many of its graduates get jobs, what kinds of jobs they get, and how much those graduates typically earn.

Gainful Employment Placement Rates and NCES Methodology

The regulations at 34 CFR 668.6(b)(1)(iv) provide that institutions that prepare students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation must disclose the placement rate for students completing a GE Program, as determined under a methodology developed by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP)

Until NCES is able to develop a placement rate methodology, institutions required by their accrediting agencies and/or State to calculate a placement rate on a program basis must disclose these placement rates and identify the accrediting agency and/or State agency under whose requirements the rate was calculated.

Information for Financial Aid

Professionals (IFAP)

Gainful Employment Placement Rates and NCES Methodology

The Completion Arch:Measuring Community College Student SuccessCollegeBoard Advocacy and Policy CenterJob placement rates

…While a number of states report employment outcomes for students who have enrolled in a community college or completed a community college degree or certificate, the way in which these outcomes are reported and the populations on which outcome measures are based vary widely, making it difficult to compare these measures across states.

July 16, 2012In Job-Placement Rates, Fuzzy DataA lack of standard tracking makes many colleges' claims unreliable

By Timothy Sandoval

…Since 2008, the federal government has required colleges to disclose any placement rates they calculate to prospective students who request the information. … The problem is that there are no standard questions or even agreed-upon standards…

Legal Authority: Section 59-5310, et. Seq. of the 1976 Code of Laws of South Carolina

In order to satisfy the accountability requirements set forth in state law, technical colleges will conduct an annual evaluation of all associate degree, diploma, and certificate programs offered at the college.

Policy : Instructional Program Evaluation

Procedure 3-1-301.1

Job Placement: Fifty percent (50%) of the graduates of a diploma or a degree program available for job placement must be placed on a job related to their education or continuing their education on a full-time basis.

Graduates who are deceased, disabled, or not actively seeking employment are excluded from the job placement criterion.

South Carolina Technical College System

2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-1165%

70%

75%

80%

85%

90%

95%

100%Graduate Placement Rates

South Carolina Technical Colleges

2010-11 SCTCS Graduates

HIGHEST PLACEMENT LOWEST PLACEMENT

74.3%Unemployme

nt Rate: 13.25%

Unemployment Rate:

8.7%

Correlation of College Placement and Service Area Unemployment Rates: .26

95.6%

Consistent, Reliable, Valid?

No. State-wide Work Group:

Two Chief Academic Officers▪ One also Chief Student Services Officer

Three Institutional Effectiveness Coordinators

Several System Office Staff Represented Four Technical Colleges▪ Two small, one medium, one large

SCTCS Statewide Procedural Recommendations

These recommendations are intended to ensure consistency across the state as it relates to program evaluation reporting. Colleges may make minor adjustments as deemed appropriate based on available resources. Remember that processes should be documented, auditable, and consistent from year to year.

Four Step Process

1. Gather list of graduates from reporting system

2. Query graduates against one or more sources:- National Student Clearinghouse (preferred)- SC Department of Employment &

Workforce* (preferred)- US Department of Defense (optional)- Lexis Nexis (optional)

Student Tracker service Detailed enrollment records by individual

student All types of institutions▪ More than 3,300 colleges and universities▪ Enrolling more than 96% of higher education

students No limits on queries Available for a modest fee (free with

participation in DegreeVerify and reporting of additional data elements)

eTRACK Service Provides three types of reports:▪ Determination of individuals' employment

status▪ Industry of Employment based on the North

American Industry Classification System's six-digit coding;▪ Employment and Summary Wage report

$1.90 per “hit” Data available quarterly Significant delays in data availability

Four Step Process

3. Follow up with deans, department heads, etc. to identify placement for graduates not found using above sources- Colleges will use a common worksheet to

track communication with graduates4. Enter student placement data into

centralized reporting system- Note if student is ‘on job’, ‘in school’, or both

- Special note if student is in military

Consistent, Reliable, Valid?Yes.System prepared to answer questions about placement data validity.

More meaningful information.

Questions?Mary Beth Schwartz mbschwartz@yorktech.eduCathy Almquist cathy.almquist@tridenttech.edu