A "Cone of Uncertainty" has become ubiquitous in hurricane forecasting, encompassing the likeliest possible path that a storm might take as it approaches landfall. These forecasts are crucial because they help government agencies at all levels prepare even in these far-from-certain future conditions. Although individual institutions have…

The pandemic's impact on enrollment is best documented by timely reports issued by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Their reporting as of December 2020 showed that overall enrollment in fall 2020 declined by about 2.5%, although it was down more among undergraduates, about 3.6%. While students from all racial/ethnic groups had…

Recent years have seen accelerating interest in measuring the employment outcomes of recent college graduates. New data tools and research, such as the College Scorecard, increasingly sophisticated state-level data systems, and studies investigating students' long-term economic mobility, continue to roll out. While postgraduate wages have been an…

That some form of education beyond high school will be essential to future economic prosperity--both individually and collectively--is widely accepted. It is not lost on students and families, who consistently cite the need to be prepared for the workforce as the most important factor in choosing to enroll. And it is not lost on policy makers, as…

Recent headlines have brought attention to the effects that unfavorable demographic and fiscal conditions are having on postsecondary education institutions. Among those most acutely feeling the pressures are likely to be institutions located in rural communities that are seeing more rapid population declines and lagging median income. This…

This edition of "Playing the Numbers" reports on recent trends in a few key measures related to postsecondary education. Among the trends examined will be key issues of educational attainment, participation, and finance and affordability. Moreover, given the critical role of the states in the delivery of postsecondary education, it will…

Understanding the funding requirements of public institutions starts with recognizing them as state assets with capacity to meet state needs, especially those that disproportionately serve underrepresented, low-income, or rural student populations and adult learners. As policy makers wrestle with resource allocation decisions under unfavorable…

As states and postsecondary institutions confront ongoing concerns about their fiscal health after a brief post-recession respite, colleges and universities across the nation are once again making their recruitment pitches to prospective students. Increasingly, public institutions are aiming these appeals well beyond their home states' borders, in…

In today's higher education landscape, there are numerous conflicting pressures that influence how the mix of academic programs institutions choose to offer will evolve. This article describes: (1) The need to understand better how institutions' program arrays are evolving over time in the face of a variety of student, workforce, competitive,…

This issue of "Policy Insights" provides a review of the past five years of the cost and value of higher education, which have gained increased policymaker, consumer, and media attention. The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) has worked with four of its member states (Hawai'i, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington) to…

As educational attainment grows increasingly more essential to individual and societal prosperity and simultaneously more expensive, policymakers' appetite for evidence of the return on the investment in a college education has swelled and they increasingly want to equip prospective college students and their families with concrete information…

College affordability, like many other postsecondary policy areas, requires coordinated federal and state policies built on coordinated information. While the potential for partnerships between states and the federal government is endless and often includes missed opportunities, this paper reimagines one form of federalism in higher education…

The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) is an interstate compact aimed at improving access to, and success in, postsecondary education for residents of the West. Given the region's historic reliance on public higher education, rapidly diversifying demographics, and financial pressures experienced by postsecondary education…

This issue of "Policy Insights" reviews the results from an annual survey, conducted by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), of tuition and fees at public colleges and universities in the WICHE region (which includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North…

With increasingly widespread calls to raise educational attainment levels without substantially growing public investment in higher education, policymakers and others have devoted growing attention to the role of financial aid programs in providing access to, promoting affordability for, and incentivizing success in college. Given relative levels…