Higher Learning Commission

Earlier this year, HLC launched a multi-phase initiative to improve our ability to track and evaluate student success outcomes at member institutions. Now, we are pleased to share our first milestone for this project: proposed benchmarks for evaluating institutional performance in three educational outcome measures. 

In the first phase of this project, we will develop a process for evaluating institutions’ performance on three educational outcomes measures reported by IPEDS: 

• First-year retention rate 
• Graduation rate within 150% of normal time 
• Completion and transfer rate at 8 years after entry to college 

To identify benchmarks for these measures, we assigned institutions to peer groups based on their undergraduate enrollment profile and admissions selectivity. Then we identified benchmark values for each outcome measure based on the mean, standard deviation and lowest fifth percentile for each peer group. 

See Evaluating Student Success Outcomes: Phase 1 Update for full details about the peer groups and benchmarks, including HLC’s methodology and calculations. 

Next Steps: Institutional Survey 

To help ensure that the proposed benchmarks are appropriate for our membership, HLC is surveying institutions that have at least one measure more than one standard deviation below the mean or within the lowest fifth percentile of their peer group. On May 7, institutions in these two groups were invited to complete an online survey to explain their performance in the context of their mission and student body and to provide information on how they use these and other outcome measures. 

Responses received from these institutions will help us better understand the context, strategies and ongoing efforts made by institutions to address performance gaps in student success outcomes. We will use this information to finalize the benchmarking and evaluation process prior to formal implementation in spring 2025. 

Phase 2 Preview 

HLC will begin planning Phase 2 of this project in summer 2024. The next phase will move beyond educational outcomes toward analyses of post-college labor market and other economic outcomes. This may include measures such as post-graduation employment rates, median earnings, federal loan repayment rates and median total debt after graduation, among others. 

HLC is aware that institutions’ capacities and approaches to tracking these measures may vary greatly through our membership. We will work with institutions to identify and define measures for Phase 2, as well as to identify appropriate data sources. 

Questions? 

Contact HLC at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..