Blog
July 24, 2025
Broadband and Beyond
How Libraries Empower Digital Learning and Tech Access
Academic and public libraries are essential community hubs providing free access to technology for patrons who do not have reliable internet or devices at home. Across the United States, persistent challenges with access to technology stem from issues of affordability and needed infrastructure. This is often referred to as the digital divide, a term that describes the stark disparities between those with access to modern technology and those without. Current research consistently identifies high costs and fees as…
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July 23, 2025
Collecting Additional Data on Students with Disabilities in IPEDS
New Report
The enrollment of students with disabilities in postsecondary education has notably increased, rising from 11 percent in 2004 to 21 percent in 2020. This significant growth underscores the need for comprehensive and reliable data to better understand these students’ experiences and outcomes. However, substantial gaps remain in how data on this population is collected, reported, and utilized, limiting our ability to support their needs effectively. In a report commissioned in 2024 by the…
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July 17, 2025
Reflections on the 2025 National NASPA Conferences on Student Success in Higher Education
We recently attended and presented at the annual NASPA Conferences on Student Success in Higher Education (SSHE), held on June 27-30, in Denver, Colorado. This sold out conference brought together about 1,500 student affairs professionals, administrators, researchers, and advocates united in supporting students not just academically, but holistically. Using a multi-conference format, SSHE featured three unique tracks geared towards student success: Assessment, Planning, and Data Analytics (ADPA): Addressed critical issues related to outcomes assessment and data’s role in student…
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July 16, 2025
Introducing the LASEE Framework
Quantifying Students’ Exposure to a Liberal Education and Exploring its Value
Ithaka S+R, supported by the Mellon Foundation, has been working since 2019 to clearly define, measure, and communicate the value of a liberal education, an effort that has become increasingly urgent in the current political landscape and climate. Today, we are excited to share a new report and accompanying resources from our latest study examining the economic value of a liberal education.
July 15, 2025
Learning Mobility
Holistic Credit Mobility Case Studies Included in New AACRAO Book
Learning Mobility: Empowering Educational Journeys Beyond Traditional Pathways, a new ebook recently published by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), features actionable research and diverse perspectives from system and institutional leaders, administrators, and researchers on the ways learning can and should be recognized, validated, and credentialed in the modern higher education environment. Ithaka S+R was pleased to contribute a chapter expanding on our prior holistic credit mobility work. Our chapter, “Institutional and Systemic Approaches…
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July 7, 2025
Preparing Students for an AI-Infused Workforce
Reflections from the University of Baltimore’s 2025 AI Summit
On June 3, 2025, the University of Baltimore hosted its second AI Summit, organized by the university’s Center for Excellence in Learning, Teaching, and Technology (CELTT). The event, as described by the organizers, was “an in-depth exploration of artificial intelligence’s transformative impact across sectors, with a particular focus on workforce development, educational adaptation, and responsible innovation.” A key strength of the summit was its commitment to bridging the gap between what is happening with AI in the classroom and…
July 2, 2025
How States Use IPEDS Data to Strengthen the National Postsecondary Education Data Infrastructure
Ithaka S+R and SHEEO Collaborate on New Initiative
Ithaka S+R is pleased to announce that we have been awarded a new grant from Lumina Foundation to assess how state higher education agencies use the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) to support their systems, inform policy and planning, and advance credential attainment and other postsecondary education goals.
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July 1, 2025
Informing Postsecondary Education Policy
How Researchers Are Using PSEO Data
In "How Researchers Use the PSEO Data to Study Postsecondary Outcomes and Inform Policy," we examine how scholars, systems, and agencies leverage PSEO to answer key policy questions. This report was commissioned by the PSEO Coalition, which brings together state, system, and institutional partners committed to expanding access to and use of PSEO data as a foundational tool for data-informed decision-making.
June 24, 2025
Understanding the Federal Role in Higher Education Accreditation
In early June, the US Department of Education (ED) notified Columbia University’s accreditor, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), that Columbia had violated federal antidiscrimination laws. The announcement sparked a wave of strong reactions and discussions about the motivation of such a move. In response, we started to receive questions about what this could mean for Columbia University and for higher education more broadly. Since college accreditation rarely receives this level of public attention, many people, even…
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June 17, 2025
Expanding AI Literacy Integration
Fall 2025 Cohort
Building on success, scaling impact Earlier this spring, we kicked off two cohort projects on AI literacy with 45 colleges and universities. In the months since we first announced the cohorts, the urgency of AI literacy integration has only grown. Students increasingly expect their institutions to prepare them not just to use AI tools, but to understand their implications, limitations, and ethical considerations. Faculty are seeking concrete guidance on how to incorporate AI literacy into their courses meaningfully. And…
June 16, 2025
An Endowment Tax Alternative
Estimating the Impact of a Five Percent Spend Policy
Currently, a set of the country’s wealthiest colleges and universities is subject to a 1.4 percent tax on net investment earnings. Over the past few months, several legislative proposals have taken aim at significantly increasing this tax, known colloquially as the “endowment tax.” The latest version, which was included in the reconciliation bill passed by the House in late May, includes a graduated rate structure that goes up to a 21 percent tax, depending on the size of the…
June 11, 2025
Announcing the 2025 All-Access Leadership Program
Advancing Library Strategy in Higher Education
As higher education continues to undergo profound structural, technological, and demographic change, the role of the academic library on campus has never been more critical. More than a repository or service point, the library is increasingly recognized as an innovative, strategic partner, capable of advancing institutional priorities in student success, academic innovation, and organizational resilience. In this context, developing the next generation of library leaders is not only timely, it’s imperative. To support this evolution, we’re pleased to announce, in…
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June 10, 2025
Applying AI Literacy to Student and Faculty Personas
Insights from our AI Literacy Cohort Workshops
This May, we hosted the first workshops for our Integrating AI Literacy in the Curricula cohort, a group of 45 colleges and universities committed to promoting AI literacy as a core learning outcome on their campuses. In the first half of the workshop, we facilitated a discussion of information literacy and AI literacy frameworks. In the second breakout session, participants selected one of six provided personas and hypothesized about the risks, benefits, and needs of AI use for…
June 10, 2025
Is AI Literacy the Trojan Horse to Information Literacy?
Insights from our AI Literacy Cohort Workshops
In April 2025, we launched the Integrating AI Literacy into the Curricula cohort project, in collaboration with librarians and educators at 45 colleges and universities, to conduct research on the current state of AI literacy and develop actionable pathways to providing effective AI literacy programming for students and faculty. In mid-May, we held our first cohort workshops to start thinking through AI literacy using shared language. After reviewing the ACRL information literacy framework and existing AI literacy frameworks,…
June 9, 2025
The Divided State of AI in Higher Education
To help libraries and centers for teaching and learning adapt their expertise in data, digital, and information literacy to AI literacy, we launched the Integrating AI Literacy into the Curricula cohort project. We held the kickoff meeting in April, welcoming participants from all 45 institutions involved in the project. Participants shared their observations and experiences with current AI literacy initiatives at their institutions, including challenges and successes. Several interesting themes emerged from these discussions. When it comes to AI…
June 5, 2025
Examining the Critical Role of Technology in Holistic Credit Mobility
Notes from the Cohort's Second Virtual Convening
In February 2025, Ithaka S+R and Complete College America launched the holistic credit mobility acceleration cohort. This community of practice comprises 11 state higher education and university systems, as well as institutional consortia, that are collaborating throughout 2025 and into early 2026 to identify best practices, policies, and technologies to advance credit mobility nationwide. This is critical to student success, as recent data from the National Student Clearinghouse demonstrates that transfer pathways are becoming increasingly non-linear, multidirectional, and…
May 29, 2025
Access to Legal Information in Prisons
New Report
America’s prisons and jails are information deserts. Restrictions—and in some cases, outright bans—on internet access, combined with limited library services and widespread censorship of both print and digital materials, severely restrict incarcerated individuals’ connection to the outside world. Legal information is no exception. Although access to legal information is a constitutionally mandated right, incarcerated people face significant—and often insurmountable—barriers to exercising that right–from limited access to legal materials and guidance on conducting legal research, to complex administrative procedures required to…
May 22, 2025
Undertaking Accreditation Reform
Possible Roles for NACIQI
A recent executive order (EO) has shone a new spotlight on postsecondary institutional accreditation, an area of higher education that traditionally operates in relative obscurity. Invoking increased accountability, reduced regulatory burdens, and enhanced institutional innovation, the EO seeks to streamline the accreditation process, align post-college outcomes with labor market needs, and allow for greater flexibility in the “who and how” of institutional accreditation. The accreditation system this EO aims to reform was established by the Higher Education…
May 20, 2025
Goal Refining and Progression within the Pennsylvania Adult Learner Re-Engagement Community of Practice
In December 2024, in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Department of Education, we launched the Adult Learner Re-Engagement Community of Practice. Since then, participants from colleges and universities across Pennsylvania have come together regularly to share resources and expertise as they work to re-enroll students with some college credits but no credential. Because engagement with adult learners can involve multiple departments and people at different times, goal-setting has been important in helping participants structure and track their efforts. Together we…
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May 19, 2025
AI Implementation and Governance at Emerging Research Institutions
Announcing a New NSF-Funded Planning Grant
Generative and other AI tools have the potential to transform and accelerate scientific research and communication. However, realizing that potential will require institutions to invest in the administrative and technical infrastructure, staffing, and capacity required to manage the data security, compliance, technical, and ethical issues of generative AI usage at the institutional level, and provide professional development for staff in units engaged in all aspects of the research enterprise. Creating this infrastructure will be difficult for all universities, but is…