Publications
Case Study
August 30, 2021
A Texas Merger
The Creation of University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
In December of 2012 administrators for the University of Texas (UT) System announced a proposed merger of University of Texas-Brownsville and the University of Texas-Pan American “with an eye toward securing increased state funds and potentially building a medical school.” Both increased funding and the medical school were seen as important equity issues, given South Texas’s low per capita incomes and predominantly Hispanic population. The status of University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB) and University of Texas Pan American (UTPA)…
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Issue Brief
August 25, 2021
Improving Clarity in Financial Aid Offers
Content and Design Recommendations for Transparent Student Communications
The American Talent Initiative’s latest issue brief, “Improving Clarity in Financial Aid Offers,” centers on the need for colleges and universities to prioritize clear, transparent financial aid communications, especially as the cost of college has significantly increased over the past three decades and left a shrinking number of students able to afford higher education (especially amid the pandemic). To address this enduring challenge, institutions can use powerful tools like the financial aid offer to help students understand the true…
Research Report
August 17, 2021
Stranded Credits: A Matter of Equity
Usually when student debt is discussed and examined, the focus is on federal and private loans; however there are other more insidious forms of student debt that affect thousands of students each year and impact their ability to matriculate, transfer, qualify for scholarships and even qualify for job opportunities. Stranded credits is a phenomenon where students earn academic credits but cannot access them due to an unpaid balance with a previously attended institution that is holding their transcript as collateral.
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Research Report
August 3, 2021
Breaking Down Barriers
The Impact of State Authorization Reciprocity on Online Enrollment
State authorization, or the approval by a given state for a college to operate within its jurisdiction, is an important part of the regulatory triad. The triad is the three-pronged oversight of higher education that includes the federal government, accrediting bodies, and state governments. State authorization has become more complicated with the rapid expansion of online education that is blurring state geographic boundaries. Colleges seeking to enroll students from numerous states in online programs must obtain authorization in each of…
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Issue Brief
July 21, 2021
Right in Your Backyard
Expanding Local Community College Transfer Pathways to High-Graduation-Rate Institutions
Each year, our country’s most selective four-year institutions invest significant resources to recruit talented high school students from across the country. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, admissions representatives traveled far and wide to convince these prospective students that the academic rigor, amenities, and opportunities at their institution are unparalleled. These students, mostly affluent and white, contemplate admission offers and consider moves to new locales to pursue their postsecondary plans. Yet, many of these selective institutions are overlooking a talented and diverse…
Case Study
July 12, 2021
Using Equity Data to Guide the Design and Implementation of the New General Education Curriculum at Ohio State
In Fall 2020, the American Talent Initiative (ATI), an alliance of high-graduation-rate colleges and universities committed to expanding access and opportunity for low- and middle-income students, established its newest community of practice (CoP) focused on academic equity. Together, the 37 CoP members explore topics related to creating equitable academic communities. One such area of focus is how institutions can more effectively utilize data to enhance their equity-related projects. In January 2021, members participated in a webinar discussion on this topic,…
Research Report
June 29, 2021
American Talent Initiative 2021
Third Annual Progress Report
Martin Kurzweil, Tania LaViolet, Elizabeth Davidson Pisacreta, Adam Rabinowitz, Emily Schwartz, Joshua Wyner
The American Talent Initiative (ATI) brings together a coalition of four-year colleges and universities in pursuit of a common goal: enrolling, supporting, and graduating 50,000 additional lower-income students by 2025 at the colleges and universities that consistently graduate at least 70 percent of their students in six years. ATI’s third annual progress report provides a snapshot of progress—and setbacks. It comes at a time when a global pandemic has deepened inequality, and a national uprising against systemic racism has sharpened…
Research Report
June 24, 2021
MAAPS Advising Experiment
Evaluation Findings after Four Years
Acknowledgements This project is generously funded by a US Department of Education First in the World validation grant,[1] with additional support from Arnold Ventures. We thank the project principal investigator, Dr. Timothy Renick of Georgia State University, for inviting Ithaka S+R to serve as its independent evaluator and for being an invaluable thought and project partner. We would like to acknowledge the key role of the University Innovation Alliance (UIA), which inspired the project by…
Research Report
June 22, 2021
What’s the Big Deal?
How Researchers Are Navigating Changes to Journal Access
The dominant mode by which research libraries have provided maximum journal access as cheaply as possible—subscription bundles or “Big Deals”—is giving way to new approaches. This transition is taking place through a combination of negotiations, activism, business modeling, user needs research, and decision support, among other factors. To support these processes, Ithaka S+R partnered with 11 academic libraries to understand researcher perceptions to help inform their ongoing strategic decision making about Big Deal journal subscriptions.
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Issue Brief
May 26, 2021
Different Approaches to Piloting Advising Technology
Comparing Webster University and West Virginia State University
Advising undergraduate students on how to succeed in their academics, careers, and life is one of the most common practices in higher education. Advising is also something that many institutions struggle to resource or coordinate sufficiently, due to hurdles such as overwhelming caseloads and limited interdepartmental communication, potentially leaving students without needed support on their paths to successful program completion. The barriers to a successful college experience are not borne equally across higher education. In fact, the institutions that serve…
Issue Brief
May 25, 2021
Using Data to Fuel Inclusive Excellence at Virginia Tech
In Fall 2020, the American Talent Initiative (ATI), an alliance of high-graduation-rate colleges and universities committed to expanding access and opportunity for low- and middle-income students, established its newest community of practice (CoP) focused on academic equity. Together, the 37 CoP members explore topics related to creating equitable academic communities. One such area of focus is how institutions can more effectively utilize data to enhance equity-related projects. In January 2021, members participated in a webinar discussion on this topic, during…
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Research Report
April 28, 2021
Moving the Needle on College Student Basic Needs
National Community College Provost Perspectives
For many years, higher education data collection and funding efforts have focused on student success metrics like enrollment, graduation, retention, and course completion rates. At the same time, higher education leaders have become increasingly aware—in part because of the COVID-19 pandemic—of the vast array of challenges that college students face outside of the classroom that prevent them from fully succeeding. To shed light on the challenges and opportunities associated with the collection and prioritization of a broader set of student…
Issue Brief
March 31, 2021
The Disproportionate Impact of the Pandemic on Women and Caregivers in Academia
Evidence is mounting that women in academia have disproportionately been affected by the pandemic. Recent research points to new gender gaps in productivity and publishing, with fewer women publishing articles and manuscripts. And in addition to these professional challenges, women in academia are also facing unique personal challenges during the pandemic, including balancing childcare and home responsibilities while working towards achieving tenure in an academic pipeline where it is already challenging for women to succeed.
Issue Brief
March 26, 2021
The Many Facets of Faculty Involvement in the Implementation Process
A Case Study of Northeast Wisconsin Technical College
Advising undergraduate students on how to succeed in their academics, careers, and life is one of the most common practices in higher education. Advising is also something that many institutions struggle to resource or coordinate sufficiently, potentially leaving students without needed support on their paths to successful program completion. The barriers to a successful college experience are not borne equally across higher education. In fact, the institutions that serve the highest proportions of students from historically minoritized backgrounds (including low-income,…
Research Report
March 23, 2021
Teaching with Primary Sources
Looking at the Support Needs of Instructors
Kurtis Tanaka, Daniel Abosso, Krystal Appiah, Katie Atkins, Peter Barr, Arantza Barrutia-Wood, Shatha Baydoun, Catherine Bazela, Cara Bertram, Colleen Boff, Steve Borrelli, Jay-Marie Bravent, Sarah Brennan, Tina Budzise-Weaver, Margaret Burri, Liz Cheney, Cait Coker, Heather Cole, Lisa Conathan, Emily Cook, Danielle Miriam Cooper, Joshua Dacey, J. Gordon Daines III, Diana Dill, Carrie Donovan, Lori DuBois, Lisa Duncan, Sarah Evelyn, Mary Feeney, Patricia Figueroa, Rebecca Friedman, Myranda Fuentes, Danielle Gabbard, Eleonora Gandolfi, Chloe Gerson, Kelly Godfrey, Melissa Grafe, Brenda Gunn, Jeanann Haas, Terese Heidenwolf, Heidi Herr, Laura Hibbler, Matthew J. K. Hill, David Hirsch, Stefanie Hunker, Jamie Johnson, Emily Kader, Jessica Keyes, Paula Kiser, Joel D. Kitchens, Maggie Kopp, Andrew Laas, Bill Landis, Christina Larson, David Lewis, Sara Logue, Maureen Maryanski, Jennifer Meehan, Ruthann Miller, Rebecca Miller Waltz, Meg Miner, Sarah Morris, Kevin M. O’Sullivan, Catherine Oliver, Barbara Olson, Anne Peale, Matt Phillips, Roxane Pickens, Julie Porterfield, Sara Powell, Marcus Robyns, Dylan Ruediger, Deirdre Scaggs, Carrie Schwier, Matthew Sheehy, Nicole Shibata, Dainan M. Skeem, Holly Snyder, Linda Stepp, Matthew Strandmark, Morgan Swan, Michelle Sweetser, Gabriel Swift, Jason Tomberlin, Niamh Wallace, Berenika Webster, Ashley Werlinich, Clare Withers, Lijuan Xu
Encounters with primary sources—historical or contemporary artifacts that bear direct witness to a specific period or event—are central to the pedagogy of many disciplines, especially in the humanities and humanistic social sciences. Their use in undergraduate instruction aligns with universities’ commitments to experiential and inquiry-based learning and library initiatives focused on media and information literacy. Reflecting the importance of the topic within higher education, “Supporting Teaching with Primary Sources” attracted the largest cohort of any Ithaka S+R program to date.
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Research Report
March 17, 2021
National Movements for Racial Justice and Academic Library Leadership
Results from the Ithaka S+R US Library Survey 2020
Academic librarians, like so many others in the higher education and library sectors, have discussed equity, diversity, and inclusion for many years. A number of prominent initiatives have worked to address these issues across the profession and within individual institutions. Yet, libraries have struggled to make progress on these stated values, especially in meeting their goals of employee diversification. The organizing led by Black Lives Matter activists in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd sparked an increase in demands…
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Issue Brief
March 15, 2021
Federal Policies for Increasing Socioeconomic Diversity at Selective Colleges and Universities
Earning a bachelor’s degree is increasingly important to an individual’s longer-term economic prospects. Communities, at all levels, also benefit when their members earn postsecondary credentials, through improved economic, social, and health outcomes. Yet, despite an increase in college participation over the last two decades, severe inequities in bachelor’s degree attainment remain; inequities that often leave lower-income and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) students with debt and no or low-value credentials. With Democrats coalescing around a number of federal…
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Issue Brief
March 11, 2021
Homeless and Foster Youth, Racial Inequity, and Policy Shifts for Systemic Change
Each year, roughly 4.2 million young people experience homelessness, and more than 600,000 children interact with the foster care system nationwide.[1] Although youth homelessness and foster care are distinct experiences, many youth will crossover between these two groups. Both groups also face similar challenges, including highly unstable living environments, food insecurity, and often gaps in educational achievement and attainment. While the legal definition of youth homelessness varies across states and targeted policies, the Department of Education defines homeless…
Research Report
March 3, 2021
Student Focused
Fostering Cross-Unit Collaboration to Meet the Changing Needs of Community College Students
Ensuring that community college students have access to academic and student support services requires more than simply understanding students’ needs—it also requires relating those needs to actionable service models and organizational strategies. Community college students navigate ecosystems of services provided and supported by academic affairs departments, student affairs departments, libraries, and faculty. How can these ecosystems best be organized and developed to adapt to changing student needs—particularly amidst the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic?…
Issue Brief
February 25, 2021
Academic Research Budgets
A Look Ahead with Special Emphasis on Research Enablement and Support
The United States university sector’s research enterprise is an important national asset. It is highly competitive and highly innovative in ordinary times, and during the past year plagued by coronavirus it pivoted quickly to conduct urgently needed research on a new threat. Beyond its national and international significance, the research enterprise is also an enormous asset—intellectually and financially—for each of the individual universities with a major stake in it. At the high level, the pandemic may seem not to have…