Research Projects

Today, international rankings exert a great deal of influence on higher education policies in many countries. However, these rankings tend to disproportionately benefit institutions that are older, wealthier, larger, and research focused. They do not take into account many other important factors including student success and the impact these institutions have in their localities and regions. They fail to recognize the many ways institutions can be impactful and “excellent” based on their unique missions and histories. This research seeks to hold up new models of institutional excellence and to show the pathways various institutions have followed to achieve excellence on their own terms. The work will involve developing detailed case studies of approximately a dozen institutions in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America.

This project is intended to improve the availability and use of data documenting trends in the status of inequity in higher education opportunity and outcomes.

This project is intended to improve knowledge of the policies and practices that will effectively improve higher education attainment especially among groups that are historically underrepresented in higher education.

This project has two components: (1) “Institutional predictors” uses data from IPEDS and the Delta Cost Project to identify potential levers that public and private not-for-profit four-year institutions may use to improve graduation rates for Pell Grant recipients. (2) “Questioning the Calculations” examines the cost-related information that colleges and universities are providing on their websites.