Continuing Education Job Placement Rate Earnings Recidivism Rate Completion Rate 

Statutory Language 

Rates of confined or 

incarcerated individuals 

continuing their education 

post-release 

Job placement rates for 

such individuals Earnings for such individuals 

Rates of recidivism for 

such individuals N/A 

Potential Metric 

Percentage of students 

who reenroll in higher 

education within a certain 

number of years. 

Percentage of formerly 

incarcerated individuals 

who find employment, or 

find employment in their 

fields, within a certain 

number of years. 

Percentage of PEP students 

receiving value from the 

program such that they earn 

more than the average high 

school graduate (similar to 

the College Scorecard 

"threshold earnings" metric). 

Median earnings of PEP 

students. 

Percentage of formerly 

incarcerated individuals 

who are reincarcerated 

within a certain number 

of years. 

Percentage of students 

who complete their 

program within 150 

percent of the expected 

time to completion. 

Potential Data 

Sources 

ED could potentially 

calculate rates of 

reenrollment for PEPs, but 

will require additional 

reporting to do so. To the 

extent students reenroll in 

the same institution they 

attended as a PEP, those 

institutions could calculate 

and report rates of 

reenrollment. 

Job placement rates could 

be measured through 

surveys of former 

students. Employment 

information may be 

available via the College 

Scorecard using IRS data. 

Employment information 

of high school graduates 

are available from the 

Census Bureau. We 

welcome feedback or 

research from the 

subcommittee about the 

employment or job 

placement rates of nonPEP graduates. 

ED currently produces 

program-level earnings via 

the College Scorecard using 

IRS data. Many states have 

wage matches produced 

using state unemployment 

insurance systems. Earnings 

of a typical high school 

graduate are available from 

the Census Bureau and have 

been used in a Scorecard 

threshold earnings measure. 

ED currently produces 

program-level earnings 

via the College 

Scorecard using IRS 

data. Many states have 

wage matches 

produced using state 

unemployment 

insurance systems. We 

welcome feedback or 

research from the 

subcommittee about 

the wage premium of 

PEPs specifically. 

Under WIOA, states 

report on their rates of 

recidivism (although 

data vary from state to 

state). The Bureau of 

Justice Statistics 

examines recividism for 

states 

(https://bjs.ojp.gov/dat 

a-collection/recidivismstate-prisoners), 

although these data are 

based on a sample of 

incarcerated 

individuals. The U.S. 

Sentencing Commission 

also researches 

recidvism for the 

Federal system 

(https://www.ussc.gov/ 

research) . 

Institutions currently 

report graduation rates 

to IPEDS; and ED 

produces completion 

rates of Title IV 

recipients through the 

College Scorecard. 

Institutions could 

calculate and report 

graduation rates 

specific to PEPs. 

Institutions would need 

to identify which 

students are enrolled in 

PEPs so ED can 

calculate the rate if 

produced similarly to 

the College Scorecard. 
Potential Cohort 

Exclusions 

The Department could 

seek to include only 

students who will be 

released (would require 

additional reporting). 

The Department could 

seek to include only 

students who would be 

released, with additional 

reporting. 

The Department could seek 

to exclude students who 

have more than a certain 

number of years left on their 

sentence (would require 

additional reporting) and 

instead include wages for 

only those individuals who 

graduate and are released. 

The Department could 

seek to exclude 

students who have 

more than a certain 

number of years left on 

their sentence (would 

require additional 

reporting) and instead 

include wages for only 

those individuals who 

graduate and are 

released. 

The Department could 

seek to include only 

students who will be 

released, with 

additional reporting). 

The Department could 

align reporting 

requirements with the 

IPEDS or Scorecard 

calculations. Could 

exclude students who 

are involuntarily 

transferred across 

facilities, with 

additional reporting).