Higher Education Counts: Accountability Measures for the New Millennium. 2005 Report
Author: Connecticut Department of Higher Education
Date: 2005-02-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Economic Progress,Higher Education,Educational Attainment,Accountability,Annual Reports,Educational Indicators,Educational Assessment,High School Graduates,Enrollment Rate,Employment Opportunities,Beginning Teachers,Minority Group Students,Fees,Student Financial Aid,Educational Trends,Trend Analysis,Cluster Grouping,Budgets,Teacher Salaries,Operating Expenses,Expenditure per Student,Academic Degrees,College Outcomes Assessment,Activities,Academic Achievement,Remedial Mathematics,Community Colleges,Technical Institutes

&quot;Higher Education Counts&quot; is the annual accountability report on Connecticut's state system of higher education, as required under Connecticut General Statutes Section 10a-6a. The report contains accountability measures developed through the Performance Measures Task Force and approved by the Board of Governors for Higher Education. The measures reported are intended to provide external parties with answers to some basic questions about institutional performance and return on investments in Connecticut's higher education system. Last year, the Department of Higher Education sponsored a comprehensive evaluation of its accountability reporting process. This review culminated with a series of recommendations for improving the process and the measures reported. Based on these recommendations and after deliberation with its Performance Measures Task Force, the Board of Governors endorsed a number of modifications, deletions and additions to the measures reported. The new measures that have been added this year are: (1) Statewide Degrees and Certifications per 100,000 population; (2) Participation Rate; (3) Degrees Conferred by Credit Program; (4) Educational Attainment Levels of State Population; (5) Developmental Mathematics; and (6) Direct Service to High School Students. The reader also will find several modifications to existing measures, most important of which is a new calculation of average cost per student necessitated by changes in federal financial reporting requirements. Commissioner of Higher Education annually by January 1st. The Commissioner, in turn, is charged with compiling and transmitting a consolidated report to the Joint Standing Committees on Education and Higher Education and Employment Advancement by February 1st. The report contains measures designed to assess progress on six statutorily-defined state goals: (1) To enhance student learning and promote academic excellence; (2) To join with elementary and secondary schools to improve teaching and learning at all levels; (3) To ensure access to and affordability of higher education; (4) To promote the economic development of the state to help business and industry sustain strong economic growth; (5) To respond to the needs and problems of society; and (6) To ensure the efficient use of resources. There are no major changes in reporting format this year. The report is organized around a structure which includes three levels of indicators: (1) State-Level Indicators; (2) Common Core of Institutional Measures; and (3) Constituent Unit Specific Indicators. An index is included. [For the previous report, &quot;Higher Education Counts: Accountability Measures for the New Millennium. 2004 Report,&quot; see ED518756.]