Data and Research Archives

DC Digest: July 8-14

As Members of Congress returned to Washington this week, their focus was on the FY 24 appropriations process and the reauthorization of the National Defense Authorization Act. For CTE stakeholders, the biggest news was the House’s appropriations subcommittee markup of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Education and Related Agencies appropriations bill, which proposed significant cuts to education and workforce development programs. As we await the next phase of the appropriations process, here are some more news and notes:

House Subcommittee Appropriators Approve FY24 Education Funding Bill: Yesterday, the House Appropriations Committee released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill, including funding for education and workforce development programs. The bill was approved by the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies earlier today on a party-line vote. Unfortunately, because House leaders chose to develop appropriations bills at a much lower funding level than agreed to in the debt limit deal, this bill makes significant cuts across education and workforce programs. Learn more about the bill here.

Department of Education Makes Corrections to Income-Driven Repayment Plan Balances: On July 14, the Department of Education issued federal student loan balance discharges to borrowers whose balances qualified for forgiveness upon correction of their count of payments made through income-driven federal loan repayment plans. Learn more about the discharges here.

Senate CTE Caucus Co-chairs Introduce Data for American Jobs Act: On July 13, Senate CTE Caucus co-chairs Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Todd Young (R-IN) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) introduced 2290, the Data for American Jobs Act, a bipartisan bill to ensure that CTE is included in federal data systems to help improve career readiness programs, meet the needs of the economy and expand the skilled workforce. ACTE has endorsed this legislation, and you can view the accompanying press release with a quote from ACTE Executive Director LeAnn Curry here.

Senate Committee to Consider Supporting Small Business Career and Technical Education Act: On July 19, the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship will consider 936, the Supporting Small Business Career and Technical Education Act as part of the committee’s pending legislative business. ACTE has endorsed this legislation.

Research Roundup: Aligning Education and Labor Market Data

Connecting Education and Workforce Data: The Institute for College Access and Success recently published a report analyzing the importance of linked education and workforce data. The report examined Kentucky and Tennessee’s integration of education and workforce data sets to identify best practices and lessons learned. It notes the importance of the Kentucky Center for Statistics, which facilitates the integration of Kentucky’s education and workforce data and shares its findings with agencies within the state to respond to specific and relevant research questions that can inform policy. Similarly, Tennessee links education and workforce data in a system that receives contributions from a variety of partners and assists many agencies in their policy process. This system provides answers to policy questions in a centralized manner, and the state plans to expand access in the future.

The report highlights the importance of integrating education and workforce data and the need for adequate federal funding through the Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems Grant Program to bring these centralized, integrated data systems to every state. The newly introduced Data for American Jobs Act in the Senate, supported by ACTE, aims to better support state longitudinal data systems and build stronger connections between education and workforce data, including CTE.

Linking Postsecondary Education to Jobs: Harvard University’s The Project on Workforce explores the ways in which postsecondary education connects to job outcomes. The initiative recently released a College-to-Jobs Map that visually illustrates the connection between regional workforce trends and availability of college graduates. The tool’s College Graduate Data map looks at graduate demographics, fields of study and degree attainment against the backdrop of regional growth rates in number of college graduates, including an economic mobility rate for different communities. The Labor Market Data map compares college graduate supply to worker demand for various occupations. Both tools can be filtered by a number of variables.

A companion report describes educational interventions that postsecondary institutions can implement to assist students in accessing quality, good-paying jobs. These include career coaching, experiential learning, industry-recognized credentials, apprenticeships and other programs that orient students towards success in the workforce. Studying the existing research and current implementation of these interventions, the report found that colleges and the job market needed further alignment and that interventions were often not equitably accessible to all students.

Implementing a Student-level Data Network: A recent report from the Institute for Higher Education Policy explores design options for a future national student-level data network (SLDN) that incorporates data from postsecondary institutions and federal agencies to provide greater insights into postsecondary student outcomes. Teams of experts developed plans for hypothetical SLDNs to identify potential benefits and anticipate problems around student identifiers, data storage, revising submitted data and adding new data elements.

The teams all emphasized the importance of a network that would decrease the burden on institutions through the use of state systems that collect and report data on behalf of institutions. As a result, institutions would only need to report data to one place, and the burden on the federal data collection help desk would be reduced as it would now interact directly with states. In addition, the panelists agreed that institutions should have access to their own data within an SLDN to analyze it for internal use.

DC Digest: July 1-7

This week in Washington was another quiet week for federal policy with the Independence Day holiday. Congress is out of town until July 10, when they will return to continue work on fiscal year 2024 appropriations bills and other key legislation. Neither the House nor the Senate Appropriations Committee has released a draft of its Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Education and Related Agencies funding bill, and there is no clear timing on projected markups of these bills, so advocacy continues to be critical. Here are some additional notes as we await Congress’s return from recess:

Perkins Plan Submissions and Revisions for FY 2024: The Department of Education’s Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education (OCTAE) has released guidelines for states to receive FY 2024 Perkins grant awards through submission of new or revised Perkins state plans and/or updated state-determined performance levels (SDPLs). Submissions will be due by COB on May 10, 2024. Read the full memo here.

Analysis of National Data Illustrates CTE Teacher Shortages: ACTE recently analyzed the National Center for Education Statistics 2020-21 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS)for relevant CTE teacher data such as demographics, distribution, vacancies, and salaries and credentials, among other topics. Learn more from the survey here.

President Biden Announces New Actions on Student Loans: In the wake of the Supreme Court decision blocking President Biden’s proposal to forgive up to $20,000 in student loans for most Americans, the administration announced new stepsto aid borrowers. Learn more about these new actions here.

Committee for Education Funding Sends Letter on FY 2024 Appropriations: On July 6, ACTE’s coalition partner, the Committee for Education Funding (CEF), sent a letter to leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, as well as leadership of the Labor, HHS and Education subcommittees, opposing the significant cuts planned for FY 2024 appropriations bills.

Department of Labor Launches Youth Employment Works: The Department of Labor has launched the Youth Employment Works strategy to center young people at the heart of the workforce development conversation. The strategy will focus on efforts that can offer seamless access to supportive services and workforce development opportunities for youth and young workers, increase public and private commitments to youth and young adult career pathways, philanthropy across all sectors to invest in high-quality pathways for young people, and offer guaranteed paid work experiences. Learn more about the strategy here.

Additional Funding for Broadband Internet Announced: The Department of Commerce has announced funding for each state and U.S. territory and the District of Columbia for high-speed internet infrastructure deployment through the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) initiative created under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Analysis of National Data Illustrates CTE Teacher Shortages

ACTE recently analyzed data from the National Center for Education Statistics 2020-21 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) for relevant CTE teacher data such as demographics, distribution, vacancies, salaries and credentials, among other topics.

Vacancies

One of the most interesting findings is that almost one-third of public schools that reported CTE teacher vacancies in 2020-21 found those vacancies very difficult to fill or were not able to fill them. Relatedly, 28 states and territories reported CTE teacher shortages to the U.S. Department of Education in 2023-24.

Distribution

The data shows the highest percentages of public CTE instructors in business management, family and consumer sciences, and agriculture and natural resources. However, more than 10% of CTE teachers are captured in the “other CTE” category, indicating a mismatch between the taxonomy of CTE program areas in the NTPS and how programs are categorized in the field. Additionally, most public CTE teachers are located in rural and suburban locales – 33.3% and 30.6%, respectively – while towns have the lowest percentage of CTE teachers.

Demographics

Across CTE program areas, women comprise 55% of teachers while men make up 45%, with major variations across career fields. Black teachers make up 7.9% of public CTE teachers, compared to 6.1% across all public teachers, and 6.8% of CTE teachers are Hispanic, compared to 9.5% overall. Most concerningly for CTE advocates, CTE teachers are older than the public teacher workforce in general: 12.7% of CTE teachers are 60 years of age or older, compared to 7.9% overall.

Salary

The majority of public CTE teachers work full time, and in 2020-21, they earned an average base salary of $59,806 annually – less than other subject areas. However, public CTE teachers are more likely than teachers overall to receive additional compensation for extracurricular activities and for student performance.

Background and Credentials

About 38% of public CTE instructors entered teaching through an alternative certification program, a much higher rate than overall instructors (19.4%), with only natural sciences teachers close at 30.2%. Before going into teaching, 65.5% of public CTE teachers worked in the private sector. In addition, CTE teachers are more likely to have an associate degree or less – 10.9% compared to less than 1% overall – and are less likely to hold a regular or standard teaching certificate – 80.5% compared to 89.8% overall.

Morale and Influence

Last but certainly not least, how do CTE teachers feel about the profession? Public CTE teachers report similar levels of satisfaction and dissatisfaction as teachers overall. Around 37% of public CTE teachers somewhat or strongly agree that they would leave teaching immediately if they could get a higher-paying job – about the same as all teachers (37.8%). On a positive note, 30.7% of all public school CTE teachers say they have a great deal of influence on curriculum – more than most other subject areas.

To learn more about this data, check out tables from the NTPS or perform your own data analysis with PowerStats.

Research Roundup: Work-Based and Experiential Learning

Understanding Experiential Learning Through Work-Based College Course Taking: Evidence from Transcript Data Using a Text Mining Technique: The Community College Research Center at Columbia University recently released a study that explored work-based coursetaking at the postsecondary level. This paper examined patterns of work-based coursetaking and post-degree labor market outcomes at two- and four-year public institutions using a text mining technique to identify these courses from college transcripts.

Researcher Rachel Yang Zhou found that 11% of enrollees and 31% of graduates at two-year colleges took a work-based learning course within six years of entering postsecondary education, while the same was true for 17% of enrollees and 29% of graduates at four-year institutions. Work-based coursetaking varied widely by field of study. Two-year college completers were most likely to pursue work-based courses in the fields of education, law and social and behavioral sciences, followed by business and skilled trades. At four-year institutions, graduates in education were far and away the most likely to take work-based courses. Individuals studying engineering, natural sciences and math were less likely to go for these types of experiences at both two- and four-year colleges.

In analyzing employment outcomes, the author concluded that taking work-based courses leads to better post-graduation employment within the first three years after attaining a degree. The earnings picture was more complicated, with some evidence that four-year graduates with work-based courses have higher earnings than their peers but that two-year graduates earn no more or even less than their peers. This could be related to differential wages across career fields as well as the relationship between community and technical college learners’ earnings while in school and their work-based course decisions. The researcher recommends that postsecondary administrators pay careful attention to how work-based courses interact with students’ other working opportunities.

From College to Career: Students’ Internship Expectations and Experiences: The Strada Education Foundation recently released a report that compared the internship expectations and outcomes of first-year university students to fourth-year students and soon-to-be graduates. In this research, internship is used as an umbrella term for internships, co-ops, field experience, student teaching and clinical placement.

Researchers found that 70% of first-year students expect to have an internship, yet less than 50% of fourth-year students have completed one.

Underrepresented groups such as African American and Latino students had high expectations – 69% and 67% of first years intended to participate in an internship, respectively – yet only 36% of African American students and 39% of Latino students actually did so. In comparison, 71% of white first-year students expected to participate in an internship and 54% of white fourth-year students did so.

Participation varied by first-generation student status, with this group of individuals less likely to participate (41%) than non-first-generation students (55%).

Women (50%) were more likely than men (44%) to participate in internships.

Seniors who had participated in internships reported more confidence in communicating their skills and experiences to potential employers.

These findings highlight the need for postsecondary institutions to expand access to work-based learning experiences and address gaps and disparities in participation.

A Status Report on Work-Based Learning in Construction: The National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) recently released a report on the status of work-based learning across the United States based on feedback from instructors who are members of the NCCER Craft Instructor Forum. These instructors come from postsecondary and secondary institutions as well as industrial training centers and contractor organizations.

Most respondents reported that the quality of work-based learning in their regions was average or better, and several cited the increase in adoption of work-based learning as a major win in the past three years. However, when asked to describe work-based learning in their region with one word, instructors responded minimal, lacking and underutilized, among similar terms.

To better support work-based learning in the construction industry, NCCER has developed a Connection Map that can help match CTE programs and training providers with industry partners for work-based learning, donations and other forms of collaboration.

CEF and CNSF Host Panel on the Importance of STEM Investments

On Wednesday, the Committee for Education Funding (CEF) and the Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF) co-hosted a webinar highlighting the importance of further investments in STEM. The panel spoke amid the House Appropriations Committee’s recent approval of FY 24 funding levels that could lead to a significant cut of almost 30% to the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill. With critical STEM education funding in jeopardy, the panel outlined the existing impact and further need for STEM investments.

Dr. Amy Burke of the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics presented her organization’s data regarding the development of STEM talent. When analyzing the composition of talent in STEM fields, she emphasized the prevalence of workers in the science- and engineering-related occupational group that did not hold a bachelor's degree. As conversations about STEM talent often focus on bachelor's degree holders, she provided a more inclusive view of the STEM field that highlighted the role of all workers. Additionally, Dr. Burke presented data that emphasized the significant underrepresentation of Black, Latino and Native American science and engineering degree recipients at the bachelor’s level and above relative to their population shares. Another gap identified was that students eligible for free or reduced lunch programs tested proficient in the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) science assessment significantly less than their peers. These data sets highlight areas that demand new or further investment in STEM education.

With the backdrop of this data, Dr. Andre Green, professor and Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs at the University of Southern Alabama, shared his personal STEM educational journey. He recounted underinvestment in STEM programs at his school in rural Georgia, but mentioned that his teachers' support and investments from the National Science Foundation propelled him to continue on a STEM path. He explained how he embodied the investment in STEM and is an example of why the government must allocate more funding to STEM education.

To facilitate such STEM education, Billy Mawhiney, Executive Director of the South Dakota Afterschool Network, emphasized the importance of after-school programs in providing students with exposure to STEM. To expand such exposure, his organization is developing “Think, Make, Create” Mobile Labs that will bring STEM activities to kids across South Dakota this summer. As part of these efforts, the organization particularly seeks to provide STEM experiences to Native American students who are underrepresented in STEM programs. This initiative and others with similar goals require further investments to create equitable access to STEM.

Presenting data, personal experiences and current initiatives, the panel highlighted the importance of STEM education and the need for greater investments. While not a focus of the panel specifically, supporting and expanding CTE programs is another important way to address the need to develop students with the knowledge and skills necessary for STEM-related jobs.

Research Roundup: Credit for Prior Learning, Microcredentials and Postsecondary Affordability

Credit for Prior Learning Messaging Toolkit: Advance CTE recently published a messaging toolkit focused on communicating about credit for prior learning (CPL) to increase the participation of adult learners pursuing career pathways and CTE programs of study for in-demand fields. This publication serves as a resource for postsecondary institutions and systems to develop messages and dissemination strategies to support CPL policy and increase use of CPL. Research shows that 49% of adult learners who earn CPL go on to complete their credential or degree, while only 27% with no CPL do so. Earning CPL also boosts completion rates for underrepresented learners with African American and Latino students and Pell Grant recipients with CPL earning credentials at more than twice the rate of their peers without CPL. Sample messages recommended by the toolkit for communicating with leaders, learners and postsecondary faculty and staff explain CPL and its benefits, demystify the application process and correct myths about CPL. This toolkit is a companion to Advance CTE’s Embedding Credit for Prior Learning in Career Pathways Policy Benchmark Tool.

Integrating Microcredentials into Undergraduate Experiences: Workcred and the University of Texas System recently released a report on re-imagining the undergraduate experience by integrating microcredentials. This report describes microcredentials, factors to consider when building or selecting a microcredential, and the relationship between microcredentials and badges, among other things. Researchers note that when developing a microcredential program, the following points are crucial to provide maximum utility for students seeking to better their career outcomes through these types of programs:

Microcredentials should be developed to provide career-focused skills that prepare and connect students to professional opportunities like internships or directed study programs.
Understanding the differences between credit and non-credit-bearing microcredentials is crucial as they lead to different outcomes for different populations.
Undergraduates, graduates, incumbent workers and continuing education students can all benefit from microcredentials, but a program should be designed with only one population in mind.

Paving The Path to Debt-Free College: The Institute for College Access & Success recently published a report on expenses, funding and barriers to access to the postsecondary education system in the United States, as well as what current and persistent problems within the system mean for the future of students. Researchers highlighted community colleges and CTE-focused education as important parts of the vision of postsecondary education as a public good that is accessible to all. The publication also delves into funding for educational institutions defined as Regional Comprehensive Universities (RCUs), Rural Serving Institutions (RSIs) and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) as compared to flagship and research institutions. Researchers find that most undergraduate students (86%) are enrolled in either an RSI, RCU or MSI while only 14% are enrolled at selective flagships and research institutions. Despite this statistic, flagship and research institutions receive an endowment per FTE student of over $260,000 in comparison to just under $19,000 for RSIs, RCUs and MSIs. RSIs, RCUs and MSIs also have higher average institutional expenses per FTE student than research institutions and flagships, compounding this inequity.

The researchers call for achieving a more affordable college experience for all by such considerations as directly delivering funds to campuses and using allocation metrics that align with the unique institutional characteristics of RSIs, RCUs and MSIs.

Updated Resource: Construction and Architecture Sector Sheet

Today ACTE has released CTE: Developing the Construction and Architecture Workforce, the second in our revamped series of Sector Sheets describing CTE’s role in growing the workforce for vital industry sectors. The Sector Sheet series is published with support from ACTE’s long-time partner Pearson.

These revised Sector Sheets include job opportunities in each sector and descriptions of how CTE prepares learners for the workforce in each sector, all in a new format featuring more streamlined text and additional graphics to make these advocacy tools even more effective.

The Construction and Architecture Sector Sheet describes occupations, earnings and credentials that can help individuals enter and progress in careers in residential and commercial construction, infrastructure construction, and architecture and engineering. It also shares how CTE prepares learners for construction and architecture careers through courses, education and industry credentials, work-based learning, career and technical student organizations, and more. The data demonstrates the importance of CTE to developing this workforce, which currently employs around 7.9 million people and needs more than 700,000 new workers annually to fulfill the country’s building needs.

As we move forward with the revamped Sector Sheets, both the newer and older Sector Sheets will remain available on the ACTE Sector Sheet webpage for download and use. We encourage you to share these tools with students, counselors, policymakers and others to spread the message about CTE and its benefits for students and the workforce.

Research Roundup: Condition of Education Report, Non-Degree Credentialing Research

Condition of Education 2023: The Institute of Education Sciences recently released its Condition of Education 2023 report with an overarching theme that educational institutions are still recovering from the pandemic. Enrollment at the K-12 level remains below pre-pandemic levels. In addition, the report notes that 70% of public schools have seen an increase in students seeking mental health services. To support these needs and address pandemic learning losses, more than 70% of public schools are engaging in student assessment, summer enrichment programs, remedial instruction, and mental health and trauma support. On a positive note, the average high school graduation rate increased from 79% in 2010-11 to 87% in 2019-20.

Teacher vacancies are another challenge facing K-12 education. In 2020-21, 31% of public schools reported having difficulty filling CTE teaching positions in comparison to 20% in 2011-12. Additionally, the number of individuals completing traditional teacher preparation programs decreased by 28% between 2012-13 and 2019-20.

On the postsecondary level, between fall 2010 and fall 2021, undergraduate enrollment at two-year colleges decreased from 7.7 million to 4.7 million students (a 39% drop). The decline was relatively steady across the decade, with a slightly larger decrease during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition:

Slightly fewer postsecondary certificates were conferred in 2020–21 than in 2010-11.
In 2020-21, associate degrees were awarded predominantly in liberal arts, humanities and general studies; health professions; and business fields.
Since 2010-11, the number of associate degrees awarded has decreased the most in homeland security, law enforcement and firefighting fields and engineering technologies.

Recent Developments and New Opportunities for Non-degree Credentialing Research: The George Washington University Non-degree Credentials Research Network recently released a report on developments and opportunities for non-degree credentialing research such as new sources of data, increasing federal interest in credentialing and the skilled technical workforce, and the rise in state-level tools for career navigation. The document highlights initiatives and research that are driving change in the non-degree ecosystem:

The U.S. Census Bureau’s National Training, Education and Workforce Survey, which launched in the field in 2022. This survey will be longitudinal, enabling researchers to study non-degree credential attainment over the next decade.
Research from the RAND Corporation found that returns from non-degree credential attainment are concentrated in a higher probability of employment for women and in higher earnings for men.
Research by the University of Virginia Biocomplexity Institute and Initiative and others that is supporting interactive mapping of credential demand by geographical region.
Data analysis and solutions from Opportunity @ Work and others focused on workers who are STARs: “skilled through alternate routes” other than a bachelor’s degree.

The publication also highlights the Learn & Work Ecosystem Library, a crowd-sourced online library that collects, curates and coordinates resources to support the learn-and-work ecosystem.

Findings from Virginia’s FastForward Programs: This Brookings Institute article examines the rising popularity of noncredit workforce training programs as a solution to the growing skills gap that is preventing employers from filling over 10 million job vacancies, according to May 2023 Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The authors report that noncredit CTE programs account for more than 2.5 million students enrolled in the community college system. However, a barrier to wider implementation of these programs is that researchers know very little about the characteristics of participating students, the rates at which they graduate and earn workforce-relevant credentials, and whether their respective CTE programs truly lead to improved workforce outcomes.

One exception is Virginia’s FastForward initiative, which helps students pay for short-term, non-credit programs that can lead to high-paying jobs in high-demand industries while tracking student data and could serve as a model for a similar nationwide system. Research findings include the following about FastForward programs:

They attract a higher share of Black students, male students and older students than short-term, for-credit programs at community colleges.
Most enrollees do not have prior enrollment in credit-bearing programs, and less than 14% have pursued subsequent credit-bearing education.
Credential attainment rates are high, with 70.1% of students earning an industry credential within six months.

Research Roundup: Community College Financing, Early Postsecondary Credit and Informational Inequity

The Community College Research Center (CCRC) recently released multiple publications covering the effects of community college finance systems, college-credit-in-high-school programs and the role of information inequality in postsecondary outcomes.

Budgets as Value Statements: Mapping How Finance Systems Drive or Reduce Inequities in Community Colleges: This publication underlines the importance of community colleges for postsecondary education and workforce training but notes that these institutions’ potential for improving economic outcomes and equity of opportunity remains unrealized due to inadequate funding and ineffective finance systems. To remedy this and find potential solutions, the CCRC researchers analyzed the funding mechanisms of community colleges in California, Ohio and Texas. Researchers found the following:

The finance systems of all three states are tied to enrollment incentives, particularly in California where 80% of the financing relates to enrollment.
The percentage of revenue tied to student outcomes is lowest in Texas (3%) and highest in Ohio (42%).
Incentives for equitable student outcomes were strongest in Ohio.

The researchers recommend that states begin by mapping their existing revenue streams and related policies as part of efforts to help community colleges better meet goals for postsecondary attainment and career preparation.

Assessing College-Credit-in-High-School Programs as On-Ramps to Postsecondary Career Pathways for Underrepresented Students: In this report, CCRC researchers analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of earning postsecondary credit in high school through the five most common models – AP, IB, dual enrollment, early college high schools and P-TECH schools, and high school CTE programs – to assess how well they serve their intended purposes. The point of this brief is not to select the best model but rather to analyze these models’ strengths and weaknesses to allow practitioners in the field to identify areas for improvement.

Researchers reviewed relevant research and concluded the following about high school CTE:

There is evidence that CTE programs impact college-going, with concentrators being 7% more likely than non-concentrators to graduate high school and 10% more likely to enroll in a postsecondary program within two years.
CTE produces strong labor market outcomes, with career academy participants being likely to earn sustainable salaries post-graduation.
College credit in high school earned through CTE does not always transfer to postsecondary institutions, which speaks to the need for regional CTE networks to improve articulation across secondary and postsecondary programs.

Researchers also encouraged practitioners to consider other factors such as outreach, advising, quality teaching and academic support as part of a multifaceted solution for improving postsecondary outcomes for students, especially those from an underrepresented background.

Choice Is Not Always Good: Reducing the Role of Informational Inequality in Producing and Legitimating Higher Education Inequality: This CCRC report analyzes the societal inequalities that are perpetuated when students make uninformed choices about postsecondary pathways. The researchers emphasize that students from underrepresented backgrounds are more likely to fall victim to the problem of informational inequity when making their postsecondary pathway choices. In this report, they seek to help educators and administrators better understand this inequity gap and ultimately lessen it, to help more students find the right paths for them. The researchers make the following recommendations as potential solutions:

Expanding college and career advising is crucial: According to a 2011 survey by the College Board, in schools where 75% or more of students were receiving free or reduced-price school lunch, the average student-to-counselor ratio was 427-to-1 while schools with wealthier students have a 352-to-1 ratio.
Implementing “choice architecture” such as guided pathways could simplify the choices students have to make and nudge them toward pathways that are a better fit.
Tracking student progress could enable practitioners and counselors to intervene when needed.