QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT MEASURING UP 2000

. . . . Measuring Up 2000 provides state leaders with the objective information they need to assess and improve higher education. . . . .

Many other publications offer ratings and rankings of colleges around the country. Measuring Up grades states—not individual colleges and universities—on their performance in higher education because it is the states that establish the basic guidelines for education and training beyond high school.

Why is a state-by-state report card needed for higher education?
Measuring Up 2000 provides state leaders with the objective information they need to assess and improve higher education. State leaders have access to many types of comparative information on economic trends, children's health, and K–12 education. Through Measuring Up, state leaders for the first time can access comparative information on state performance in higher education—information that can help them identify the strengths and weaknesses of higher education in their state.

What do you mean by "higher education"?
Higher education refers to all education and training beyond high school, including all public and private, two- and four-year, profit and nonprofit institutions.

Why are private institutions included in the report card?
Measuring Up provides states with an overall picture of their performance in higher education. Since private colleges and universities play a crucial role in providing opportunity and helping students achieve their educational goals, state higher education policy must be responsive to the opportunities offered by private institutions. Most states provide financial aid for students who enroll in either public or private colleges and universities; some states provide direct support to their private colleges. Measuring Up documents the effects these state policies have on opportunity for and achievement in higher education in the state.

What is graded in the report card?
The report card grades states in six performance categories: academic preparation, participation, affordability, completion, benefits, and student learning.
Preparation measures how well a state's K–12 schools prepare students for college-level education and training. The opportunities that residents have to enroll in and benefit from higher education depend heavily on the performance of their state's high schools.
Participation addresses the opportunities for state residents to enroll in higher education. A strong grade in participation generally indicates that state residents have high individual expectations for education and that the state provides enough spaces and types of educational programs for its residents.
Affordability measures whether students and families can afford to pay for higher education, given economic circumstances, financial aid and the types of colleges and universities in the state.
Completion addresses whether students continue through their educational programs and earn certificates or degrees in a timely manner. Certificates and degrees from one- and two-year programs as well as the bachelor's degree are included.
Benefits includes the economic and social benefits that the state receives as the result of having well-educated residents.
Learning is included to address the academic achievement of students in college-level education and training programs. All the states receive an Incomplete in this category.

Why do all the states receive an Incomplete for their performance in student learning?
How much and what students learn in college is perhaps the most important criterion for measuring success in higher education. Despite assessment activities in many states, however, there are currently no common benchmarks for student learning that would allow meaningful state-to-state comparisons. The Incomplete grade highlights a gap in our ability as a nation to say something meaningful about what students learn in college. (See "Grading Student Learning: Better Luck Next Time.")

What information is provided but not graded?
The State Profiles provide important information that is not graded—either because the data are not available for all the states or because the information, though useful, is not based on performance outcomes. For instance, the State Profiles highlight gaps in state performance in providing opportunities for different income and ethnic groups as well as substantial changes in state performance over the last ten years. The State Profiles also provide information on the state's population, its economy and its system of higher education—information that is helpful in providing a context for understanding performance.

Do states receive "credit" for facing difficult circumstances?
No. The grades are based solely on performance. In the State Profiles, however, "leading indicators" are provided, and these include economic projections and social measures that identify some of the long-term policy challenges facing the state.

What sources of information were used to determine the grades?

. . . . The National Center encourages states to add their own data to the report card's categories to create a more detailed picture of state performance. . . . .

All the information in Measuring Up 2000 was collected from national, reliable sources, including the U.S. Census and the U.S. Department of Education. All data are the most current available (in most cases from 1998), are in the public domain, and were collected in ways that allow effective comparisons among the states. Refer to Methodology for information about sources for each indicator.

Does Measuring Up take into account promising state policies that have recently been introduced?
Some state policies—for example, the type and level of financial aid the state provides to its residents—can have an immediate effect on performance. Other state policies—for example, attempts to address the historic underrepresentation of low-income students—may not yet be reflected in the performance data. Recent policy initiatives are highlighted in "Some States to Watch."

How is state performance determined?
Each performance category includes several indicators or quantitative measures—a total of 30 in the five categories for which grades are given. Grades were calculated based on each state's performance on these indicators, as explained in "How We Grade."

Does the report card grade on a curve?
No. The grades are determined by comparing each state to the best-performing states for each indicator.

What grading scale is used?
As shown in "How We Grade," the grades are based on the familiar 100-point scale: An "A" represents a score of 90 or above, and an "F" represents a score below 60.

Does the report card use data unique to a particular state?
Measuring Up 2000 uses data that are comparable for all the states. As a result, some states may find that their own internal data present a somewhat different picture of the state's strengths and weaknesses in higher education. The National Center encourages states to add their own data to the report card's categories to create a more detailed picture of state performance.

What happens if data are missing for a state?
When information is not available on a particular indicator, we assume that a state is doing no better or worse on that particular indicator than it is on the other indicators in that performance category. In effect, the missing score is imputed from the scores on those other indicators.

To what extent do the grades reflect the wealth or the race and ethnicity of the state's population?

The National Center's analysis indicates that about 25% of the distribution of grades across the 50 states is associated with factors like wealth and economic vitality. About a tenth is associated with race and ethnicity.

How does the report card account for the migration of people across state lines?
Migration affects two of the performance categories: participation and benefits. One of the indicators in the participation category accounts for the migration of young people, but the other indicator, due to limitations in the collection of the data, does not. To provide a context for the grades in participation, net migration for each state is reported in the State Profiles. In the benefits category, states receive credit for having an educated population since states reap the economic and social rewards whether or not residents received their education in that state. With the exception of the benefits category, all other graded performance categories recognize states for developing rather than importing talent.

Does the report card evaluate graduate education and research?
No.Colleges and universities perform many valuable functions besides those measured in Measuring Up 2000, including research, graduate and professional education, public service, and economic development. This first edition of Measuring Up focuses on education and training through the bachelor's degree because this is an area where all states have major policy responsibilities whether or not they have substantial commitment to other higher education functions. Systematic measures for evaluation and comparison of collegiate education and training have not been developed on a national basis, as is the case, for instance, with research and graduate education.

How often will the report card be published?
Every two years. The next report cards will be released in 2002 and 2004.

Step 3. Identify top states for each indicator

State results on each indicator are converted to a scale of 0 to 100, using the top five states as the benchmark. This establishes a high, but achievable standard of performance.

Step 4. Identify best state for each category

State scores for each category are calculated from the state's results on the indicators and the indicators' weights. These category scores are converted to a scale of 0 to 100 based on the performance of the top state in the category.

Step 5. Assign grades

Grades are assigned based on the category scores, using a grading scale common in many high school and college classes.