Higher Education Data Systems

Catalog description

Being a proficient consumer or capable producer of data-driven insights requires knowledge of higher education context and policy, a firm handle on research methods, and familiarity with the various sources of available data. In this class, we will explore postsecondary data sets at the national, state, and institutional levels, discuss the kinds of insights these data sets allow, and investigate the shortcomings inherent in these data. By reading recent examples of published work using these data sets and through hands-on activities, we will explore social, political, financial, and ethical issues related to evaluation in higher education. A central goal of this class is to give students the opportunity to work with a variety of data sets and learn to report key findings from the data.