Understanding the Impact of Data-Driven Accreditor Practices on Student Outcomes
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| Title: | Understanding the Impact of Data-Driven Accreditor Practices on Student Outcomes |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Cameron Childress, Elizabeth Davidson Pisacreta, James Dean Ward, Ithaka S+R |
| Source: | ITHAKA S+R. 2026. |
| Availability: | ITHAKA S+R. Available from: ITHAKA. One Liberty Plaza, 165 Broadway 5th Floor, New York, NY 10006. Tel: 212-500-2355; e-mail: ithakasr@ithaka.org; Web site: https://sr.ithaka.org |
| Peer Reviewed: | N |
| Page Count: | 38 |
| Publication Date: | 2026 |
| Sponsoring Agency: | Arnold Ventures |
| Document Type: | Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Higher Education Postsecondary Education |
| Descriptors: | Data Use, Decision Making, Accreditation (Institutions), Outcomes of Education, College Graduates, Educational Attainment, School Holding Power, Full Time Students, Student Loan Programs, Loan Default, Graduation Rate, Undergraduate Students, College Enrollment, Student Financial Aid |
| DOI: | 10.18665/sr.324688 |
| Abstract: | This paper examines whether the adoption of data-driven practices by the seven former regional accreditors is associated with measurable changes in student outcomes. The authors document when accreditors introduced four observable practices--public dashboards, public-facing reports, peer benchmarking policies, and internal dashboards--and compare the onset of those practices with resulting changes in student outcomes, including graduation, completion, full-time retention, and student loan default rates between 2014 and 2023. Through this research the authors find modest and short-lived associations between adoption and improvements in retention and cohort default rates in the four-year sector and some evidence of improved graduation rates in the two-year sector. The results suggest that data transparency and benchmarking, on their own, are not strong levers for shifting institutional behavior and are better understood as reinforcing existing accountability structures rather than transforming them. |
| Abstractor: | ERIC |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | ED681040 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | This paper examines whether the adoption of data-driven practices by the seven former regional accreditors is associated with measurable changes in student outcomes. The authors document when accreditors introduced four observable practices--public dashboards, public-facing reports, peer benchmarking policies, and internal dashboards--and compare the onset of those practices with resulting changes in student outcomes, including graduation, completion, full-time retention, and student loan default rates between 2014 and 2023. Through this research the authors find modest and short-lived associations between adoption and improvements in retention and cohort default rates in the four-year sector and some evidence of improved graduation rates in the two-year sector. The results suggest that data transparency and benchmarking, on their own, are not strong levers for shifting institutional behavior and are better understood as reinforcing existing accountability structures rather than transforming them. |
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| DOI: | 10.18665/sr.324688 |
