Measuring Up 2004

1
Measuring Up 2004

• Illinois

2
Measuring Up The Basics

• Looks at higher education for the entire state,
  not individual colleges and universities.
• Focuses on undergraduate education and training
  beyond high school.
• Measures performance, not effort.
• Diagnostic rather than prescriptive.
• New this year progress over the past decade.

3
Measuring Up The Basics

• Six categories of performance (five graded).
• Grades benchmarked to best performing states.
• Uses nationally comparable data, available from
  public sources.
• Uses the most recent data available.
• In general, data have a two-year time lag.
• Affordability data are one year old.

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Measuring Up Graded Categories

• Preparation How adequately are students being
  prepared for education and training beyond high
  school?
• Participation Do state residents enroll in
  education and training beyond high school?
• Affordability How affordable is higher
  education for students and their families?
• Completion Do students make progress toward and
  complete certificates and degrees in a timely
  manner?
• Benefits What benefits does the state receive
  as a result of having a more highly-educated
  population?
• Learning What is known about student learning
  as a result of education and training beyond high
  school?

5
National TrendsOver the Past Decade

• Eight states improved substantially in
  Preparation as well as in Participation.
• Thirty-six states, including Illinois, improved
  substantially in Preparation but failed to
  improve in Participation.
• Almost all states, including Illinois, have lost
  ground in Affordability.

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Over the Past Decade, Illinois Has Slipped in
Providing College Opportunities to Youth and in
Making College Affordable
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ILLINOIS
2004 Report Card
Preparation Participation Affordability Completion
Benefits Learning
B
A
D
B
B-

8
ILLINOIS
Improvement Over Past Decade

Preparation
Participation
Affordability
Completion
Benefits
Learning
What do the arrows mean?
Improved on more than half of the indicators in
the category.
Improved on some, but no more than half, of the
indicators in the category.
Declined on every indicator in the category.
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Preparation
ILLINOIS
2004 Grade
Improvement Over Decade
B
10
NATIONAL SNAPSHOT
Preparation
11
MIDWESTERN REGION
Preparation
Illinois performance in Preparation is in the
middle of the Midwestern states.
100
87
90
Grades
80
A A- B B B- C C C- D D D- F
93 and up 90-92 87-89 83-86 80-82
77-79 73-76 70-72 67-69 63-66 60-62
Below 60
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
MI
IN
OH
MO
KS
NE
IL
IA
MN
WI
Midwestern States
12
Preparation
ILLINOIS

• STRENGTHS
• 8th graders perform well on national assessments
  in math and reading.
• Over 70 of secondary school students taught by
  qualified teachers. Compares well with
  best-performing states. Percentage has
  increasedmore than nationwide improvement on
  this measure.

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Preparation
ILLINOIS

• STRENGTHS
• Students have consistently performed very well on
  college entrance exams, outperforming students in
  other states.

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Preparation
ILLINOIS

• WEAKNESSES
• Low-income 8th graders perform very poorly on
  math exams. All 8th graders perform poorly on
  science exams.

15
Participation
ILLINOIS
2004 Grade
Improvement Over Decade
A
16
NATIONAL SNAPSHOT
Participation
17
MIDWESTERN REGION
Participation
Illinois performance in Participation is in the
middle of the Midwestern states.
100
95
90
Grades
80
A A- B B B- C C C- D D D- F
93 and up 90-92 87-89 83-86 80-82
77-79 73-76 70-72 67-69 63-66 60-62
Below 60
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
IN
OH
MO
WI
IA
MI
IL
MN
NE
KS
Midwestern States
18
Participation
ILLINOIS

• STRENGTHS
• Top state in percentage of working-age adults
  enrolled part-time in college-level education or
  training. However, state declined on this measure
  over decade.

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Participation
ILLINOIS

• WEAKNESSES
• Likelihood of 9th grader enrolling in college
  four years later declined by 13, while nation
  declined 3. Primarily due to drop in percentage
  of students graduating from high school.
• Among young adult population, college
  participation rate for minority ethnic groups
  declined.

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Participation
ILLINOIS

• WEAKNESSES
• About 14 of adults do not have high school
  diploma or equivalent (mirroring nation), making
  them ineligible for higher education.

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Affordability
ILLINOIS
2004 Grade
Improvement Over Decade
D
22
NATIONAL SNAPSHOT
Affordability
23
MIDWESTERN REGION
Affordability
Illinois performance in Affordability is among
the best in the Midwest however, overall
performance in the region is poor.
100
90
Grades
80
A A- B B B- C C C- D D D- F
93 and up 90-92 87-89 83-86 80-82
77-79 73-76 70-72 67-69 63-66 60-62
Below 60
66
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
OH
MO
IA
MI
KS
NE
IN
WI
IL
MN
Midwestern States
24
Affordability
ILLINOIS

• STRENGTHS
• Provides high level of need-based financial aid
  for students. However, recent policy decisions
  have begun to undermine this historic high level
  of performance.

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Affordability
ILLINOIS

• WEAKNESSES
• Net college costs for low- and middle-income
  students to attend community colleges represent
  about 32 of annual family income. These
  institutions enroll over 50 of college students.

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Completion
ILLINOIS
2004 Grade
Improvement Over Decade
B
27
NATIONAL SNAPSHOT
Completion
28
MIDWESTERN REGION
Completion
Illinois performance in Completion is in the
middle of the Midwestern states.
100
90
86
Grades
80
A A- B B B- C C C- D D D- F
93 and up 90-92 87-89 83-86 80-82
77-79 73-76 70-72 67-69 63-66 60-62
Below 60
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
MI
KS
OH
NE
IN
IL
MO
MN
WI
IA
Midwestern States
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Completion
ILLINOIS

• STRENGTHS
• Very high percentage of freshmen at four-year
  colleges and universities returning for second
  year.
• Increase in proportion of students completing
  certificates and degrees relative to number
  enrolled, with greatest growth in certificates
  awarded.

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Completion
ILLINOIS

• STRENGTHS
• Gaps narrowed between whites and all minority
  ethnic groups in proportions of students
  completing certificates and degrees relative to
  numbers enrolled. However, substantial gaps
  remain.

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Benefits
ILLINOIS
2004 Grade
Improvement Over Decade
B-
32
NATIONAL SNAPSHOT
Benefits
33
MIDWESTERN REGION
Benefits
Illinois performance in Benefits is in the
middle of the Midwestern states.
100
90
82
Grades
80
A A- B B B- C C C- D D D- F
93 and up 90-92 87-89 83-86 80-82
77-79 73-76 70-72 67-69 63-66 60-62
Below 60
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
IN
IA
WI
OH
IL
MO
NE
KS
MI
MN
Midwestern States
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Benefits
ILLINOIS

• STRENGTHS
• Fairly high proportion of residents have
  bachelors degree.

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Benefits
ILLINOIS

• ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
• If all ethnic groups had same educational
  attainment and earnings as whites, total personal
  income in state would be about 8.7 billion
  higher, and state would realize an estimated 3
  billion in additional tax revenues.

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Learning
ILLINOIS
Five states, including Illinois, receive a plus
grade for their efforts to assess and measure
Learning at a statewide level through their
participation in a national pilot project.

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Learning
NATIONAL SNAPSHOT
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Learning
GRADING LEARNING

• The pilot project measured the states in terms
  of
• Literacy levels of the states residents What
  are the abilities of the college-educated?
• Graduates readiness for advanced practice How
  well do colleges and universities enable students
  to contribute to the workforce?
• Performance of college graduates How
  effectively can college graduates communicate and
  solve problems?

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Learning
ILLINOIS
Results Illinois historically has a strong and
well-funded higher education system, a diverse
economy, and relatively high levels of
educational attainment. The states performance
on Learning is generally above the national
average.
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Learning
ILLINOIS

• Results
• High literacy levels suggest above-average
  abilities of the population to perform real-world
  tasks.
• Lower-than-average proportions of college
  graduates appear ready to enter licensed
  technical careers or professions.

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Learning
ILLINOIS

• Results
• Higher-than-average proportions of college
  graduates appear prepared for traditional
  graduate study.
• College graduates performance on direct measures
  of student learning is above average.

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ILLINOIS

• Policy Questions

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Policy Questions
ILLINOIS

• Can Illinois increase the number of students who
  finish high school within four years and enroll
  in college thereafter?
• Can the states community colleges be made more
  affordable, particularly for low- and
  middle-income residents?

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Policy Questions
ILLINOIS

• Can Illinois improve its finance policies (for
  example, by linking appropriations, tuition, and
  financial aid) to provide more affordable higher
  education?
• Can Illinois close the gaps in educational
  achievement between high- and low-income
  residents?

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For More Information

• Full State Report
• Measuring Up 2004 http//measuringup.highereducati
  on.org
• About the Center
• The National Center for Public Policy and Higher
  Education http//www.highereducation.org