Higher Education - Program Completions

What is this measure? The Colorado Department of Higher Education tracks several statistics related to student enrollment and outcomes at public universities and community colleges.

Why do we track this? Post secondary education is a key component of the workforce talent pipeline. These public institutions provide post-secondary educational opportunities for lifelong learning. Completions tells us about the types of credentials earned by community members in the recent past. We can ask questions about how well training programs are aligned to job openings. We can consider how the skills and knowledge proven by program completers could be applied to new opportunities locally. Many of the questions that can be answered with this data require the detailed data available through the Colorado Department of Higher Education or the individual school's institutional research offices. Limitations to this data: Comparing community college data to university student enrollment and outcome data is not typically appropriate. Universities and community colleges generally have different missions and educational structures. For example, Universities typically have competitive application processes and community colleges are more likely to be able to include a much larger portion of students who apply to take classes or work toward a credential.

Why did we use this source? The Colorado Department of Higher Education assembles and shares this data using a standard format for all public 2-year and 4-year institutions in Colorado.

What other sources have this information? All higher education institutions that participate in Federal financial assistance program are required to participate in IPEDS reporting. IPEDS data may capture additional enrollments at a range of private educational institutions including trade schools and for-profit colleges. IPEDS and individual school data include additional level of detail, such as majors or departments of enrollment.