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College Data

The Office of Institutional Effectiveness (IE) conducts independent gathering of data, information, analytics, and evidence that support evaluation and strategic decision-making in order to better support students at Bunker Hill Community College. IE focuses our research and evaluation around the following Key Performance Metrics using the Data Sources below.

Key Performance Metrics

IE, in conjunction with the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, regularly reports on the following Key Performance Metrics:

Access Metrics

  • Fall Undergraduate Enrollment Headcount
  • Graduate Enrollment Trends
  • Enrollment Representation of Underserved Populations
  • Enrollment of Pell Students

Student Success and Completion Metrics

  • On-Time Credit Accumulation
  • Timely Completion of Gateway Course in Math and English
  • Fall-to-Fall Retention Rates
  • Fall-to-Spring Persistence Rates
  • Six-Year Comprehensive Student Success
  • Course Success Rates
  • Transfer Rates

Data Sources

In order to report on these metrics, IE utilizes multiple sources of data/opportunities for data collection and analysis:

Institutional Student Records

Data gathered through the BHCC’s student information system includes all student

  • Student demographics
  • Student Financial Aid awards (including Pell)
  • Student program and course enrollment
  • Enrollment trends
  • Course success
  • Retention
  • Persistence
  • Graduation

Data from institutional student records is available on an ongoing basis. Official course or semester enrollment indicators are typically available about one month after the start of the Fall and Spring semesters. Official success indicators (course success, grade distributions, etc.) are typically available one month after the end of the Fall and Spring semesters.

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)

IPEDS is a system of interrelated surveys conducted on an annual basis by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a part of the Institute for Education Sciences within the United States Department of Education. IPEDS surveys are completed by BHCC in order to comply with federal regulations. Data in the following areas are provided:

  • Tuition, fees, and estimated student expenses
  • Financial Aid
  • Net price
  • Enrollment (Fall only)
  • Retention (First-time, full-time students only)
  • Graduation Rates (150% and 200% time, first-time, full-time students only)
  • Success Outcome Measures (including completion, transfer, and continued enrollment)
  • Human Resources
  • Academic Libraries
  • Finance

IPEDS surveys are collected throughout the academic year and public results are typically available online in summer.

Higher Education Information Resource System (HEIRS)

HEIRS is a state database managed by the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education (DHE) that includes data on student enrollment, demographics, admissions, available programs/majors, course records, graduation awards, and Financial Aid. All Massachusetts state institutions must report HEIRS throughout the academic year. Results are publicly displayed as they relate to the DHE performance metrics.

National Student Clearinghouse

Data gathered from the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) provides IE with information on students’ post-secondary enrollment both prior to coming and after attending BHCC. This helps us identify whether students have attended college before attending BHCC and helps us to identify where students transfer to after leaving BHCC. With data from NSC, IE can identify:

  • First Time in College (FTIC) students
  • Feeder schools (post-secondary), including name and type (2-year or 4-year)
  • Transfer schools, including name and type (2-year or 4-year)
  • Dates of enrollment
  • Degrees attained at other post-secondary institutions

NSC enrollment data is typically available two months after the start of the Fall and Spring semesters, typically November and March.

Graduate Follow-Up Survey

Six to nine months after graduating from BHCC, graduates are contacted by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness via mail and email in order to understand the graduates’ progress after leaving BHCC. It is important to understand the impact that the students’ experience and studies at BHCC has on their continued education and career. The graduate survey gives the opportunity to give any feedback or comments on their experiences at BHCC. Students are asked questions about:

  • Continuing education status
  • Employment status

BHCC confers degrees in winter and summer, and students are contacted six to nine months after graduation. Data from the graduate follow-up survey is available in Spring for the prior academic years’ graduates.

Voluntary Framework of Accountability (VFA)

Managed by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), the VFA is helpful in identifying and tracking metrics that more adequately capture who community college students are and how they are successful within and beyond the institution that they currently attend. BHCC submits yearly data to the VFA and looks at two and six-year outcomes of three different student cohorts (first time in college, first time at BHCC, and credential-seeking) and metrics that include:

  • Successful first term
  • Two-year success rate
  • Two-year credit attainment
  • Developmental and gateway coursework completion (Reading, English, Math)
  • Comprehensive six-year outcomes
    • Attainment of an Associate degree
    • Attainment of a Certificate
    • Still enrolled
    • Transfer (after receiving credential and without receiving a credential)
    • Left with fewer than 30 credits
    • Left with 30 or more credits

VFA data can be disaggregated by race/ethnicity, gender, Pell recipient, . The VFA also allows for benchmarking against other similar community colleges in the US on each of the metrics above, as well as with each disaggregated student subgroup.

BHCC has participated in the VFA each year since 2015. Results are released in August of each year.

Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE)

CCSSE is a national survey of student engagement that has been validated through years of thorough, peer-reviewed research and is managed by the University of Texas at Austin. CCSSE focuses on five benchmark areas that individually are associated with or predictive of student success (course completion, persistence, retention, completion, etc.). Benchmark areas are:

  • Active and Collaborative Learning
  • Student Effort
  • Academic Challenge
  • Student-Faculty Interaction
  • Support for Learners

BHCC has participated in CCSSE most recently in 2011, 2012, 2015, and 2016. Data are collected during spring semesters and are released in the late summer of each year.

Student Surveys and Focus Groups

Students are routinely invited to participate in student surveys and focus groups organized and/or facilitated by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, as well as organized by other offices across the BHCC campus. Such surveys or focus groups are conducted on an as-needed basis as part of the continuous evaluation and improvement of BHCC programs, initiatives, and practices.

Labor Market Data

BHCC uses multiple sources of labor market data in order to inform program or course creation, program or course review, and institutional goals. Overall, these sources can provide the following data, at varying national, state, and regional levels:

  • Current demand by industry and/or occupational code
  • Growth projections by industry and/or occupational code
  • Details by occupational code or description on average pay, skills, and demand
  • Academic degree or certificate offerings by program/content area

Burning Glass Technologies – Labor Insights

Labor Insights provides trended data, beginning in 2010, on city, county, metropolitan area, state, and national data around current labor market trends. This includes:

  • Top industries
  • Top employers
  • Location demand by job postings
  • Projected 10-year growth
  • Industries and related jobs
  • Skills, experience and certifications required

Burning Glass Technologies – Program Insights

Program Insights provides trended data on academic award conferrals by academic institutions as well as an overview of skills needed. This includes:

Number of conferrals by program

  • Correlation of degree conferrals and job demands
  • Job growth disaggregated by type of degree
  • Skill growth and demand

Massachusetts’ Department of Higher Education Employment Data

Data gathered by DHE provides trended analysis of graduates from Massachusetts public higher education institutions from 2010 on. Data are available disagreed by major and include:

  • Number of graduates
  • Continued education after graduation
  • Employment in Massachusetts after graduation
  • Wage data in employed in Massachusetts after graduation