Each dashboard can be used to explore fundamental information about higher education in Pennsylvania. The dashboards take publicly- and already-reported data and present them in easy-to-understand graphics. Users can sort information with a range of filters as well.
The initial set of dashboards focus on five topics: Enrollment; Attainment of Credentials and Degrees; College Costs; Higher Education Funding and Finance; and Postsecondary Workforce Credential Supply, Demand, and Gaps. The Main Menu page of each dashboard provides a brief description of each visualization contained in that dashboard, and each also contains an overview of data sources and definitions of variables included in the dashboard. A more technical and comprehensive overview of the dashboard data and analysis can be found in the Technical Appendix.
There are two ways to navigate the dashboards. If you are interested in a specific topic or visualization, select that visualization from the Main Menu page. Users can also navigate through visualizations by using either the arrows or “accordion” located at the bottom of each visualization. For illustrative purposes, the accordion and arrows are marked by the red boxes in the screenshot taken from the Enrollment dashboard below.
Each dashboard also contains a set of filters that help users sort information based on their interests.
The dashboards focused on Enrollment, Attainment, and College Costs contain filters that allow comparisons across institution types and region and provide trends over time. Institution-specific information is also available. The Higher Education Finance dashboard provides state-level data on various sources of revenue for higher education and allows users to compare the amounts of different kinds of revenue received by higher education institutions in Pennsylvania to that in other states. The Postsecondary Workforce Credential Supply, Demand, and Gaps dashboard allows comparisons of supply, demand, and gaps by region and across career clusters.
The data dashboards provide descriptive information about a range of important higher education topics. This information is foundational to an understanding of some of the most important trends and elements of the sector.
The dashboards do not explain the underlying causes of trends or variations. Rather, they provide a starting point for conversations and analyses that can more deeply explore the complex contextual factors that contribute to observable patterns.
The data shown on the dashboards are drawn from sources that are either publicly available or already reported by higher education institutions. They are trusted, widely-used datasets that are routinely examined and used by researchers, state agencies, and postsecondary institutions.
- U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and College Scorecard;
- State Higher Education Executive Officers’ (SHEEO) State Higher Education Finance annual survey; and
- Employment projections from Lightcast, which is a global labor market intelligence platform offering comprehensive workforce data covering over 2.5 billion job postings and 800 million career profiles. They provide employment projections and tools for skills-based hiring, workforce planning, business attraction, and education program design. Department of Labor & Industry (DLI) data, as well as other state, federal and private data sources, form the foundation of Lightcast’s employment projections. And while both data are critical for regional labor market analysis, they utilize distinctly different methodologies, resulting in unique advantages and limitations. Our decision to use Lightcast’s employment projections was primarily based on (1) their more comprehensive coverage of the workforce; (2) their greater frequency of updates to their estimates (e.g., at least quarterly vs. annual updates from the Department of Labor & Industry); and (3) the granularity of data they are able to provide. As noted by our DLI colleagues, this third reason is a distinct advantage. To protect business confidentiality, public data agencies like DLI are required to suppress employment data for highly specific industries or small geographic regions. Lightcast overcomes this restriction by utilizing proprietary algorithms to estimate these suppressed values and provide employment projections down to the county, zip code, and 6-digit NAICS industry levels. The Pennsylvania Departments of Education, Community and Economic Development, and Labor and Industry all subscribe to Lightcast.
Please see the Technical Appendix for additional details about each data source. No data were requested from postsecondary institutions.
All data sources have limitations, and it is our responsibility to note them clearly. Specific data sources and variables also have limitations. We have made every effort to clearly identify these limitations in each dashboard via explanatory language at the top or bottom of a visualization, and with the Data Definitions page that accompanies each dashboard. Additionally, more granular information about data sources and variables can be found in our Technical Appendix.
For the most part, the data dashboards provide descriptive information about a range of important higher education topics. This information is foundational to our understanding of some of the most important trends and elements of the sector.
However, the dashboards do not explain the underlying causes of trends or variations. Rather, they provide a starting point for conversations and analyses that can more deeply explore the complex contextual factors that contribute to the patterns that are observable via the Dashboards.
The data dashboards are designed to provide broad access to important information about Pennsylvania’s higher education sector. To the degree possible, the visualizations and language used are intended to be understandable to a non-technical audience interested in exploring important information.
Some dashboards provide information that may be of particular interest to specific stakeholders. For example, the Postsecondary Workforce Credential Supply, Demand, and Gaps dashboard is likely useful to economic and workforce development professionals. Higher education leaders, office staff, and researchers should find the Enrollment, Attainment, and College Costs dashboards useful in providing topline statistics and changes over time. High school guidance counselors, students, and their parents may find the College Costs dashboard helpful in gaining a broad understanding of the cost of college, the availability of scholarships and grants, and comparing costs across institutions. More detailed information about cost and the availability of grants and scholarships is available on the websites of individual colleges and universities.
Data elements are defined on both the Definitions page and in the Technical Appendix. The State Board of Higher Education is available to help users understand the terms used in the dashboards. Please reach out to RA-ED-SBHE-Dashboard@pa.gov with questions.
No. Individual-level information is not reported on these dashboards. The sources utilized in the dashboards provide data at the institutional or state-level only.
If your institution is not included in the dashboards, it is likely because it is not eligible to receive federal financial aid (e.g., not Title IV eligible). All Title IV-eligible postsecondary institutions need to report data to the U.S. Department of Education’s IPEDS database. If your institution reports to IPEDS but is not shown on the dashboard, please contact RA-ED-SBHE-Dashboard@pa.gov.
Please email RA-ED-SBHE-Dashboard@pa.gov.