Leveraging PDP Data for Student Success

Recent Webinars Highlight How the PDP Can Inform Decisions Across College Campuses

The Postsecondary Data Partnership (PDP) helps higher education institutions gain a fuller picture of student progress and outcomes. Through dashboards and Analysis-Ready (AR) Files, the PDP enables colleges and universities to identify where students may need support. In turn, the PDP can be used to focus on strategies that improve student outcomes, such as persistence and retention rates and credential completion.

In two recent webinars, PDP users from Elgin Community College and Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver) shared how they gain insights into their learners from the data and then make informed decisions that benefit them.

PDP Data Drives Data Summits at Elgin Community College

To the Institutional Research (IR) team at Elgin Community College (ECC), the value in the PDP data is not just from the reports but also from the conversations that they help create. Since joining the PDP in 2019, the IR team has used the data to facilitate college-wide data summits. During her webinar, Tanya Ternes, Senior Director of Data Quality at Elgin, shared the purpose behind them and the role that the PDP AR Files play.

“The goal of the data summits wasn’t simply just to share data. We wanted to build data literacy across the institution,” said Ternes. “We wanted to create a shared understanding of student success and use the data to drive more intentional conversations and decisions. The PDP Analysis-Ready Files became the foundation of those conversations.”

With PDP AR Files, ECC can identify the factors most associated with student success, gateway course completion, and long-term outcomes and then use that information to spark discussion and drive change across campus.

To learn more, watch “Early Momentum Matters: Using PDP Data for Summits to Improve Persistence and Completion” on demand.

Dashboards and AR Files Influence MSU Denver’s Student Success Efforts

The PDP has proven beneficial for multiple offices at MSU Denver, from Enrollment Management to Student Affairs, as the comprehensive data informs their student-focused decision making. In a recent webinar, Dr. Buffy Ribble, Executive Director of Data and Analytics at MSU Denver, detailed how the PDP dashboards and Analysis-Ready (AR) Files have helped them be proactive about their student success efforts.

For instance, the PDP dashboards reinforced the importance of early momentum indicators and credit accumulation as predictors of long-term retention and graduation outcomes. This encouraged MSU Denver to prioritize retention initiatives in their 2030 strategic plan – and that’s just one of the larger impacts.

“It sounds like you’re really building a robust campus at MSU Denver about using [PDP] data to inform your actions, your plans, your strategies, as well as to measure your progress over time, which is really one of the things that we like to see and hope with the PDP for campuses,” said Kathleen Boody, PDP Account Manager at the National Student Clearinghouse, to Dr. Ribble during the webinar.

To learn more, watch “Data That Moves Work Forward: MSU Denver’s Approach to Leveraging the PDP” on demand.

Interested in Using the PDP?

The PDP can transform the way your institution measures and reports learner progress. Now’s the time to gain insights that will help you grow student success. Get started using the PDP by completing the form online.