Postsecondary student unit record systems are the primary means for states to collect data and analyze student progress, completions, and outcomes. Through our State Postsecondary Data initiative, SHEEO works to provide insight into the structure and value of these systems, while providing state postsecondary agencies opportunities to improve the data collection, use, policies, and practices associated with their data systems. Four current projects fall under the state postsecondary initiative: the Strong Foundations survey and reporting, Communities of Practice convenings, the Noncredit Mobility Academy, and the Basic Needs Data Academy. These projects create the knowledge and learning networks related to state postsecondary data systems that SHEEO members are employing to improve state and student outcomes.

The projects associated with SHEEO’s State Postsecondary Data initiative have received generous funding and support from a variety of philanthropic organizations over the years. The ECMC Foundation is funding the 2025 administration and reporting of the Strong Foundations survey with a special focus on understanding rural data in postsecondary data systems. From 2010 through 2023, the Strong Foundations survey and reporting were funded by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has also funded SHEEO’s Communities of Practice convenings since 2017. The Basic Needs Data Academy is funded by the ECMC Foundation, and the Noncredit Mobility Academy is funded by a partnership between the Ascendium Education Group and the ECMC Foundation.

The findings and conclusions associated with these projects do not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of the Ascendium Education Group, the ECMC Foundation, or The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.