These studies explore education and employment outcomes through a partnership between the Iowa Department of Education and Iowa Workforce Development. This partnership is enhanced through a grant received from the Department of Labor's Workforce Data Quality Initiative (WDQI).The data contained in these studies is used to answer questions regarding student success in education (completion and transfer), employment rates, earning levels, and industries of employment. It documents the educational and employment outcomes of students completing community college certificate, diploma, associate degree, and non-credit programs, as well as students who left Iowa community colleges without completing a program, and includes the number of awards, time-to-degree, retention, migration, transfer to four year institutions, employment and wages, career clusters, career pathways, and earned credit hours, both on state-wide, specific college, and specific program of completion levels. The system follows graduates longitudinally, which allows the analysis of trends in education and career pathways of Iowa community college credit and non-credit program completers and program leavers.

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Iowa Community College Program Outcomes Interactive Charts

Iowa Student Outcomes

The Iowa Student Outcomes community college data documents the educational and employment outcomes of students completing community college certificate, diploma and associate degree programs, including the number of awards, time-to-degree, retention, migration, transfer to four-year institutions, employment and wages, career clusters and career pathways. Explore the information and interactive data.

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Credit Program Outcomes

The Iowa Community Colleges Statewide report documents the educational and employment outcomes of students completing community college certificate, diploma, and associate degree programs, including the number of awards, time-to-degree, retention, migration, transfer to four year institutions, employment and wages, career clusters, and career pathways.

Iowa Community College Credit Program Outcomes - AY17-21

Iowa Community College Credit Education Outcomes - AY16-20

Iowa Community College Credit Education Outcomes - AY15-19

Iowa Community College Credit Education Outcomes - AY14-18

Iowa Community Colleges Credit Education Outcomes - AY13-17

Iowa Community Colleges Credit Education Outcomes - AY12-16

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Noncredit Program Outcomes

This groundbreaking Iowa Community Colleges: Noncredit Career and Technical Education (CTE) Employment Outcomes Report, provides information about community college noncredit program completion, student retention, in- and out-of-state migration, employment and wages, career cluster to industry mapping, and in-demand occupational analysis for those who completed community college CTE noncredit programs.

Iowa Community College Noncredit Program Outcomes - AY20-21

Iowa's Community Colleges: Noncredit Career & Technical Education Employment Outcomes Report - AY19-20

Iowa's Community Colleges: Noncredit Career & Technical Education Employment Outcomes Report - AY18-19

Iowa's Community Colleges: Noncredit Career & Technical Education Employment Outcomes Report - AY17-18

Iowa's Community Colleges: Noncredit Career & Technical Education Employment Outcomes Report - AY16-17

Iowa's Community Colleges: Noncredit Career & Technical Education Employment Outcomes Report - AY15-16

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Partner Reports

Exploring the "Black Box" of Noncredit Community College Education, research brief (UNC & Baylor University) - September 2020
This report can be found in Career and Technical Education Research Journal (Volume 45, Number 2 - September 2020) and is available for purchase.

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Completer/Leaver Comparative Analysis

A statewide analysis of the impact of accumulated credit hours, program of study, and the industry of employment on success in the workforce for Iowa community college students who completed or left their community college program within academic year 2015-16 (AY 15-16).

Iowa Community College Completers and Leavers: A Comparative Analysis AY 15-16

Completer/Leaver AY 2015-2016 Data Tables

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Education in Correctional Facilities

Iowa's Community Colleges Education in Correctional Facilities Employment and Recidivism Outcomes - In partnership with the Iowa Department of Corrections and Iowa Workforce Development, a report about education in Iowa's state correctional facilities. The data focuses on individuals who were released from incarceration in 2018 and had enrolled in credit and/or noncredit community college programs from 2012-2018. Findings support tangible benefits to these individuals who saw post-release success in employment and decreased recidivism rates.

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