A new online tool allows educators and policymakers a glimpse of performance data of all 37 schools within the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.
Those schools include Lake Superior College, Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, Mesabi Range Community and Technical College and Itasca Community College.
MnSCU officials say the tool, called an accountability dashboard, is unique within the country's higher education world. The data hasn't before been as easily accessible, said Craig Schoenecker, systems research director for MnSCU who helped develop the program.
It sheds light on where institutions within the system need to improve and what works well, he said.
"It shows us how we can work better to improve what we're doing in terms of students," said Linda Baer, senior vice chancellor for academic and student affairs at MnSCU. "This helps tell the story."
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The program -- which took two years to build and was launched Tuesday -- makes institutions more accountable. That's what people want in light of increasing tuition within higher education, Chancellor James McCormick said.
Ten measures are listed on the Web site, found at www.mnscu.edu . Only six are active. Those include percent change in enrollment, tuition and fees, related employment of graduates and persistence and completion rate.
Both the Fond du Lac and Lake Superior colleges fared well in the employment category, each exceeding expectations.
Lake Superior College says its percentage of graduates who find jobs in their fields within one year of graduation is 98.7 percent. Fond du Lac's percentage is more than 75 percent, said Tom Urbanski, director of public information for the school.
Indicators show both schools fall under expectation for cost of tuition and fees, along with every two-year school in the system when compared to other two-year institutions in the country, MnSCU officials said during a press conference Tuesday.
"The tuition issue probably has more to do with the funding of public education over the last decade," said Gary Kruchowski, a spokesman for Lake Superior College. "There's been erosion in the support for higher ed coming out of the legislature. The gap over time has been picked up by students."
MnSCU officials say the Web site isn't necessarily for parents and students, but for those making decisions about funding and directions to move in for colleges and universities.
Kruchowski said some aspects of it would be useful to students, such as student placement statistics.
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"Accountability is a trend with more and more emphasis," he said.
JANA HOLLINGSWORTH covers higher education. She can be reached at (218) 279-5501 or by e-mail at jhollingsworth@duluthnews.com .
