Focusing on Higher Education Outcomes:
The Third Systemwide Accountability Report

November 1998

Commission Home Page

Mr. Alfred J. Cade
Chairman

Mr. Alfred C. Koeppe
Vice Chairman

Mr. Lawrence R. Codey
Chairman
Mr. Alfred J. Cade
Dr. William King

Higher education is a vital public enterprise that responds to a variety of crucial educational, economic, and societal needs. Because of higher education's importance, and the substantial public support it receives, calls for increased accountability are heard throughout the nation. Among government and educational policy makers, there is a growing insistence upon measures of higher education quality, effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity to guide planning and resource allocation and monitor the return on the taxpayers' significant public investment. Students, parents, businesses, and taxpayers are also looking for more and better information to help them judge the quality of available higher education opportunities.

For example, a 1997 survey conducted by the national organization of State Higher Education Executive Officers found that 37 states use some sort of performance indicators. This is more than double the number of states with such measures in place three years earlier. Seven additional states reported plans to implement accountability reporting or performance measures in the near future.

Quantitative examinations of the performance of institutions, sectors, and higher education systems serve several important functions:

• They provide information to students, parents, and other "consumers" of higher education;
• They inform planning, policy development, and resource allocation at the state level;
• They provide information to taxpayers, who contribute a significant share of funding for public higher education; and
• They promote institutional goal attainment and support the achievement of institutional excellence.

The use of quantitative data does require caution, however, since such data can be misinterpreted and/or misused.

In New Jersey, a heightened focus on accountability is consistent with the national trend and the increased institutional autonomy provided by the Higher Education Restructuring Act of 1994. The restructuring law specifically requires New Jersey's public colleges and universities to prepare annual reports that inform the public and state policy makers about the condition and progress of the institutions. In addition, the Commission on Higher Education prepares an annual systemwide accountability report to provide aggregate data and information on the various sectors, including the state's independent institutions, and the system as a whole. A third accountability component will be added in FY 2000, when New Jersey implements the performance funding initiative for public institutions proposed by Governor Christine Todd Whitman. This initiative seeks to align institutional priorities with state priorities as set forth in Looking to the New Millennium: New Jersey's Plan for Higher Education.

In 1996, New Jersey's first systemwide accountability report provided a broad overview of the state's higher education system and reported on performance indicators in various areas, including affordability; retention, transfer, graduation, and time to degree; access and academic success; and return on the public investment in higher education. Last year, the second systemwide report focused on higher education costs, comparing revenue, spending levels, and spending patterns for New Jersey's higher education system and the individual sectors to their national counterparts.

This year's systemwide report provides more recent data on some of the key indicators addressed in the Commission's first two accountability reports, including information about enrollment, student and faculty characteristics, degrees awarded, retention and transfer rates, tuition and fees, student assistance, and revenues and costs. The report also examines some of these performance indicators over time.

Given the importance of student outcomes as an indicator of quality, the report also provides an in-depth examination of graduation rates and community college graduation-plus-transfer rates. In addition to new data reflecting long-term graduation patterns, the report undertakes a new, experimental analysis of completion rates that adjusts for the effects of certain student characteristics that have a strong influence on outcomes.

Section II presents a broad overview of the New Jersey higher education system. In order to clarify the various "sectors," all New Jersey colleges and universities are listed and classified below:

Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey

The College of New Jersey, Kean University, Montclair State University, New Jersey City University, Ramapo College of New Jersey, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Rowan University, Thomas Edison State College, and William Paterson University of New Jersey

Atlantic Community College, Bergen Community College, Brookdale Community College, Burlington County College, Camden County College, Cumberland County College, Essex County College, Gloucester County College, Hudson County Community College, Mercer County Community College, Middlesex County College, County College of Morris, Ocean County College, Passaic County Community College, Raritan Valley Community College, Salem Community College, Sussex County Community College, Union County College, and Warren County Community College

Drew University, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Princeton University, Seton Hall University, and Stevens Institute of Technology

Bloomfield College, Caldwell College, Centenary College, College of Saint Elizabeth, Felician College, Georgian Court College, Monmouth University, Rider University, and Saint Peter's College

Berkeley College, DeVry Institute, and Katharine Gibbs School

Assumption College for Sisters, Beth Medrash Govoha, New Brunswick Theological Seminary, Philadelphia College of Bible, Princeton Theological Seminary, Rabbi Jacob Joseph School, Rabbinical College of America, and Talmudical Academy

This section contains 16 tables that present data from diverse sources, and in some cases, they refer to different time periods.¹

The New Jersey higher education system enrolled over 325,000 students at all 56 of its public and independent institutions in fall 1997 (Table 1). Total enrollment declined by about 15,000 students since 1992, primarily at the community colleges, where the economic recovery is widely believed to be responsible for reduced part-time enrollment, because these students decided to forsake education for employment. Full-time enrollment increased during this period of time, and is expected to increase further with the full-fledged arrival of the "baby boom echo." DeVry Institute was part of the higher education system in fall 1997, but not in 1992. Upsala College was closed at the end of the 1994-95 academic year.

Table 1 and all other tables pertaining to students include only credit enrollment. Noncredit enrollment is a major part of the community college mission. In fact, community colleges typically enroll more noncredit students per year than credit students.

With nearly 123,000 full- and part-time students, the 19 community colleges account for over 44% of all undergraduates. Public research universities and public-mission independent institutions account for the largest share of postbaccalaureate students. The community college sector has a relatively small share of full-time faculty (21%), suggesting that the sector relies more heavily than other sectors on part-time and adjunct faculty (Table 2).

Sectors with high percentages of part-time students would account for a somewhat smaller share of total enrollment if percentages were calculated on an FTE basis rather than a headcount basis. In addition, it is noteworthy that Table 2 includes only instructional faculty; as a result, substantial numbers of research faculty, located primarily at research institutions, are omitted. In contrast, Table 7 below (on faculty by race/ethnicity) includes both instructional and noninstructional faculty.

Between fall 1992 and fall 1997, the full-time share of undergraduates systemwide increased from 50% to 55% (Table 3). Full-time enrollment increased by about 8,000 students, while part-time enrollment decreased by almost three times that number. While all sectors contributed to the shift toward more full-time enrollment, the community colleges accounted for about half of the part-time enrollment decline. As noted earlier, declining part-time enrollment is frequently attributed to the economic recovery. According to this reasoning, in good economic times, people feel more secure in their jobs and are less likely to seek further education, to enhance their careers or future employability. The reverse is true when unemployment rises substantially.

Across the system, New Jersey residents constituted 92% of all undergraduates in both 1992 and 1997 (Table 4). All of the public sectors were above 90%. At the four-year independent institutions, over 75% of the undergraduate students were state residents.

SOURCE: NJ IPEDS Form #23, Fall Enrollment Report: NJ Supplements, Fall 1992 and Fall 1997.
^a Residency data for theological institutions in 1992 were not available.

As shown in Table 5, there were notable increases in both Hispanic and Asian enrollment at the undergraduate level between 1992 and 1997. These changes, in both absolute and percentage terms, occurred in all sectors except the theological institutions. By contrast, African American enrollment changed little during the time period except for an increased share at the proprietary institutions. These changes reflect a more diverse population.