Pass Rates

Verification of Data

Rankings

Waivers

Student/Faculty Ratio

Low Performing Institutions

How the Reporting System Will Work

Institutional Reports

Frequently Asked Questions

INSTITUTIONAL REPORTS

Publicizing Information

Question: Must states make institutional reports public after receiving them next April?

Answer: Whether states must make the IHE reports they receive in April of each year public -- and the process and timelines they must follow when required to do so -- are matters governed by each state's "open records" laws, not federal law. While Title II requires IHEs to publicize in school catalogs or other promotional material the pass rates and other information they include in these institutional reports, neither Title II nor other federal law speaks to what states must do with the IHE reports they receive.

Having said this, the overall scope of Title II plainly favors public disclosure. In establishing the Title II reporting system, Congress focused on the public's lack of basic information on whether those who complete teacher preparation programs are prepared to teach, and how state licensing and certification requirements may affect who teaches in our Nation's classrooms. Congress insisted that institutions and states quickly become more accountable to the public in these areas. Hence, we believe Title II anticipates that once institutional, state or national reports are completed, policymakers and the public at large will be able to review these reports to help determine how well particular teacher preparation programs and state policies as a whole are working.

We understand that immediate release of individual IHE reports may convey an incomplete picture; some important contextual information for the state as a whole might not be available until as late as the following October when the state prepares its own report to the U.S. Secretary of Education. Still, we believe that members of the public will very much want to review IHE reports as soon as the state receives them. As states determine how state law requires them to proceed, we note only that under the Title II reporting system the data that IHEs must report are final when submitted to the state. In particular, the system requires any disputes regarding computing and reporting institutional pass rates to be resolved before, rather than after, IHEs submit their reports.

(Posted October 20, 2000)

Question: What are the requirements for public disclosure in Title II of the Higher Education Act (HEA) for institutions of higher education with regard to the information in their institutional reports?

Answer: Title II has public disclosure requirements for institutions of higher education in sections 207(f)(1) and 207(f)(2). Section 207(f)(1) provides that institutions subject to the new national reporting system, i.e., those with a teacher preparation program enrolling students receiving federal assistance under the HEA, must report annually "to the State and the general public" certain information. This information consists of the pass rate of their program completers on assessments required by the state for teacher licensure or certification, the statewide pass rate on those assessments, and other basic information on their teacher preparation program, all of which is explained in the Department's Reference and Reporting Guide (see especially pages 43-47). While section 207(f)(1) provides that this reporting is to begin no later than April 7, 2000, the Department concluded that the law permits the first reporting to be deferred one year until April 7, 2001.

Section 207(f)(2) further requires institutions to report this same information "through publications such as school catalogs and promotional materials sent to potential applicants, secondary school guidance counselors, and prospective employers of the institution's program graduates."

Together these provisions mean that each institution must do two things upon submitting its required report to the state by April 7 of each year:

1. The institution must make the information in the current report available to the public. Some examples of how to reach the public include: providing a copy upon request; preparing a press release with the report's content; and posting and directing people to the report on the institution's Internet web site.
   
   
2. The institution must also include the current report's information in or with publications that it sends to potential applicants, guidance counselors, or prospective employers of the institution's program completers. The law does not require institutions to make a special effort solely for the purpose of distributing the information in the Title II report. Rather the information should be included in any materials it routinely sends to potential applicants, guidance counselors, and prospective employers.

As the Department has previously indicated, this second requirement does not mean institutions must annually reprint publications such as course catalogs just to incorporate the latest Title II information. The Department does, however, expect that the most recent Title II information will be added to these publications as normal publication deadlines for them are reached.

The Department has also gotten questions asking if the Title II report could be disseminated like the mandated reports on campus security and athletic programs. These reports must be produced and made readily available upon request. Institutions must send a notice of the availability of these reports to enrolled and prospective students. The institutions can, however, disseminate the reports through a Web site (but must also provide a paper copy upon request). Institutions are allowed to simply include a Web address (URL) for accessing the reports in the notification they must send out, but not include the full reports. The HEA provision governing the reports on campus security and athletic programs, however, specifically mentions electronic disbursement of information; Title II law does not. Further, the disclosure requirements in Title II are distinct and explicit regarding the inclusion of required Title II information in publications sent out to potential applicants, guidance counselors, and prospective employers of graduates. Title II makes no allowance for the report to be made available solely on a Web site.

The Department also notes that the Title II guide encourages institutions to add supplemental data to their reports to give the public a better understanding of the performance of their teacher preparation program. Such information is also likely to be helpful if included in materials prepared for the general public, potential applicants, guidance counselors, prospective employers of their program's completers, and others.

(Posted February 1, 2001)

Question: Does Title II require IHE data to be published in school catalogs and promotional materials for longer than the current year for which data are available?

Answer: No. Title II requires IHEs to publish the most current Title II data they have available each year. This ensures the most recent IHE teacher preparation program outcome data is available to prospective applicants and others who can benefit from the information. IHEs do not need to continue publishing previous years' data, though they are free to do so.