Clear Outcomes
Institutions, employers, policymakers, and students all need access to clear education and employment outcomes data to make informed decisions.
By establishing comprehensive state systems that integrate and provide education, employment, and workforce data, states can create an invaluable resource that makes reliable and actionable data available to leaders, researchers, and the public.
By the numbers
U.S. states with postsecondary education systems participating in the U.S. Census Postsecondary Employment Outcomes project to report earnings and employment outcomes for graduates.
U.S. states have or are building enhanced wage record systems that include occupation.
Why clear outcomes matter
A lack of information on education and employment outcomes — including earnings and career trajectories of alumni — can hinder students' ability to make critical decisions about their education and career goals. Selecting a program or institution and choosing a major are decisions that come with real consequences, and prospective students require reliable data to make informed decisions.
The same is true for institutions, employers, and policymakers. Data gaps limit their ability to design, improve, or invest in the programs that best support education and career success.
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Clear Outcomes: 6 questions for Strada's Jon Furr
By establishing comprehensive state systems that integrate and provide education, employment, and workforce data, states can create an invaluable resource that makes timely, accurate information available to higher education leaders, policymakers, and prospective students.
State data system elements
States already collect an array of data on education after high school and employment, but in most states, the data are too infrequently provided to the people who need them. These 10 critical elements contribute to the capacity of state data systems to strengthen the connection between education and opportunity.
How we support clear outcomes
Strada partners with states, institutions, policymakers, foundations, and other nonprofit organizations to improve education-to-employment data so individuals can make more informed decisions about college and workforce training.
Learning Mobility Collaborative
In collaboration with Education Design Lab and the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, this growing, dynamic movement is focused on developing shared statewide policies, standards, and implementation frameworks to design and build learning mobility systems so people can share their learning across fragmented education and employment systems.
PSEO Coalition
Based on the premise that postsecondary leaders and state officials can set effective, strategic policies only when they have access to reliable and actionable data, the coalition uses postsecondary education data linked to national employment data from the U.S. Census to report earnings and employment outcomes of college graduates.
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State Noncredit Data Project
The popularity of noncredit education and nondegree credentials is growing, but data collection and analysis have not kept pace. This project fosters development of a robust state noncredit data infrastructure by generating research to advance the field, creating a taxonomy to guide data collection, and facilitating learning opportunities to share successful practices.
How we measure progress
Students, institutions, employers, and policymakers need access to specific data — graduate earnings and career outcome information — to understand what their educational choices may mean for work, life, and income.
Strada developed the State Opportunity Index to help states enhance their ability to provide such data. Working closely with state leaders, we identified 10 critical elements that contribute to the capacity of state education-to-employment data systems. Taken together, these 10 elements provide a holistic framework for analysis and improvement. The 2025 State Opportunity Index showed that while all states are meeting the expectations of some of the 10 elements, there is still work to be done before all states fully develop and improve the accuracy and availability of education and employment data.
Founded in 2018 by universities in North America and Europe, DCC was created to build a shared infrastructure for issuing, storing, displaying, and verifying digital credentials.
The newly launched Model Workforce Pell Data Framework offers a practical roadmap for a robust data infrastructure aligned across education and workforce systems.
Large-scale systems-level change requires sustained attention and dedication, so when Strada looks back at progress made over the past year, we are inspired by moments that point toward a future in which every person — no matter where they start — can envision a way ahead that is filled with opportunity.
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