Districts Need to Know Where Students Go After Graduating; States Should Step Up
November 12, 2025
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Superintendents are expected to help prepare students for taking their next, best step after high school. But how can they assess whether they’re doing that effectively if they don’t know where their students go, whether they stay enrolled, or if they complete a degree or credential?
Most states already contract with the (NSC), a nonprofit that collects enrollment, persistence, and completion data from over 97% of U.S. postsecondary institutions. This data is indispensable for understanding whether students are enrolling in college, where they go, whether they stay enrolled, and whether they complete a credential. (Districts and schools can access this data through the NSC’s StudentTracker platform.)
Far too often, this data doesn’t make it into the hands of district or school leaders, school counselors, and other adults engaged in postsecondary advising. For example, nearly not having postsecondary enrollment data in an electronic management system, and 30% report having no plans to use this data.
Can we really, meaningfully inform present and future classes’ pathways without a full understanding of previous classes’ outcomes?
The problem? Many states aren’t sharing that data with districts—or they’re doing so in ways that are inaccessible, incomplete, or unhelpful. By the National College Attainment Network’s (NCAN) assessment, only in a meaningful way with local education agencies (LEAs). Even fewer provide student-level access.
The result? The adults shaping students’ futures are too often flying blind when trying to support students’ postsecondary success. Can we really, meaningfully inform present and future classes’ pathways without a full understanding of previous classes’ outcomes?
We know district leaders need postsecondary data to improve outcomes for future classes. You can’t improve what you don’t measure. When you know how your alumni fare after graduation, you can:
- Adjust college advising programs based on enrollment and persistence data, answering the questions, “Where do my students go and how do they do when they get there?”
- Compare outcomes for different student groups and address gaps in access to education and training after high school.
- Partner more effectively with local higher education institutions, college access programs, or local employers.
If you don’t currently (and regularly) have access to postsecondary outcomes data, ask your state agency:
- Does our state have a contract with NSC or other sources of postsecondary outcomes data?
- How can we get student-level or aggregate outcomes data?
- Is the data part of a secure portal my school can access or a public-facing dashboard?
- Are there reports we can access? Are those reports recent, relevant, and reliable relative to the questions I want answered?
If we want to deliver on the promise of college and career readiness, we can’t do it in the dark. Let’s demand the data that helps our students succeed.
If you’re in , , or , the answer might be yes. These states in particular are helping school leaders understand how students fare after graduation and how to use that knowledge to improve.
What’s Next
- Team up with your district and school counseling teams to review NSC data if available.
- Advocate at the state level for better access, highlighting the critical postsecondary outcomes questions you can’t easily or completely answer.
- Use any available alumni outcomes data as a conversation starter with students and staff.
Data isn’t a luxury; it’s infrastructure for improvement. State agencies already have the capacity to share this data. What we need is leadership and commitment to get it into the hands of the people making decisions every day.
If we want to deliver on the promise of college and career readiness, we can’t do it in the dark. Let’s demand the data that helps our students succeed.
“The Next, Best Step” Schools of Thought series equips district leaders with research-backed strategies and real-world success stories to help them better prepare students for life after graduation. Each post combines cutting-edge data on postsecondary outcomes with practical implementation strategies from leaders who are transforming how schools approach college and career readiness. From FAFSA completion tactics to data-driven advising approaches, this series aims to ensure every student graduates with both a diploma and a plan for social and economic prosperity.
