Two joint initiatives launched by HLC with funding from Lumina Foundation in 2018 were designed to test variables that affect student success and to define key terms such as persistence, retention and completion.

One group of diverse member institutions conducted research to test variables on a variety of student bodies. In 2019, HLC published a white paper, Testing Student Success: Findings and Recommendations, of the findings from all participating institutions and the results.

A sister group comprised of representatives from institutions, national higher education organizations, state agencies and national data organizations worked to identify ways in which HLC may contribute to the student success conversation.

HLC published a series of papers from this initiative:

• Defining Student Success Data: Recommendations for Changing the Conversation calls for a new focus in the student success agenda, away from the buzzword of completion and toward the needs of students of today.
• Defining Student Success Data: Recommendations for Differentiation for Disaggregation explores the opportunities of student success as being central to accreditation, encourages institutions to be accountable for the students they accept, and offers a new heuristic model for looking at data and creating a narrative around the institution’s progress toward student success.
• Defining Student Success Data: Recommendations for a Glossary of Terms states that the current definitions do not reflect the needs and lives of the vast array of 21st-century learners. It recommends a shift from institution-centric definitions to more student-centric terms to help “retool” HLC institutions for 21st-century learning and learners.

Subcommittee Members

• Kent Phillippe, American Association of Community Colleges
• Vernon Smith, American Public University
• Susan English, Aquinas College
• Jeff Slovak, Governors State University
• Randall Stiles, Grinnell College
• Dwaun Warmack, Harris Stowe State University
• Ellen Wagner, Hobsons
• Ken Sauer, Indiana Commission for Higher Education
• Victor Borden, Indiana University Bloomington
• Andrew Koch, Gardner Institute
• Michael Cartney, Lake Area Technical Institute
• Natasha Jankowski, National Institute for Learning Outcomes
• Douglas Shapiro, National Student Clearinghouse Research Center
• Sally Johnstone, NCHEMS
• Janet Smith, Pittsburg State University
• Benedict Jose, Tohono O'Odham Community College
• Nikos Varelas, University of Illinois-Chicago