The High School Feedback Report is produced by the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE). The report utilizes high school graduate data from the Utah State Board of Education and college enrollment information from both the National Student Clearinghouse and USHE institutions-Utah’s eight public colleges and universities.

The 2017 report gives information for students who graduated from public high schools in June 2017. It also provides information about the graduates who enrolled in higher education in the 2017-2018 academic year. The report contains five sections:

1. First Year Enrollments (2017-2018)
2. High School Graduates, Scholarships, and ACT
3. USHE Student Information
4. Students Taking Math/English by Highest Level Attempted
5. Percentage of Students Earning Grades of C or Higher in Math/English

1. First Year Enrollments (2017-2018)

This section provides enrollment data from the National Student Clearinghouse for students who enrolled at a college or university during 2017-2018 (between dates 06/01/2017 – 04/30/2018). Students who enrolled at multiple institutions are included in the counts for each institution. “Status Unknown” indicates that the Clearinghouse did not return a college enrollment match for the 2017-2018 year. This could be due to several factors: the student did not enroll during 2017-2018 (but may have enrolled in subsequent semesters), the student attended an institution that does not report enrollment data to the Clearinghouse (i.e. for-profit institutions), and/or the student requested a block of his/her enrollment information. Enrollment counts in this section may differ from the USHE Student Information section based on the data sources and timing of reporting.

2. High School Graduates, Scholarships, and ACT

This section provides the total number of high school graduates at the school, district, and state levels. Among those graduates, the number of Regents’ Scholarship applicants and recipients is reported. ACT scores are also provided as one measure of preparedness for college-level courses.

3. USHE Student Information

This section provides information for students who enrolled during 2017-2018 at a USHE institution.

% Pell Eligible: The percentage of students eligible for a Federal Pell Grant based on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Eligibility for a Federal Pell Grant can be an identifier of underserved students as the grant is only offered to those with financial need.

% Returned Spring Semester: The percentage of students enrolled fall 2017 who re-enrolled spring 2018. Enrollment beyond the first semester is an important measure as college students who persist from the first semester to the second semester are more likely to graduate from college.

% with 30 Credits 1st Year: The percentage of students who earned at least 30 credits during the fall, spring and summer semester of the first year. Successful completion of 30 credit hours per year is necessary for a student to

graduate with a bachelor’s degree in four years or an associate’s degree in two years. USHE emphasizes full-time enrollment to improve college graduation rates.

4. Students Taking Math/English by Highest Level Attempted

This section provides information about math and English coursework taken. Students are counted once based on the highest level of math and highest level of English coursework taken during the first year of college or by credit earned prior to high school graduation.

College-level: Enrollment in a college-level math course (course number of at least 1030) or college-level English course (course number of 1010).

Previous Credit/Prior College Credit: College-level math or college-level English credit earned prior to high school graduation. Student has scored a 3 or higher on an Advanced Placement (AP) exam or earned credit in a Concurrent Enrollment (CE) course.

Remedial: Enrollment in a course to prepare for college-level work. English, in this report, is defined as a course with a number below 1000, and math is defined as a course with a number below 1010.

No Enrollment: No enrollment in any remedial or college-level course during the first year and no prior college credit.

Change Beginning with 2016 Data

The 2014 and 2015 graduating class High School Feedback reports counted students based on the first math and English coursework taken as follows:

1. Previous Credit – credit earned prior to high school graduation
2. Remedial – enrolled in remedial course and no previous credit earned
3. College-level – enrolled in college-level course, no remedial course taken and no previous credit earned
4. No Enrollment – no college or remedial level course taken and no previous credit earned

The 2016 and 2017 graduating class High School Feedback reports count students based on the highest math and English coursework taken during the first year as follows:

1. College-level – enrolled in college-level course, may have earned prior college credit and/or enrolled in remedial course
2. Prior College Credit – not enrolled in college-level course but prior college-level credit earned
3. Remedial – enrolled in remedial level course, not enrolled in college-level course, no prior college credit earned
4. No Enrollment – no college or remedial level course taken and no previous credit earned

5. Percentage of Students Earning Grades of C or Higher in Math/English

Grade information is based on the percentage of students who earned (or did not earn) a grade of C or higher. In the 2014 and 2015 High School Feedback reports, grades for students who took a course during the first year are counted once as either remedial or college-level, and their grade is only included if they had not earned previous college-level credit. In the 2016 and 2017 High School Feedback reports, all remedial and college enrollments are included, regardless of whether or not the student had earned previous college credit. Students who took both a remedial course and a college-level course have their grades reported in both areas.