It’s happening again, the search for transparency. There is this belief that the right set of measures, over the right period of time, will clarify everything. About anything. Of course, the right measures are simple and don’t need explanation about what they measure and why they are important.

And that’s why the Quest for the Holy Grail did not happen…the Grail was sitting in the middle of a small church with a sign on it and a bright sourceless light above it.

According to the stories, that’s not what happened. (Speaking of stories, @jonbecker’s blog post is an excellent read.)

Time and data crashes in on each of us these days.

We too often struggle to sort through the signals and noise, at least I do, and so I understand the desire for something simple that tells me everything I need to know. But I never expect to find such a thing. In fact, my expectation is that if I want to know something and be able to act on it, I will have to do some work.

If I actually want to understand something, I know that I will likely have to work even harder.

So, this is pretty much the approach taken with research.schev.edu. You have to make an effort to know what you want and need, either before you get there or while on the site. Higher education is kind of a big business with a lot of complexity. This complexity derives not just from its size and variety, but also from its continual evolution. Some numbers, some measures are pretty simple – enrollment, and degrees conferred. Some of the buckets for these things may get a little complicated, but in our presentation of the data, actually in even our collection of the data, we have already simplified it through standardization.

Other measures, like graduation rates and measures of affordability, are more complex, if not to read, but to understand. The annual frequency of questions along the lines of “Don’t you have graduation rates for the four-year schools that are less than six years old?” has not noticeably reduced. As often as we explain the nature of a cohort measure, people still think we should have 2014 rate. Certainly, we could identify the reports based on the year the data are released, but some users will insist on being confused that the 2014 reports are about students that started at least six years prior, or three years for the two-year colleges. And in 2016 they would likely be confused again.

So we go for clarity and standards, even so, they are not such that they are instantly understood. Some things one just has to think about for a few moments. We also serve multiple constituencies with a varying levels of knowledge of higher ed and much different needs.

At the heart of it, this idea of a Holy Grail of measurement is the thinking behind the ratings system. Somehow one rating, or even a handful of different ratings, about an institution will tell one all they need to know. Or at least, all they need to know about an aspect of the institution related to the undergraduate experience. Except the educational aspect, because that is not measured consistently and reported systematically to USED.

PIRS though is only the natural evolution of the 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA). The reporting and disclosure requirements that came out of the HEOA are huge. In some ways they have transformed institutional websites, in others they have demonstrated institutional ability to bury information. Of course, who can blame institutions much for the latter when probably very few students are interested in some of the requirements?

Which makes me wonder what the next version of the HEA will bring. If Chad Aldeman’s post is any indicator, we could see a major shift away from current requirements. More likely, in my estimation, we will see an attempt towards the requiring the publication of the perfect number* or a half-dozen perfect numbers and their changes over time.

In any event, whatever happens with the next version of the HEA, PIRS, or any other effort at the federal or state level, I don’t expect the search for the Grail of Measures to end anytime soon.

Faded jaded fallen cowboy star
Pawn shops itching for your old guitar
Where you’ve gone, it ain’t nobody knows
The sequins have fallen from your clothes

Once you heard the Opry crowd applaud
Now you’re hanging out at 4th and Broad
On the rain wet sidewalk, remembering the time
When coffee with a friend was still a dime

Chorus:
Everything’s been sold American
The early times are finished and the want ads are all read
Everyone’s been sold American
Been dreaming dreams in a rollaway bed

Writing down your memoirs on some window in the frost
Roulette eyes reflecting another morning lost
Hauled in by the metro for killing time and pain
With a singing brakeman screaming through your veins

You told me you were born so much higher than life
I saw the faded pictures of your children and your wife
Now they’re fumbling through your wallet & they’re trying to find your name
It’s almost like they raised the price of fame

Kinky Friedman – Sold American Lyrics

*The perfect number is 17.