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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Tsosie

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/10/06

HB

SHORT TITLE Higher Ed Annual Accountability Report Info

SB 253

ANALYST Earp

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to HB 656

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education Department (HED)

Public Education Department (PED)

New Mexico Association of Community Colleges (NMACC)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 253, sponsored by Senator Tsosie on behalf of the Legislative Education Study

Committee, proposes that the annual higher education accountability report established by Sec-

tion 21-1-26.7 include more specific data about student retention and graduation rates at each

institution. Information on student progress and success would need to include retention and

graduation rates of students at each institution disaggregated by gender, ethnicity, age, length of

time at the institution and length of time since graduation or receipt of a GED.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

There do not appear to be any significant fiscal impacts associated with the implementation of

the particular reporting requirements defined in this bill.

Senate Bill 253 – Page

2

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

HED would be responsible for collecting and reporting the additional student data requested by

this legislation.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

This bill is related to House Bill 656 which proposes the inclusion of additional information

about full- and part-time faculty in the annual higher education accountability report.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

HED reports that the integration of continuous assessment and quality improvement into the cul-

ture of state institutions ensure that the future of higher education is mission driven, results ori-

ented, and worthy of increased public investment and support. The department is committed to a

program of accountability for New Mexico public colleges and universities that will assure citi-

zens and state policy makers that our public colleges and universities are investing their public

support wisely, encourage public post-secondary institutions to continually improve their pro-

grams and operations, foster innovations that will better serve their customers' needs, and pro-

vide information to assist parents, students, employers, and other consumers in making appropri-

ate choices about post-secondary options.

The requirement of Senate Bill 253 to collect and report data on student retention, graduation

rates, and disaggregated data by gender, ethnicity, and average age is currently addressed by data

included in the annual Condition of Higher Education published by HED. The department re-

ports that the length of attendance and length of time to enter college after graduation are not

currently collected but is possible to include in further data collection and reports.

NMACC notes that serious consideration should be given to some methodology issues. Gradua-

tion rate in terms of getting a formal degree should not be the only measure of student comple-

tion as many achieve their goals short of a degree. The definition of completion or graduation

should be looked at and expanded. Also, students have a tendency to move from institution to

institution to achieve their ultimate educational goal and these measures should reflect not only

one institution’s effort to facilitate student success but some combined effort of institutions as

well.

Further, NMACC indicates that the state needs to provide an enhanced capability to look at out-

comes data about its students. The state needs to know if performance levels are being impacted

by population demographics. If the new reporting requirements called for by this Legislation

yield this type of information and if it is then used by HED and the institutions to inform their

policies related to student success, it should have an impact on student performance over time.

DKE/mt