We care about our students long after they graduate from high school - and we know you do, too.

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You work hard to prepare students for life after high school—but how do you know if your efforts are truly paying off? 

Tracking graduates can be a major challenge: with limited resources and even less time, finding reliable postsecondary data can feel impossible. 

Effective high schools and districts use alumni data to answer the critical question: “Did we set our students up for success?” States across the country are increasingly tracking postsecondary data to measure high school performance, and the use of postsecondary data is now a key component of earning & maintaining the EL Education School Credential. 

The National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) is the nation's most comprehensive source for verified college enrollment and completion data. You can use NSC data to help you track and analyze postsecondary outcomes.

EL Education's Postsecondary Data Learning Cycle is a framework for high school teams:

✅ Track alumni success with verified data through the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC)

✅ Analyze key insights to strengthen college and career readiness programs

✅ Identify and address gaps in postsecondary preparation

✅ Make data-driven decisions to improve student outcomes

This framework will help your team collect, analyze, and act on postsecondary data to drive continuous improvement. 

Here’s how it works:

Fall: Complete a Postsecondary Data Inventory

• Conduct a postsecondary data inventory to identify the sources of postsecondary data that are in and out of focus for your high school team. Refer to EL Education's postsecondary data guidebook for step-by-step support

• Submit a list of students from each graduating class for which you want data.

• Using a postsecondary data platform like Overgrad? Easily upload your graduate list within the platform—no manual NSC process required.

• Working directly with NSC data? Manually configure and submit your graduate file to the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC). See our High School Guide to NSC Set-Up.

Winter: Collect Your Postsecondary Data

• National Student Clearinghouse, the national leader in postsecondary data tracking, provides detailed reports on college enrollment, persistence, and degree completion.

• With a postsecondary data platform like Overgrad, your school receives a customized postsecondary data dashboard that visualizes trends in alumni outcomes. Access your dashboard to explore postsecondary trends among your graduates and learn where they are most likely to be successful.

• Working directly with NSC data: Download your .pdf and .csv reports from NSC, including Aggregate, Demographic, and Student-Level Reports.

Spring: Analyze and Reflect on Key Insights

• Gather a school team including counselors, leadership, instructional guides, and others supporting alumni success for a Postsecondary Data deep dive. 

• Turn insights into action using our Postsecondary Data Deep Dive Protocol.

Summer: Plan for Continuous Improvement

• Use insights to refine Crew programming, college advising, and support systems to better prepare students for success beyond high school.

• Are you an EL Education partner? Your EL Education Coach can help you integrate postsecondary priorities into next year’s planning.