Using the Economic Hardship Index to Drive Student Success

‘In order to maximize institutional effectiveness in the area of student achievement goals, member institutions should also disaggregate graduation rates by appropriate demographics. Those demographic characteristics typically include gender, race, ethnicity, and Pell/Non Pell status. Institutions may also disaggregate graduation rate data by other student population characteristics. If any categories that are not standard are used, the institution should include definitions. For the various types of disaggregation the institution should provide a rationale for their use. Institutions should, as a result of the analysis of such disaggregated data, report any ongoing institutional strategies to seek improvement in closing completion gaps among student populations when addressing compliance with this standard.’ 

The passage of the Anti-DEI bill in the 88th Legislative Session prohibits colleges and universities from designing or implementing programs based on race/ethnicity or gender, and also prohibits colleges and universities from setting goals or targets for student success based on race/ethnicity or gender according to legal interpretations from TASB and others. 

This session presents the Economic Hardship Index as a practical and useful characteristic for setting goals and driving student success initiatives, while also helping institutions meet SACSCOC Standard 8.1, which allows the use of ‘other student population characteristics’ with a provided definition and rationale. It will provide a complete definition of the Economic Hardship Index, demonstrate how it is calculated using data from the Student Information System combined with US Census data, and offer examples of its application at Lee College to support student success initiatives.