Anonymous Diploma Registration (ADR)
(Play narration by clicking above.)
The basics of Anonymous Diploma Registration (ADR)
- Data collected and submitted at graduation
- Contains limited information about individuals, not identifiers
- Contains limited but sufficient information about prior institutions to give credit where credit is transferred
- Starts with public institutions only, to build confidence of private schools
Data elements (13 elements total)
- Graduate
- Birthdate
- Sex
- Race/ethnicity (1997 OMB questions)
- State or country of birth
- State or country of residence
- Received diploma
- Institution
- Level of education/degree
- Type and program
- Matriculation date
- Date of degree
- Prior institutions (one record for each prior institution where credit transferred to the graduating institution) (phased in)
- Institution
- Date of first credit earned transferred to graduating institution
- Date of last credit earned transferred to graduating institution
Meets technical requirements
- Accurately identifies graduates
- Age is a more reliable way to track cohorts than grades
- Data can be rectangularized to identify out-transfers who eventually graduate
- Birth and death registration systems provide knowledge base
- With the exception of prior-institution (hierarchical) elements, a modification of existing record-keeping routines
- Prior-institution (hierarchical) elements can be phased in--still a minor modification of transcript-evaluation process but need to accommodate shift in recording keeping with an entering cohort of transfers
- Private-school involvement can be phased in; public-institution participation will capture most community-college alumni who graduate with B.A.s
- See ADR and policy research pages for discussion of program evaluation
Meets political and ethical requirements
- Eliminates most privacy concerns
- ADR by itself will not identify students
- Individuals become part of database only after graduation
- Allows community colleges to gain credit for alumni who later graduate with B.A.s
- Reporting individual graduates is feasible for institutions
- Data exporting and reporting is a modification of existing registrar procedures
- Prior-institution records can be embedded in transcript-evaluation procedures
- Does not track financial aid
Omissions from ADR
- Experiences at institutions where no credit is earned
- Credit that does not lead to a degree (interest courses)
- Sub-degree programs that are not recognized by system (e.g., certificates)
- Private institutions (at least initially)
- Financial-aid information