Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Nonprofit Launches Center to Boost Data-Driven Student Success Strategies

  • By Matt Jones
  • 04/16/25

National nonprofit Complete College America (CCA) recently launched the Center for Leadership, Institutional Metrics, and Best Practices (CLIMB), according to a news release. CLIMB’s ultimate purpose is to help higher-education institutions use data-driven strategies to improve student outcomes by providing tools, frameworks, and support.

CLIMB will allow institutions to address graduation-rate challenges with the ability to track, analyze, and act on student success data. A 2022 report from Complete College America indicated that while on-time college-completion rates were rising, gaps based on race and ethnicity still persisted, as well as broader trends toward fewer students pursuing higher education.

“Data in higher education has been abundant, but underutilized,” said CCA President Dr. Yolanda Watson Spiva. “With this new initiative, we’re helping institutions build capacity to move from data collection to data action—ensuring that the metrics colleges and universities track lead to the best outcomes for students and real, measurable progress in increasing college completion.”

According to the news release, CCA will gather colleges and universities to integrate performance metrics into strategic planning. It will provide them with the tools to track metrics like credit accumulation, retention, and gateway course performance while also providing guidance on how to use these metrics to improve student success.

“The last mile of data-driven decision-making is about ensuring that actionable insights reach those with the resources and influence to improve student outcomes,” said Charles Ansell, CCA’s vice president for research, policy, and advocacy. “This effort is not only about identifying the right metrics; it’s about integrating them into daily operations and the way that higher education professionals and educators do their work. Our ultimate goal is to use data to build campus systems that are both accountable and responsive to student needs.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • From Approval to Opening: Inside Travis Unified School District’s Fast Tracked Campus Expansion

    The Travis Unified School District (TUSD) in northern California includes several elementary and high schools serving over 5,400 students. In 2024, the TUSD Board approved the addition of sixth grade to the Golden West Middle School campus for the 2025–26 school year, setting in motion an accelerated effort to bring new facilities online in less than a year.

  • Myrtle Grove Elementary

    Phased Construction Keeps Students on Campus During Rebuild

    When Escambia County School District needed to replace most of Myrtle Grove Elementary School in Pensacola, Fla., it had three distinct challenges: honor the school's legacy in the community, bring state-of-the-art learning environments to the county, and be seamlessly built on the same site as the active school campus.

  • Indiana University Launches Capital Campus in D.C.

    Indiana University recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new IU Capital Campus in Washington, D.C., according to university news. The eight-story facility will provide a central hub for the university’s existing programs and business operations based in D.C., uniting them under one roof and providing the opportunity to expand.

  • Surging Demand for Student Housing Fuels Major Campus Investment Opportunities

    University leaders throughout the U.S. are accelerating plans to modernize and expand student housing as enrollment stabilizes and demand for on-campus living rebounds. Recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics indicates that total postsecondary enrollment is projected to grow through the end of the decade, with undergraduate enrollment alone expected to increase by more than 8 percent by 2030.