MIDWESTERN HIGHER EDUCATION COMPACT

RESEARCH:MHEC RESEARCH INFORMS INSTITUTIONAL AND STATE EFFORTS IN IMPROVING POSTSECONDARY POLICIES, PRACTICES, AND OUTCOMES IN SEVERAL WAYS: (A) MAINTAINING A NATIONAL REPOSITORY OF EXPERTISE, KNOWLEDGE AND BEST PRACTICES FOR GUIDING POLICY AND PRACTICE; (B) CONDUCTING APPLIED RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS ON CRITICAL TOPICS IN HIGHER EDUCATION; (C) DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO IMPROVE EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY AND EFFECTIVENESS; AND (D) PROVIDING PUBLIC OUTREACH AND SERVICE TO INSTITUTIONS AND GOVERNMENTS. AMONG ITS CORE OUTPUTS, MHEC RESEARCH MAINTAINS AN ONLINE DASHBOARD OF EDUCATIONAL PERFORMANCE INDICATORS AND PRODUCES TIMELY BRIEFS, REPORTS, AND TECHNICAL PAPERS IN THE MOST CRITICAL AREAS FOR FACILITATING PROGRESS TOWARDS STATE EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT GOALS, INCLUDING COLLEGE READINESS AND SUCCESS; AFFORDABILITY AND FINANCE; PATHWAYS, CREDENTIALS, AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT; AND DATA, TRENDS, AND PERFORMANCE AS WELL AS OTHER TOPICS OF IMPORTANCE TO MIDWESTERN STATES. 37 REPORTS WERE PRODUCED IN FISCAL YEAR 2025.CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT:MHEC CONTINUED EXPANSION OF THE GRADUATE CREDIT QUEST, A WEB-BASED PLATFORM FOR TEACHERS TO SEARCH FOR GRADUATE COURSE WORK WITHIN THEIR CONTENT AREAS THAT LEAD TO REQUIRED CREDENTIALING FOR TEACHING DUAL OR CONCURRENT CREDIT CLASSES. THE PLATFORM PROVIDES INFORMATION ABOUT DUAL CREDIT AND CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR ALL 12 MHEC MEMBER STATES. IT ALSO SERVES AS A REPOSITORY OF RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS, PROFESSIONAL PAPERS AND MEDIA RELEASES ON THE SUBJECT OF DUAL/CONCURRENT CREDIT. THE PLATFORM WAS ENHANCED IN 2024 WITH ENHANCED GOOGLE ANALYTICS THAT ALLOWS TRACKING OF USER TYPES BY VOLUME AND FREQUENCY OR SEASONALITY OF VISITS AND THE CREATION OF SITE CONTENT AREA PREFERENCES. NOW THE PLATFORM ENABLES OVER 41 REGIONAL GRADUATE SCHOOLS TO BUILD AWARENESS AMONG TEACHERS ABOUT ROUGHLY 1,880 UNIQUE COURSE OFFERINGS, WITHIN MULTIPLE ACADEMIC DISCIPLINES, AND PROVIDING ACCESS TO SPECIFIC ENROLLMENT PROCESSES, DELIVERY MODALITIES, AND MORE. CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT IS A RESEARCH PRIORITY FOR MHEC DURING ITS CURRENT STRATEGIC PLAN. IN FISCAL YEAR 2025 MHEC WILL PRODUCE BETWEEN THREE AND FOUR RESEARCH REPORTS PERTAINING TO CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT ISSUES: TRENDS AND PATTERNS IN STATE LEVEL DATA COLLECTION, USE OF OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES IN DUAL AND CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT SETTINGS, AN UPDATED VERSION OF THE 2017 MHEC RESEARCH REPORT SUMMARIZING EXISTING RESEARCH ON OPTIMAL LEVELS OF TEACHER TRAINING AND PREPARATION, AND AN UPDATED VERSION OF THE 2019 RESEARCH REPORT SUMMARIZING HOW STATES AND ACCREDITORS DEFINE THE QUALIFICATIONS NECESSARY FOR HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS TO TEACH CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT COURSES.MIDWEST STUDENT EXCHANGE PROGRAM:A MULTI-STATE TUITION RECIPROCITY PROGRAM THAT MAKES ATTENDING OUT-OF-STATE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES MORE AFFORDABLE FOR NON-RESIDENT STUDENTS.- 818 STUDENTS ENROLLED IN THE MIDWEST STUDENT EXCHANGE PROGRAM IN 8 OF THE COMPACT STATES (INDIANA, KANSAS, MINNESOTA, MISSOURI, NEBRASKA, NORTH DAKOTA, OHIO, AND WISCONSIN) DURING FISCAL YEAR 2025.- MSEP STUDENTS SAVED OVER $29 MILLION IN FY25, BRINGING THE TOTAL PROGRAM SAVINGS TO $920 MILLION SINCE 1994.- ON AVERAGE, STUDENTS IN MSEP TYPICALLY REALIZE SAVINGS BETWEEN $1,100 AND $7,200 ANNUALLY.MIDWESTERN STATE AUTHORIZATION RECIPROCITY AGREEMENT:THE NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR STATE AUTHORIZATION RECIPROCITY AGREEMENTS (NC-SARA) IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE FOUR REGIONAL COMPACTS COORDINATES, THE STATE AUTHORIZATION RECIPROCITY AGREEMENTS (SARA) PROGRAM WHICH PROVIDES A VOLUNTARY, STREAMLINED PROCESS FOR STATES TO OVERSEE POST-SECONDARY DISTANCE EDUCATION, ENSURING UNIFORM STANDARDS ACROSS PARTICIPATING STATES. INSTITUTIONS PAY A PARTICIPATION FEE, WHICH SIMPLIFIES THEIR ABILITY TO OFFER ONLINE PROGRAMS WITHOUT REGISTERING IN EVERY STATE WHERE THEIR STUDENTS RESIDE. SARA ENHANCES QUALITY ASSURANCE, CONSUMER PROTECTIONS, AND THE VALUE OF CREDITS FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION. CURRENTLY, 49 STATES, THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, PUERTO RICO, AND THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS ARE MEMBERS OF SARA. WITHIN SARA, 2,412 INSTITUTIONS PARTICIPATE, OF WHICH 652 (320 PRIVATE NON-PROFIT, 295 PUBLIC, 32 PRIVATE FOR-PROFIT, AND 5 TRIBAL) INSTITUTIONS ARE IN MHEC STATES. M-SARA (MIDWESTERN-STATE AUTHORIZATION RECIPROCITY AGREEMENT) STAFFED BY MHEC, LEADS THE WORK IN THE MIDWEST. M-SARA HOSTS ITS OWN SET OF ANNUAL MEETINGS FOR THE M-SARA REGIONAL STEERING COMMITTEE (RSC) MEMBERS AND MSARA STATE PORTAL ENTITIES (SPES), THE INDIVIDUALS IN EACH STATE WHO REVIEW AND APPROVE INSTITUTIONS FOR SARA PARTICIPATION AND MONITOR INSTITUTIONAL COMPLIANCE. M-SARA SAVED INSTITUTIONS AN ESTIMATED $112,293,885 IN FISCAL YEAR 2025.