Equity 2030 Progress Report: Executive Summary
In June 2019, Minnesota State declared Equity 2030 to be its top priority. For Minnesota to have the educated workforce its employers need, the system’s colleges and universities must increase success for all students, no matter their background or their level of preparation. The primary focus of Equity 2030 is the goal of closing gaps in rates of student success by race, income, and first-generation status. To measure progress towards this goal and for public accountability, Minnesota State developed several simple ways of reviewing systemwide outcomes using a tool called the Equity Scorecard.
What Does The Data Tell Us?
- Many gaps have closed or are narrowing (see Chart 1).
- There are fewer gaps now than there were four years ago (see Chart 2).
- Progress needs to accelerate in order to close all gaps by 2030.
Chart 1 shows how many institutions have closed gaps and have gaps that are narrowing, flat, or widening for each student category. The bars vary in height because only those student groups that are large enough to be measured are included. For example, several institutions do not have enough American Indian/Indigenous students to include them in the analysis.
Chart 2 compares the percentage of institutions that have closed gaps for the group of students entering colleges/universities in Fall 2018 and those entering in Fall 2022. Because this measures whether the student was successful and returned to college the next year, there is a lag in reporting. The chart shows improvement in every category we measure except for two or more races. For example, 7% of the student success gaps were closed for American Indian students beginning entering in Fall 2018, but for the students beginning in Fall 2022 the number of gaps closed increased to 21%.
The Highest Performers Vary by Campus
At 15 of our 33 colleges and universities, the highest performing racial group are non-white students. Diving more deeply, at five institutions the highest performing group is Asian. At four institutions the highest performing group is Hispanic. At two campuses the highest performing group is American Indian. At two institutions the highest performing group is two or more races. And, at one institution, the highest performing group is Black or African American. On the rest of the campuses, the highest performing group is white.
Pandemic
These measurements show progress towards Equity 2030 in spite of COVID-19. This is notable given that nationally the pandemic likely had a disproportionate impact on Black and Indigenous students, students of color, low-income students, and first-generation students.
Progress toward closing gaps in student success will not occur on all campuses equally, nor improve steadily or consistently. Some institutions have closed almost all gaps, and others have yet to close any. This is to be expected, as each institution has its own demographic mix and local context. For example, the makeup and size of student cohorts varies from year to year, and some institutions have cohorts so small that they cannot be measured while also maintaining anonymity.
- “First-generation” defined in Minnesota as neither of a student’s parents attended a post-secondary institution.
- “Pell eligible” refers to low-income students. Pell grants are a federal financial aid program that generally targets students from families with incomes below $30,000 (though in some cases below $65,000).
