What's New

New Data for Adult Learning!

With generous support from the Lumina Foundation for Education, NCHEMS has worked with the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) to expand the resources available for gaining a better understanding of how well states serve non-traditional age adults in their education and training programs. These efforts are increasingly important as the skills needed to compete in the workforce continue to advance, and states work to raise the education levels of all adults in order to compete in the global economy. The resulting products are:

• Some of the key data and information are available in the "Adult Learners" section to the left. These data will be updated annually where possible so you can track your state's progress over time.
• The Full Report containing much more data and information can be accessed at http://www.cael.org/adultlearninginfocus.htm
• State Profiles are available at http://www.cael.org/adultlearninginfocus.htm
• A variety of charts and graphs are available in the "Special Analyses" section of the website (located on the top navigation above).

If you have any questions, please contact us at higheredinfo@nchems.org

New Data Added to the Website (July 2007)

Thanks to support from the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative (NPEC), we have updated many of the 2000 Decennial Census with data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2005 American Community Survey (ACS). We have added the following state-level metrics for demographic and employment characteristics:

• Education Attainment by Degree-Level and Age
• Median Family and Household Incomes
• Poverty
• Employment by Occupation
• Employment by Industry
• Median Earnings by Level of Education (in Special Analyses Section)
• Net Migration of Residents by Degree-Level

These data can be accessed from the left-hand navigation and more detailed data and information are provided in the "Special Analyses" section located at the top left corner of the website.

A Caution Regarding Standard Errors for the American Community Survey (2005 Data)

When interpreting the American Community Survey data, please understand that there are statistical errors associated with them - as there are with any sample survey. The standard errors and 90 percent confidence intervals are provided in the "data tab" for each measure provided. Also, charts displaying the errors and confidence intervals for each of the variables and a technical document describing the data provided by the ACS are provided in the "Special Analyses" section of the website. These errors do not apply to the decennial census data provided for the years 1990 and 2000. Finally, in the detailed spreadsheets located in the "Special Analyses" section, there are some instances where the data are not provided for certain states due to small sample sizes. These cells are shaded red.