Our Work

SHEEO Publications

Access all of SHEEO's most recent publications, including reports and briefs, organized by year published.

Advancing Whole Student Support Through Improved Mental Health and Wellness

Inadequate campus support for student mental health, such as student isolation and difficulty accessing care, extreme wait times, understaffing, and underfunding, predates 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, exacerbated preexisting conditions that failed to adequately support students. The impacts have been particularly pronounced for students of color and students from low-income circumstances. Systemic inequities, mental health disparities (related to both additive stressors and lower access to care), and higher levels of…

Basic Needs Data Academy

SHEEO’s latest state policy academy is focused on supporting states in expanding data capacity and developing policy infrastructure for integrating and using basic needs information in state postsecondary data systems.

Communities of Practice

SHEEO’s Communities of Practice project is focused on increasing the capacity and utilization of state postsecondary data systems, and providing a forum for states to work on solutions to common issues with those systems.

FAFSA Simplification

SHEEO is working alongside its members to determine how FAFSA Simplification could impact student pell eligibility and state financial aid eligibility.

Examining Funding Models for Unintended Disparities

This project seeks to provide states with the resources to assess or analyze funding adequacy and equity while increasing the research and practical base of understanding regarding how to approach and address unintended disparities in state higher education finance.

Government Relations

A compilation of SHEEO federal advocacy activities, including sign-on letters, op-eds, and other key documents.

Constellation of Support: A Capacity-Building Approach to Institutional Change

Higher education institutions across the country are working to improve student success, yet many face capacity constraints that hinder the implementation of evidence-based strategies. The State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) and Student-Ready Strategies (SRS) are launching Constellation of Support: A Capacity-Building Approach to Institutional Change to provide targeted, hands-on support to institutions working to remove barriers to retention and completion for marginalized student populations. Generously funded by the…

Membership Survey

The Membership Survey provides the SHEEO membership and the higher education policy community with a view of various member characteristics, including agency-level data.

Noncredit Mobility Academy

The noncredit mobility academy will support states as they build capacity to better realize the potential of noncredit education and increase economic mobility for learners who begin their postsecondary journey through noncredit programming.

Pell Grants for Prison Education

Starting on July 1, 2023, any person who is incarcerated, regardless of sentence length or conviction history, will be eligible to draw on their Pell Grant allotment to pursue postsecondary education with an approved prison education program (PEP). Reinstatement of Pell eligibility calls for departments of corrections, state higher education agencies, and accreditors, among others, to collaborate on the approval and operation of prison education programs to enhance students’ access…

Pursuing Alignment for Student Success Across Higher Education Institutions & State Agencies

SHEEO is partnering with Sova on the Pursuing Alignment for Student Success Across Higher Education Institutions & State Agencies (PASS) project. This initiative supports the alignment of student success policies and practices between state agencies, state systems, and higher education institutions. PASS aims to enhance student success by strengthening formal state networks and fostering collaboration between institutional leadership and state higher education leaders.   Participating States A cohort of four…

Rural Talent Development and Attraction Lab

In order to advance postsecondary education for rural communities, the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) is partnering with The Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges (ARRC) and HCM Strategists to establish a Rural Talent Development and Attraction Lab in five states over four years. ARRC was awarded a $7,245,600 grant from Ascendium Education Group to help five state higher education agencies develop and adopt a statewide plan for…

SHEF: State Higher Education Finance

The SHEF report provides in-depth analysis of the trends in higher education finance on state and national levels.

State Authorization

SHEEO has launched two projects meant to help states improve their authorization process.

State Postsecondary Data

SHEEO is the higher education community’s primary source of information regarding the capacity and effective use of state postsecondary data systems.

State Priorities for Higher Education Survey

The State Prioriites for Higher Education Survey is distributed to higher education leaders in the fall each year to determine top policy issues and priorities for the upcoming year.

Strong Foundations

The Strong Foundations project seeks to understand the state of postsecondary data systems. Multiple iterations of the Strong Foundations survey and associated reports document the content, capacity, effective use, and evolution of state postsecondary data systems.

Tuition and Fee Survey

SHEEO has produced the Tuition and Fee Survey report periodically since 1979 to gather data on tuition and fee-related topics and issues in higher education. Each survey reflects the social context it was created in as survey questions were revised based on decisions to collect information relevant for members of that period. Given the ongoing interest in the cost and affordability of postsecondary education, it is crucial to understand how…