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Education credits: questions and answers

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Education credits

Find the answers to the most common questions you ask about the Education Credits -- the American opportunity tax credit (AOTC) and the lifetime learning credit (LLC).

Q1. Have there been any changes in the past few years to the tax credits for higher education expenses?

A1. No, but the Protecting Americans Against Tax Hikes (PATH) Act of 2015 made AOTC permanent. The AOTC helps defray the cost of higher education expenses for tuition, certain fees and course materials for four years.

To claim the AOTC or LLC, use Form 8863, Education Credits (American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning Credits) . Additionally, if you claim the AOTC, this law requires you to include the school’s Employer Identification Number on this form.

In addition, the Trade Preferences Extension Act 2015 requires most students to have received a Form 1098-T. To be eligible to claim the AOTC or the LLC, this law requires a taxpayer (or a dependent) to have received Form 1098-T, Tuition Statement, from an eligible educational institution.

Q2. How does AOTC differ from the existing LLC?

A2. Unlike the other education tax credits, the AOTC is allowed for expenses for course-related books, supplies and equipment that are not necessarily paid to the educational institution but are needed for attendance. It also differs because you can claim the credit for four tax years instead of no limit on the number of years you can claim the LLC. See Education Credits: AOTC and LLC for more information.

Q3. How much is the AOTC worth?

A3. It is a tax credit of up to $2,500 of the cost of tuition, certain required fees and course materials needed for attendance and paid during the tax year. Also, 40 percent of the credit for which you qualify that is more than the tax you owe (up to $1,000) can be refunded to you. 

Q4. How does AOTC affect my income taxes?

A4. You reduce the amount of tax you owe dollar for dollar by the amount of the AOTC for which you qualify up to the amount of tax you owe. If the amount of the AOTC is more than the tax you owe, then up to 40 percent of the credit (up to $1,000) can be refunded to you.

Q5. What are qualified tuition and related expenses for the education tax credits?

A5. In general, qualified tuition and related expenses for the education tax credits include tuition and required fees for the enrollment or attendance at eligible post-secondary educational institutions (including colleges, universities and trade schools). The expenses paid during the tax year must be for an academic period that begins in the same tax year or an academic period that begins in the first three months of the following tax year.

The following expenses do not qualify for the AOTC or the LLC:

• Room and board
• Transportation
• Medical expenses
• Student fees, unless required as a condition of enrollment or attendance
• Same expenses paid with tax-free educational assistance
• Same expenses used for any other tax deduction, credit or educational benefit

Q6. What additional education expenses qualify for the AOTC, but not the LLC?

A6. For the AOTC but not the LLC, qualified tuition and related expenses include amounts paid for books, supplies and equipment needed for a course of study. You do not have to buy the materials from the eligible educational institution. Add amounts paid for these materials to Form 8863 to your other adjusted qualified education expenses. The total of all qualified tuition and related expenses for calculating the AOTC cannot exceed $4,000 and as explained in Q&A 3, the maximum allowable credit is $2,500. See Qualified Education Expense for more information.

Q7. Does a computer qualify for the AOTC?

A7. It depends. The amount paid for the computer can qualify for the credit if you need the computer for attendance at the educational institution.

Q8. Who is an eligible student for the AOTC?

A8. An eligible student for the AOTC is a student who:

• Was enrolled at least half time in a program leading toward a degree, certificate or other recognized educational credential for at least one academic period during the tax year,
• Has not completed the first four years of post-secondary (education after high school) at the beginning of the tax year,
• Has not claimed (or someone else has not claimed) the AOTC for the student for more than four years, and
• Was not convicted of a federal or state felony drug offense at the end of the tax year.

Q9. If a student was an undergraduate student during the first part of the tax year and became a graduate student that same year, can the student claim or be claimed for the AOTC for the qualified tuition and related expenses paid during the entire tax year?

A9. Yes, AOTC can be claimed for this student for qualified educational expenses paid during the entire tax year, if all other requirements are met and the student:

• Has not completed the first four years of post-secondary (education after high school) education as of the beginning of the tax year, and
• Has not claimed the AOTC for more than four tax years.

Q10. I'm just beginning college this year. Can I claim the AOTC for all four years I pay tuition?

A10. Yes, if you remain an eligible student and no one can claim you as a dependent on their tax return, the AOTC is available for qualifying expenses paid during each tax year.

Q11. How do I calculate AOTC?

A11. You calculate the AOTC based on 100 percent of the first $2,000 of qualifying expenses, plus 25 percent of the next $2,000, paid during the tax year.

Q12. Is there an income limit for AOTC?

A12. Yes. To claim the full credit, your MAGI, modified adjusted gross income (See Q&A 13 for MAGI definition) must be $80,000 or less ($160,000 or less for married taxpayers filing jointly). If your MAGI is over $80,000 but less than $90,000 (over $160,000 but less than $180,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly), the amount of your credit is reduced. If your MAGI is over $90,000 ($180,000 for married taxpayers filing joint), you can't claim the credit.

Q13. What is "modified adjusted gross income" for the purpose of the AOTC?

A13. For most filers, it is the amount of your AGI, adjusted gross income, from your tax return. If you file Form 1040 or 1040-SR, your MAGI is the AGI on line 11 of that form, modified by adding back any:

• Foreign earned income exclusion
• Foreign housing exclusion
• Foreign housing deduction
• Exclusion of income by bona fide residents of American Samoa or Puerto Rico.

Q14. How do I claim an education tax credit?

A14. To claim the AOTC or LLC, use Form 8863, Education Credits (American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning Credits) . Additionally, if you claim the AOTC, the law requires you to include the school’s Employer Identification Number on this form.

Q15. Where do I put the amount of my education tax credit on my tax return?

A15. To claim the American opportunity credit complete Form 8863 and submitting it with your Form 1040 or 1040-SR. Enter the nonrefundable part of the credit on Schedule 3 (Form 1040 or 1040-SR), line 3. Enter the re-fundable part of the credit on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 29. 

To claim the lifetime learning credit complete Form 8863 and submitting it with your Form 1040 or 1040-SR. Enter the credit on Schedule 3 (Form 1040 or 1040-SR), line 3.

Q16. My dependent child attended college half time in 2023 for a semester and will attend full time starting 2024. Can I skip taking AOTC for 2023 because her expenses are low and claim AOTC for 2024 and future years? (updated January 10, 2024)

A16. Yes, you are not required to claim the credit for a particular year. If your child’s college does not consider your child to have completed the first four years of college at the beginning of 2023, you can qualify to take the credit for up to four tax years.

Q17. I completed two years of college right after graduating from high school years ago before there was the Hope or AOTC.  I now returned to college to finish my degree on a part time basis; can I claim the AOTC and, if so, for how many years?

A17. You can claim AOTC, for any semester or other academic period if you take at least half the full-time course load for the first four years of college. If you take half the course load for at least one semester or other academic period of each tax year, and your college does not consider you to have completed the first four years of college as of the beginning of the tax year, you can qualify to take the AOTC for up to four tax years.

Q18. What is Form 1098-T, Tuition Statement, and do I need to receive a Form 1098-T to claim the AOTC?

A18. Yes. The Form 1098-T is a form provided to you and the IRS by an eligible educational institution that reports, among other things, amounts paid for qualified tuition and related expenses.  The form may be useful in calculating the amount of the allowable education tax credits. In general, a student must receive a Form 1098-T to claim an education credit. But an eligible educational institution is not required to provide the Form 1098-T to you in certain circumstances, for example:

• Nonresident alien students, unless the student requests the institution to file Form 1098-T,
• Students whose tuition and related expenses are entirely waived or paid entirely with scholarships or grants, or
• Students for whom the institution does not maintain a separate financial account and whose qualified tuition and related expenses are covered by a formal billing arrangement with the student’s employer or a government agency, such as the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense.

Q19. I did not receive a Form 1098-T because my school is not required to provide a Form 1098-T to me for 2023.  Can I still claim an education credit for tax year 2023? (updated January 10, 2023)

A19. Yes. You can still claim the AOTC if you did not receive a Form 1098-T because the school is not required to provide you a Form 1098-T if:

• The student and/or the person able to claim the student as a dependent meets all other eligibility requirements to claim the credit, 
• The student can show he or she was enrolled at an eligible educational institution, and 
• You can substantiate the payment of qualified tuition and related expenses.

Be sure to keep records that show the student was enrolled and the amount of paid qualified tuition and related expenses. You may need to send copies if the IRS contacts you regarding your claim of the credit.

Q20. In 2022, my school went out of business and closed.  I did not get a Form 1098-T for 2023 from the school.  Can I still claim an education credit for tax year 2023? (updated January 10, 2023)

A20. Yes. You can still claim an education credit if your school that closed did not provide you a Form 1098-T if:

• The student can show he or she was enrolled at an eligible educational institution, and

Q21. How do I know if my school is an eligible educational institution?

A21. An eligible educational institution is a school offering higher education beyond high school. It is any college, university, vocational school, or other post-secondary educational institution eligible to participate in a Federal student aid program run by the U.S. Department of Education. This includes most accredited public, nonprofit and privately-owned–for-profit post-secondary institutions.

If you aren’t sure if your school is an eligible educational institution:

Check to see if the student received a Form 1098-T, Tuition Statement. Eligible educational institutions are required to issue students Form 1098-T, Tuition Statement (some exceptions apply).

Ask your school if it is an eligible educational institution, or

See if your school is on the U.S. Department of Education’s Database of Accredited Post Secondary Institutions and Programs (DAPIP)  or the Federal Student Loan Program list .

Q22. I received a letter from the IRS questioning my AOTC claim. What should I do?

A22. If you receive a letter or are audited by the IRS, it can be because the IRS did not receive a Form 1098-T, Tuition Statement, or the IRS needs additional information to support the amounts of qualified tuition and related expenses you reported on Form 8863. 

If you did receive a Form 1098-T, review it to make sure the student’s name and Social Security number are correct. If either is not correct, contact the school and ask the school to correct the information for future 1098-T reporting. If the student should have, but did not receive the Form 1098-T, contact the school for a copy.

Please note as described above, there are exceptions in which eligible educational institutions are not required to provide a Form 1098-T. See Q&A 18 for more information about the Form 1098-T. 

If you claimed expenses that were not reported on the Form 1098-T in Box 1 as amounts paid, send the IRS copies of receipts, cancelled checks or other documents as proof of payment. See your letter for further instructions for what documents to send.  

If you don't have the letter, see Forms 886-H-AOC and 886-H-AOC-MAX for examples. Form 886-H-AOC is also available in Spanish.

Q23. Can students with an F-1 Visa claim the AOTC?

A23. For most students present in the U.S. on an F-1 Student Visa the answer is no. Generally, the time an alien individual spends studying in the U.S. on an F-1 Student Visa doesn't count in determining whether he or she is a resident alien under the substantial presence test. See Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens  for more information.

Q24. I am a Nonresident Alien, can I claim an education tax credit? 

A24. Generally, a Nonresident Alien cannot claim an education tax credit unless:

• You are married and choose to file a joint return with a U.S. citizen or resident spouse, or 
• You are a Dual-Status Alien and choose to be treated as a U.S. resident for the entire year. See Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens for more information.

Q25.What should I do if the student’s return was incorrectly prepared and filed by a professional tax preparer?

A25. You are legally responsible for what’s on your tax return, even if someone else prepares it. The IRS urges you to choose a tax preparer wisely. For more information, read IRS’s How to Choose a Tax Return Preparer .

Q26. Are there any other education tax benefits?

A26. Yes, see the Tax Benefits for Education: Information Center for more information.  

Return to Education Credits Home Page

Education Benefit Resources

Information for Schools, Community and Social Organizations on our Refundable Credits Toolkit  

Tax Preparer Due Diligence Information on our Tax Preparer Toolkit

Watch out for these common errors made when claiming education credits

• Students listed as a dependent or spouse on another tax return
• Students who don’t have a Form 1098-T showing they attended an eligible educational institution
• Students claimed for whom qualified education expenses  were not paid
• Claiming the credit for a student not attending a college or other higher education

Find more answers to the questions you ask about the education credits

See Education Credits: Questions and Answers

More education benefit resources

• Education Credits: AOTC and LLC
• American Opportunity Tax Credit
• Lifetime Learning Credit
• Compare Education Credits
• Interactive App: "Am I Eligible to Claim an Education Credit?"
• No Double Benefits Allowed
• Qualified Education Expense
• Eligible Educational Institution
• Tax Benefits for Education: Information Center

Technical Forms and Publications

• Publication 970, Tax Benefits for Education PDF
• Form 8863, Education Credit PDF
• Form 8863 Instructions PDF
• Form 1098-T, Tuition Statement PDF
• Forms 1098-E and T Instructions PDF

Education Credit Marketing Resources

• Publication 4772 American Opportunity Tax Credit Flyer PDF
• Publication 5081 Education Credits On-line Resource PDF
• Publication 5198 Are you or a family member attending college or taking courses to acquire or improve job skills? PDF
• Tax Tip 2022-38 Two tax credits that can help cover the cost of higher education
• Tax Tip 2022-123 College students should study up on these two tax credits
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What is a Post-Secondary Degree, and Do I Need One?

Quick Degree Finder

Part of the American dream has always been to send your children to college so they could obtain their degree. Despite a struggling economy, the last decade has seen record numbers of people seeking higher education. In 2019 alone, nearly 20 million Americans enrolled in colleges and universities to receive their degree, and experts are expecting this number to increase over the coming years .

And it’s not just wealthy families that are sending their kids to college. Recent surveys have found more low- and middle-income families are making higher education a priority.

If you have been wondering about getting a post-secondary degree – what it was exactly and if it was something that could help you earn more – be sure to read this entire article , because I’m going to share absolutely everything you need to know about post-secondary degrees.

Let’s get started!

What is a Post-Secondary Degree?

To keep things simple, a post-secondary degree is one that a person can obtain once they’ve received their high school diploma or GED. Post-secondary degrees may come from a community college, vocational school, an undergraduate college or a university.

These degrees show prospective employers that you have taken the time to receive specialized skills and knowledge. Beyond helping you stand out from other candidates come hiring time, post-secondary degrees can help you earn more – and in some cases – quite a bit more!

Types of Post-Secondary Degrees

As I mentioned, a post-secondary degree lets prospective employers know you have obtained specialized skills and information. But there are different types – or levels – of post-secondary degrees, and each one connotes a different level of expertise.

Associates Degree

Associates degrees are typically obtained in two years at either a community college or vocational/technical school. These degrees offer students a higher understanding of different professional settings and prepares them for entry-level work.

An associates degree can also be counted as the first two years of a 4-year bachelor’s degree. Many students, particularly adult students, will obtain their associates degree in order to get their foot in the door of their chosen field. Later, they can use this degree to jumpstart their next leg of education and obtain their bachelor’s degree, which will provide further employment and earnings opportunities.

Recommended Schools

Bachelor’s Degree

When we hear the term “college degree,” most people think of the classic 4-year bachelor’s degree. This is the most popular post-secondary degree people earn.

Bachelor’s programs provide a more holistic educational experience because they not only teach employable skills, but also academic subjects that help sharpen the students’ critical thinking skills.

While it typically takes students four years to earn a bachelor’s degree, it can sometimes take six or even eight years to complete. This is usually due to financial reasons, however. If you’re interested in obtaining a bachelor’s degree, be sure to read this article all the way to the end because I’m going to share how you can earn your bachelor’s degree for less money and even cut your time in half!

Master’s Degree

Once you have obtained your bachelor’s degree you may choose to go on and pursue a master’s degree. These programs allow students to gain even more expertise around a particular field of study. Depending on the program, master’s degrees typically take an additional two to three years to complete. Once obtained, these degrees can help you advance your career into management roles and earn much higher salaries.

Obtaining a doctorate degree is the highest academic achievement a person can attain. Holders of Ph.Ds. are usually in top positions in their field and earn much more. How much? Keep reading, I’m about to let you in on some salary secrets !

The Benefits of a Post-Secondary Education

At this point you hopefully understand what a post-secondary degree is. But you may still be wondering if obtaining one of these degrees is worth the time and cost.

The following are just some of the benefits of earning a post-secondary degree.

Higher income

I have been alluding to the fact that obtaining a higher degree usually leads to greater earning potential. According to a  new report  from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW), those who have obtained their post-secondary degree can expect to earn quite a bit more than those with only a high school diploma.

Of course, when it comes to earning potential, other factors come into play, such as field of study, occupation and location of your employment. So for instance, someone with a master’s of fine art degree may not earn as much as an engineer with only a bachelor’s degree.

Having said that, surveys taken over the years, including this recent one, have found certain generalized statements, such as those with even an associates degree can expect to earn 20% more than those with a high school diploma or GED.

Those with bachelor’s degrees can expect to earn between 35% and 85% more than those with only a high school diploma, while those with master’s degrees and Ph.Ds. can earn between 85% and 100% more than those with only a high school diploma.

So, if you are someone who is looking to advance your career and start earning more, getting a post-secondary degree makes a lot of sense!

Better Employee Benefits

You may not know this, but jobs that require you to have a bachelor’s degree or higher typically offer better job benefits. For instance, you may find your employer offers healthcare coverage, retirement plans, paid time off and other awesome perks.

More Career Options

It’s simple really: the higher you go with your education, the more career opportunities are available to you. While someone with an associates degree will be able to seek entry-level employment, someone with a master’s degree or Ph. D. will fill the highest positions and earn the highest salary.

Having said that, I want to make it clear that master’s degrees and Ph. Ds. are not necessary to have a rewarding and lucrative career. Many people have the career of their dreams and earn a great salary by earning a bachelor’s degree.

Job Security

If you’ve been in the job market over the last decade, you know that when the economy struggles, employers need to make cuts. Without question, those employees who have the most skills and expertise offer the most value to their employers and therefor have greater job security.

Job Satisfaction

We spend eight hours a day (or more) five days a week (or more) at our jobs. That’s a lot of time dedicated to something you may not like doing. Life just feels better when we love our work. Often, the careers that bring those most meaning and purpose into our lives, such as those in healthcare, science or education, require a post-secondary degree.

This isn’t by any means an exhaustive list of benefits, but these give you an idea of why you may seriously want to consider obtaining your post-secondary degree.

Cons of a Post-Secondary Education

Of course, to decide if a post-secondary education is right for you, you’ll also want to take into consideration a couple of cons, namely:

• It’s Expensive!

Obtaining a college degree is a definite financial commitment. And when you hear about students graduating with a mountain of student loan debt, it can stop you from following your dreams.

There are other common ways to pay for college such as applying for grants and scholarships. Unfortunately, what many students don’t realize is, this endeavor often takes a lot of time with no real payoff. There are only so many grants and scholarships to go around, and so most people will waste hours applying and never see any financial help.

Fear not – there is a simple way to save money toward the cost of college tuition, and I’m about to share that with you in just a moment.

Traditional College Degrees are Hard to Obtain for Adult Students

If you’re a working adult with family responsibilities, it can be next to impossible for you to put your life on hold so that you can move to another state to attend college for four years! Even attempting to take evening classes at your local community college can be a challenge when you have a growing family.

Without question, these two cons are why so many adults give up their pursuit of higher education. And that’s too bad because as we’ve seen, earning a post-secondary degree can be life changing!

Well, the good news is, there is any easy fix for these two problems. Earn your post-secondary degree online!

Can I Really Earn My Post-Secondary Degree Online?

Yes, you really can. In fact, according to one recent article in US News, over 6 million students have found earning their college degree online to be the fastest and easiest way to do it!

Here are some of the main benefits of earning your post-secondary degree online:

It’s More Affordable

Traditional college tuition can cost tens of thousands of dollars. It’s getting harder and harder for the average person to be able to afford this.

An online education, on the other hand, costs just a fraction of a typical education. You see, a physical brick and mortar school has a lot of operating expenses, and those expenses get passed onto you, the student.

Online degrees don’t have these same operating expenses and so you can save a ton. In addition, OnlineDegree.com can help you find even better ways to save. We’ve partnered with accredited colleges and universities across the country that not only offer online courses, they also offer upfront tuition discounts.

And as if that isn’t incredible enough, OnlineDegrees.com offers our students FREE classes for credit. You read that right! Take as many FREE classes as you’d like, then apply those later toward your degree. We’ll connect you with those programs that will accept these credits, thereby saving you EVEN MORE money and helping you earn your degree in far less time!

Hey there win/win!

If you’re a working adult raising a young family, you’ll be happy to know that earning your degree online offers a lot of necessary flexibility. Real life can often get in the way of your evening or weekend classes. Your boss may ask you to stay late, or your kid may get sick.

When you earn your degree online, you study when and where is most convenient for YOU. Set your own schedule and never have to worry about missing work or an important family event ever again!

Adult Friendly

Many institutions that offer online degree programs go out of their way to be adult friendly . This means in addition to being more flexible and affordable, these programs also do things like waive the need to submit SAT or ACT scores and also have open admissions. With open admissions, you can sign up for a post-secondary degree 24/7 365. You DON’T have to try and get your application package in by a specific date like most traditional colleges require.

Are You Ready to Get Started with Your Post-Secondary Degree?

I hope this article has answered any questions you may have had about post-secondary degrees. Without question, earning a post-secondary degree can help you build a rewarding career that offers numerous opportunities and a great salary.

And now you know you can earn this degree online far faster and more affordably than you ever thought possible!

OnlineDegree.com is 100% free for you to use . We provide you the tools to meet your education goals so you can learn your way to a more satisfying and prosperous life. By using our Smartplan , you can easily find ways to save time and money in just a few mouse clicks.

Our Smartplan will help you find:

• FREE courses you can take for credit
• Available tuition discounts
• Schools that are “adult friendly” and offer flexible enrollments and course schedules
• Schools that don’t require SAT or ACT scores
• And much more!

It only takes two minutes to sign up and get started on your journey toward earning your post-secondary degree and a brighter future .

What are you waiting for? Get started today .

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About the author, grant aldrich.

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College & Careers

Postsecondary education should be a right for all

Lia Izenberg

May 6, 2021.

The pandemic is exacerbating an already wide chasm in opportunity and access to higher education in the Bay Area — and across the United States.

Before the pandemic, only 22% of students from low-income communities nationally earned a postsecondary degree, compared to 67% of their peers from high-income areas.

In the nine-county Bay Area, for adults age 25 and older, only 29% of Black and 22% of Latino people hold bachelor’s degrees compared with 60% of their white peers.

That was before the pandemic, and now it seems that even fewer California students are taking the steps to enroll in college during the coming year, and possibly beyond. According to a  recent EdSource article , college financial aid applications from students under 18 are considerably down compared to prior years, with just 314,855 students under age 18 submitting an application (27,522 fewer than in 2020) as of February 15.

One core issue contributing to this degree divide is the lack of access to high-quality college counseling for students, particularly those in low-income communities. Chronic low spending on counselors has led to extremely high counselor-to-student ratios.

In 2011, high school students received an average of only 38 minutes of college advising in their high school career. Since then, some districts that have invested in more counselors have seen improvement in college-going rates as a result, but these investments require tough trade-offs and are harder to make for lower-income districts that tend to have smaller budgets. California is 21st in the nation in per-pupil spending despite its high cost of living, which means districts have to make their dollars stretch farther.

In affluent communities, accessing support to plan postsecondary education isn’t a question — it’s a given. There, well-resourced high schools typically have robust college counseling programs, parents hire private college coaches or students already know what colleges they want to apply to and how to do so.

At this moment when the nation is paying more attention to deeply rooted inequities, we have an opportunity to reimagine what effective preparation for a postsecondary education can look like. We should focus on investing in postsecondary access and success in school districts that have not historically had the resources or vision to do so for every child . Postsecondary education should be the baseline expectation for all students.

This means systematically ensuring that every child, regardless of apparent interest, has access to a high-quality curriculum, advising, mentoring and data that help them make informed decisions about their futures and to apply, enroll and matriculate to a postsecondary institution.

There are many nonprofit and community-based programs that are working toward this goal; 10,000 Degrees and Destination College Advising Corps , for example, both do their work embedded within school buildings, and organizations like the Northern California College Promise Coalition are working to build momentum toward our shared goal of postsecondary success for all.

At OneGoal , the organization I head in the Bay Area, we offer a three-year program that starts as a G-Elective — one of the requirements for entry to the University of California and California State systems — during junior year, and continues through senior year and the first year of post-secondary education.

One of the students who participated in the course was Jorge Ramirez, now a freshman at Sacramento State. He told us that before knowing what his options were, he did not plan to go to college because he wasn’t motivated to enroll, and, more important, he didn’t see how he would find the funds to do so.

After he enrolled in the course in 2018, he learned about the FAFSA , a form to apply for college financial aid from the federal government, and the entire college application process. While he originally wanted to study engineering in college, he discovered his passion once in school and is now working on getting his bachelor’s degree with the goal of becoming a social worker.

Our experience suggests that by embedding postsecondary planning into the school day, along with equipping educators to act as mentors and supporters to students’ journeys, students like Jorge can have an equitable opportunity to attain their postsecondary aspirations.

But reversing chronic divestment requires systematic in vestment. We must take action now. That will require parents and community members backing and supporting school board members who place a high priority on postsecondary attainment.

It will also require looking closely at their school or district’s strategies for promoting postsecondary success, and advocating for plans that provide all children with support to pursue higher education.

As we’ve seen so clearly over the last year, the people’s voice matters. I hope that people all around the country will rise up to demand that postsecondary preparation be integrated into all schools as a matter of equity, and look forward to the day when a postsecondary degree or credential is a right for all.

Lia Izenberg is the executive director of OneGoal Bay Area .

The opinions in this commentary are those of the author. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our  guidelines  and  contact us .

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Daphne 3 years ago 3 years ago

As a high school teacher I have told my students that if I were graduating high school now, I would not go to 4 year college. It is not a guarantee to a good job anymore. Trade school and job experience are better investments, as is military service.

Robert Jaurequi 3 years ago 3 years ago

Excellent article!!!

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Everything You Need to Know About Getting a Post-Secondary Education

• By Emily Summers
• December 10, 2019

Are you about to graduate high school or have already graduated but are considering further studies for better employment opportunities? If so, then you might have heard the term “post-secondary education” every now and then.

As the name goes, post-secondary education takes place after you finish high school. And while most people see it as a stepping stone towards better employment opportunities in the future, this isn’t always necessarily the case. Also, contrary to popular belief, post-secondary education isn’t limited to college, so if money is a hindering factor for taking post-secondary education, you might want to consider the other options aside from college.

In this article, we define post-secondary education, what it means, and the various options available for you after your graduate high school (or high school equivalent). And then we tackle whether or not taking a post-secondary education really is important in the career path you want to take.

What Is Post-Secondary Education?

Secondary vs. post-secondary education, vocational schools, non-degree students, community colleges, colleges & universities, do i need post-secondary education for work.

Post-secondary education is also known as “higher education,” “third-level education,” or “tertiary education,” which all roughly mean the same thing. Its subtypes that don’t result in degrees like certificate programs and community college are also called “continuing education.” These refer to the educational programs you can take after graduating high school, get your GED, or anything similar to these in your country.

Unlike primary and secondary school that are mandatory for children under the age of 18, post-secondary education is completely optional. It is the final stage of formal learning and leads towards an academic degree. Post-secondary education is defined in the International Standard Classification of Education as levels 6 through 8. Post-secondary education also includes both undergraduate and postgraduate studies.

In the United States, plenty of high school students opt to take post-secondary education , with over 21 million students attending after high school. This is because many people see this as a ticket to economic security as having a higher education degree can be the key to opening more job opportunities in the market. While college is a type of post-secondary education, it is not the only form of tertiary education, though. And just because someone has completed their post-secondary education does not necessarily mean there will be job offers lined up for their choosing. Nor does it mean that they automatically earn more than a person who chose not to attend post-secondary education.

Secondary education is more commonly known as high school, but it can also refer to people who have taken their GED (General Education Development) tests or any equivalent around the world. Unlike post-secondary education, students are required to attend secondary school (or at least they are, until they turn 18 and can opt to drop out).

There are a number of people who choose to drop out ( around 527,000 people from October 2017 to October 2018). While it is possible for them to find work (around 47.2 percent of them), they cannot attend post-secondary education unless they finish high school or earn a secondary education diploma.

And while there are jobs available for those who didn’t get to finish secondary school or finished high school but opted not to attend post-secondary education, this closes some doors for them. For example, if you want to become a medical doctor , you cannot enter medical school until you earn a Bachelor’s degree by attending four years of college under an appropriate pre-med program. So, even if you got high grades in high school biology, no medical school is going to accept a student without a bachelor’s degree.

Post-Secondary Institutions

Contrary to popular belief, the term “post-secondary education” and its other similar terms aren’t limited to just earning a bachelor’s degree in high school. Colleges and universities are the most popular choice, but they may not be the most financially possible choice for everyone, especially if you consider that plenty of college graduates in the US are struggling to pay off student loan payments years after they’ve graduated college.

If you’re open to the idea of further education after high school but want to consider other options, here are your possible choices.

Also known as trade or tech schools, vocational schools teach it students on the technical side of certain crafts or skills of a specific job. Unlike colleges where its students receive academic training for careers in certain professional disciplines, vocational school students do job-specific training where certain physical skills are needed more than academic learning.

These are available in almost every country, though they may go by different names. In some countries, there may be both vocational schools run privately or public vocational school that are either fully or partially subsidized by the government for people who want to learn skills for better employment opportunities.

Some vocational courses include:

• Health care for nursing (for people who want to work as caregivers)
• Computer network management
• Word processing application (secretarial positions)
• Food and beverage management
• Fashion designing
• Electrician
• Commercial pilot
• Catering and hotel management
• Daycare management
• Hairstyling, cosmetics, and beautification
• Paralegal studies
• Massage therapy
• Pharmacy technician
• Travel agent

Take note that there are a lot more vocational courses than the ones provided, but not all vocational schools provide all types of courses. Some vocational schools may also specialize in certain industries, so it’s best to do your research on vocational schools in your area .

Completion of any of these courses provide you with a certificate that shows you have completed and trained for the skill of your choice. This gives you a competitive advantage in the job market compared to other high school graduates who do not have the same training for the skillset you have.

It is also possible to have multiple certificates for different courses if you think this will give you a further advantage, such as getting certified for Electrician, Plumber, and Carpentry courses if you intend to work in the construction industry. This also applies to college graduates who think they can get a leg up with both a college degree and a vocational school certificate on their resume.

There are two definitions of non-degree students . The first is a student who attends a college or university and attends undergraduate, master, or doctorate classes but not for the sake of earning a degree. These are people who may be interested in learning for specific classes and want to pursue academic interests but do not see the need to earn the full degree. These can be simply because they want to learn a certain field or who want to add to their resume that they took classes for a specific subject.

Another type of non-degree student are online or classroom programs on specific topics that can be used for resume-building skills or personal enrichment. You won’t earn a diploma, but you earn a certificate of completion. It’s similar to what you earn from tech school, but more academic than in terms of skill.

Community colleges are also known as “junior colleges” or “two-year colleges.” As its name goes, instead of earning a Bachelor’s degree after four years, community college students earn associate degrees after just two years . Some community colleges also offer non-degree certificates and vocational courses, though not all colleges do. Aside from academic classes, community colleges offer other programs for the community.

The reason why community colleges take half the time to earn a diploma is because it only offers the general education requirements taken by all college students. In regular colleges and universities, you spend four years studying: the first two years are dedicated to general education requirements, while the next two are for your specialized classes depending on your major.

Community college can be a step towards employment, but it can also be a step towards entering university. With the classes you’ve taken in community college, you can proceed to a university and major for two more years to work towards a bachelor’s degree. But if you think you don’t need one and intend to enter the workforce after attending community college, you’ll be given an associate’s degree after completion.

The most popular choice for post-secondary education, colleges and universities not only provide bachelor’s degree for high school students, but also post-graduate degrees for college students. Some examples of post-graduate degrees that fall under this bracket include graduate school, law school, medical school, dental school, and business school.

Some people attend post-secondary education institutions like graduate school and business schools for a master’s degree that will give them a leg-up in the job market for higher-ranking positions. However, for other institutions like law school and medical school, you need to enter and finish your education if you want to achieve a certain job role. For example, paralegals may need certification or even a bachelor’s degree, depending on how competitive a paralegal position in a law firm is, but if you want to become a lawyer, you need to finish to law school and pass the bar exam in your jurisdiction.

It’s relatively the most expensive form of post-secondary education, but there are several options on how to get in. There are several scholarship and grant programs that can provide you with partial to full scholarships (some even provide stipends or allowances for expenses like food, books, and other necessities) without having to go into debt. However, a lot of scholarship programs are extremely competitive and are usually awarded to students who show a lot of academic or athletic promise or require the most financial aid.

Getting post-secondary education is not necessary to land a job in the future, nor is there any assurance that getting further education will get you a job right after completing your education. If you feel like none of the options mentioned above can help you towards the career you want or see yourself doing in the future, then you don’t have to take any of them. Unlike elementary and secondary school in your younger years, post-secondary education isn’t mandatory – whether you attend school after high school or after the age of 18 is still your choice.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, almost 70% of high school graduates in 2018 between the ages of 16 to 24 enrolled to colleges or universities. And out of the 20 to 29-year-olds who received a college diploma, around 72% were employed. However, 74% of high school graduates were in the labor force (meaning they were working or actively looking for work), while 42% of high school drop outs were working.

This means that regardless of your educational attainment, there will be a position in the job market that will suit your educational attainment. However, depending on what that is, the job market could be competitive.

Also, take note of the salary difference. One of the possible reasons why over half of high school graduates opt to attend post-secondary education is because the average annual salary of a college graduate is over half the average annual salary of a high school graduate – and the gap between the two educational attainments is only growing wider.

However, some people don’t work for the paycheck alone and work because it’s something they want to do or they’re content with their job and the salary they earn. There is nothing wrong with this, especially if this means they choose a career path or job that allows them to do what they want.

Whether or not you should pursue post-secondary education is ultimately up to you. If you want a career that doesn’t necessarily fall under the available institutions or you feel like continuing education will do little to help your career, then it’s OK to skip this altogether and pursue a career or track that you want. But if you want to pursue continuing education but feel like you can’t afford to take four years of college, then you know that you have other options available that may help you.

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This is used to describe any type of education occurring after high school/secondary school. While post-secondary education isn’t mandatory, it offers added advantages because it helps students get additional education and develop various skills, which may increase their chances of securing higher-level employment. Students should also consider the salary difference. A significant percentage of high school graduates choose to receive post-secondary education because the mean annual salary of a college graduate is far better than that of a high school graduate.

Students planning to receive post-secondary education can choose from different types of post-secondary education institutions.

Colleges and universities: These are the two most sought-after choices for post-secondary education. Some students attend post-secondary education institutions, such as business schools and graduate schools, to earn a master’s degree that gives them a leg-up in the competitive job market. While colleges and universities are usually the most expensive forms of post-secondary education, several grants and scholarship programs are available that can help ease students’ financial burden.

Community colleges: By attending community colleges, students can earn an associate degree after two years. Some community colleges also offer vocational courses and non-degree certificates. Apart from academic classes, these colleges offer various programs for the community. It’s important to understand that community colleges take just two years to award an associate degree because they only offer general education courses that all college students must take. In four-year colleges and universities, students spend the first two years meeting the general education requirements and the next two years taking specialized classes depending on their majors.

Vocational schools: These schools teach students the technical sides of certain skills or crafts of a particular job. Unlike colleges that provide students with academic training to pursue careers in specific professional disciplines, vocational schools provide job-specific training where certain skills are prioritized over academic learning. While there’re many different types of vocational courses available, not all vocational schools provide all kinds of vocational courses. By completing any of these courses, a student receives a certificate that demonstrates they are trained for the skill of their choice. Students may also earn multiple certificates for multiple courses if they think it’ll give them a further advantage.

Apart from these, some students may choose to receive non-degree post-secondary education. Non-degree students are individuals who may be interested in learning a certain field and want to pursue academic interests but don’t want to earn a degree. By completing such a program, students can earn a certificate of completion instead of an associate’s degree.

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The Postsecondary Education Conundrum

Subscribe to the brown center on education policy newsletter, cecilia elena rouse cecilia elena rouse @ceciliaerouse.

June 5, 2013

Postsecondary education in the United States faces a conundrum: Can we preserve access, help students learn more and finish their degrees sooner and more often, and keep college affordable for families, all at the same time? And can the higher education reforms currently most in vogue—expanding the use of technology and making colleges more accountable—help us do these things?

Since the 1960s, colleges and universities have worked hard to increase access to higher education. Fifty years ago, with the industrial economy booming—as Sandy Baum, Charles Kurose, and Michael McPherson write in the latest issue of the Future of Children —only 45 percent of young people went to college when they graduated from high school. Today, they note, at least 70 percent enroll in some form of postsecondary education. Women, who once accounted for little more than a third of the college population, now outnumber men on campus, and minorities and the poor have also seen many barriers to a college education fall. Certainly, we still have work to do—for example, advantaged children are still much more likely than children living in poverty to go to college, and to attend elite institutions when they do. Yet the gains in access have been remarkable.

Over the past decade, critics have increasingly questioned the quality of college education in the U.S. In particular, they have pointed to low completion rates—only about half of the people who enroll at a postsecondary institution complete a degree or certificate within six years. Yes, there are many reasons that students attend such institutions, but even among those who report that they aspire to earn at least a bachelor’s degree, only about 36 percent do so.

Most recently, the loudest debates in higher education have been about cost. When people talk about the cost of postsecondary education, they usually mean tuition. The most alarming recent increases have been in the “sticker price,” or the published cost of attending an institution. Sticker prices for full-time in-state students at public four-year colleges and universities increased 27.2 percent between 2007 and 2012, according to the College Board. But only about one-third of full-time students pay the sticker price; the other two-thirds of full-time students pay the “net price,” which is the sticker price minus grants and other forms of aid. On average, the net price is 70 percent less than the sticker price. Even so, the net price of college has also increased steeply, by 18 percent over the same five years.

Many people take the sharp rise in tuition costs as evidence that institutions of higher education are inefficient and growing more so—in other words, that colleges and universities are spending more and more money to deliver the same education. They argue that if we aggressively adopt technology and strengthen accountability, we can make colleges and universities more efficient, whether that means providing the same education for less money, or a better education for the same cost.

But, in truth, tuition—whether we’re talking about sticker price or net price—doesn’t really tell us how much a college education costs. As McPherson, who is president of the Spencer Foundation, pointed out recently at a conference at Princeton, an institution’s total expenditure per student is a much better measure of the cost of a college education. Based on 2012 data from the College Board, expenditures per student, especially at public institutions, have been relatively flat over the past decade, increasing by about 6.4 percent at four-year public institutions and actually decreasing at two-year public institutions. Tuition itself accounts for only a part of the total expenditure per student. At public institutions in particular, the rest is made up largely by state subsidies. What has changed in recent years is that state subsidies have fallen precipitously, meaning that parents and students are shouldering more of the cost through rising tuition payments. From 2000 to 2010, the portion of total expenditures covered by tuition at public institutions went from just over one-third to just over one-half, with subsidies falling accordingly. If we look at the cost of college this way, it’s unlikely that growing inefficiency is the main problem facing institutions of higher education; in fact, they are educating more students than ever and doing so at roughly the same cost per student. Nonetheless, few people expect state subsidies to rebound to their former levels. If college is to remain affordable, state institutions must seek ways to lower their cost per student so that they can keep tuition in check.

What are the prospects, then, that technology and accountability can help us rein in the rate of growth in tuition? Unfortunately, the answer isn’t clear.

Policymakers like to focus on advances in technology as a solution for the tuition crisis because a major component underlying the cost of a postsecondary education is the cost of paying the faculty. As long as the wages that faculty members could earn in other parts of the economy continue to increase, there will be upward pressure on the cost of educating students. But if we could use advanced technology to let each faculty member teach more students, we could lower the cost of a college education. However, no one wants such an increase in productivity to reduce the quality of the education that students receive. Therefore, if technology is to help us solve higher education’s quandary, it must provide education at a lower cost without lowering its quality.

We have scant evidence of whether e-learning is comparable in quality to traditional classroom instruction. However,  the best research so far suggests that in large lecture classes, at least, especially those that cover introductory material in some subjects, students learn just as well online as they do in “chalk and talk” classes. We know even less about the long-term cost of teaching in this way. On the one hand, once we pay the start-up and transition costs associated with adopting new technology and training faculty how to use it, the cost per student is likely to fall because faculty will be able to teach more students in larger classes. On the other hand, the best evidence about technology comes from its use in large lecture classes; we know much less about its effectiveness in smaller, typically more advanced courses, which are more expensive to teach by definition. We also have virtually no evidence about technology’s effectiveness in some disciplines, particularly the humanities. If technology can’t deliver the same education that students get in the classroom, what may look like a decrease in cost may actually be a decrease in quality. Thus before we know whether widespread adoption of technological tools is truly a promising approach to reducing the cost of a college education, we need more and better evidence about how these tools affect student learning, in which settings and for whom they work best, and how much they cost to implement and maintain.

Accountability

Policymakers are also talking about accountability as a way out of the postsecondary conundrum. Most public institutions receive state subsidies based on the number of students they enroll. Enrollment-based funding gives these colleges and universities a huge incentive to increase access, but far less incentive to boost completion rates and other measures of student success. On the heels of the movement to increase accountability in K-12 education, a lot of people, including President Obama, have been calling to make colleges and universities more accountable, most notably by tying some portion of state or federal funding to student completion or other measures of success—for example, how many graduates find jobs. Many states have already tried this, but the results have been disappointing (though it must be said, as Davis Jenkins and Olga Rodriguez write in the Future of Children , that much of the research on performance funding thus far has been qualitative rather than quantitative). One reason that performance funding hasn’t worked well may be that the percentage of aid that states have tied to performance has been quite low, meaning that institutions have had little to lose if they fail to meet performance targets. As a result, some reformers are calling for an even stronger connection between funding and accountability. Fair enough, and probably worth a try, but the bottom line is that we have yet to find solid evidence that tying appropriations to student success will produce the results we desire. And caution is in order: Unless such an approach is implemented and monitored carefully, it will create a perverse incentive for institutions to restrict admission to the students who are most likely to do well, thus potentially reversing the gains in access that we’ve worked so hard to achieve.

Despite the caveats I’ve presented here, I believe that both technology and accountability have their place in any effort to solve the postsecondary conundrum.

In the case of new technological tools to expand teaching productivity, we need to carefully study their effect on student learning, institutional stability, educational quality, and cost. It’s going to take some tinkering to build new models of technology-supported teaching that work as well as or better than a traditional classroom education, and we should not hesitate either to try promising approaches or to abandon those that fail to make the grade.

When it comes to imposing stronger accountability, we need comprehensive data systems and other ways to gather information that will give us a clearer, more scientifically sound picture of institutional performance than do the rough measures we use now, such as completion rates. Furthermore, measures of quality should never be the only criteria through which we reward or punish postsecondary institutions, not only because expanding access must remain a priority, but also because it is extremely unlikely that we will ever be able to capture all of postsecondary education’s beneficial outcomes through large-scale data. 

In the end, however, technology and accountability alone will not solve the postsecondary conundrum. As tuition costs rise, parents and prospective students are starting to question the value of the postsecondary institutions they’re considering, seeking better information about quality and completion rates, and making decisions based on hard financial realities. This kind of pressure from prospective students and their families is likely to be the most effective incentive of all.

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First 4 Years in Canada: Post-secondary Education Pathways of Highly Educated Immigrants

• Published: 14 December 2010
• Volume 12 , pages 61–83, ( 2011 )

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This paper addresses issues relevant to the socioeconomic integration of highly educated immigrants in Canada by undertaking a secondary analysis of the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada. It illustrates the promptness of immigrants’ participation in further post-secondary education (PSE) in Canada within the first 4 years of arrival and proposes a typology of PSE pathways to examine individual, situational, dispositional and immigrant-specific factors that determine adult immigrants’ choices. The Canadian immigrant experience involves the interplay between structural constraints and agency to shape individualized pathways along which newcomers use existing human capital to create new forms of human capital (Canadian credentials) as a strategy to improve their employment opportunities.

Cet article utilise les données provenant de l’Enquête longitudinale auprès des immigrants du Canada (ELIC) ayant comme but d’examiner les contraintes de l’intégration socio-économique des immigrants très instruits. L’étude montre que presque la moitié de tous les immigrants adultes s’inscrivent dans un établissement d’enseignement postsecondaire canadien au cours des quatre premières années suivant leur arrivée. L’analyse des voies d’accès à l’éducation postsecondaire (EPS) révèle les conditions personnelles et situationnelles influençant la participation et le choix des immigrants adultes. L’expérience des nouveaux immigrants au Canada exemplifie l’interaction entre l’action d’agents et les contraintes structurelles dont le résultat est des trajectoires individualisées; au long de leur trajectoire professionnelle, les immigrants utilisent leur capital humain pour créer de nouvelles formes de capital humain et symbolique (les qualifications canadiennes) comme stratégie pour améliorer leur chance de trouver un emploi.

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As described by Bourdieu ( 1990 ), habitus comprises a complex set of structures, habits and dispositions that orient and, in some cases compel, individuals to make choices, including PSE destinations.

The sample reduction occurred at each level of selection. About 54% of the LSIC population had university education, about 73% were 25 to 49 years of age and about 91% had no previous contact with Canada before immigration.

First, LSIC has a complex sample design that requires the researcher to account for the stratification and clustering of the sample by employing bootstrap weighting procedures. Statistics Canada provides a bootstrap weights file, and the current analysis employs 500 bootstrap replicate weights. Second, results are presented according to Statistics Canada requirements (counts are rounded to the nearest tens; means and proportions are rounded to the nearest tenth).

The main economic group exhibits the characteristics of skilled worker principal applicants because provincial nominees are only 2.8% of the entire sample.

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Adamuti-Trache, M. First 4 Years in Canada: Post-secondary Education Pathways of Highly Educated Immigrants. Int. Migration & Integration 12 , 61–83 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-010-0164-2

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After high school graduation, educational alternatives to four-year college

As college tuition and student loan debt continue to soar, many high school graduates are taking a fresh look at alternatives to going straight from high school to 4-year college.

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Defining social innovation for post-secondary educational institutions: a concept analysis

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Education, research, and contribution to society through innovation are the three missions of post-secondary educational institutions. There is a gap in understanding the concept of social innovation for post-second educational institutions. A clear definition would: (a) guide institutional strategic direction and supports, (b) recognize and reward academic research in social innovation, and (c) enable accurate measurement of outcomes and impact of social innovation activities. To redress the definitional imprecision, Walker and Avant’s method was used to conduct a concept analysis of social innovation. Four multi-disciplinary databases were searched to identify 1830 records. Antecedents, defining attributes, and consequences of social innovation were extracted from 272 of these articles. Defining attributes were reconstructed to develop a new definition. For post-secondary educational institutions, social innovation was defined as the intentional implementation of a transdisciplinary initiative to address a social challenge enabled through collaborative action leading to new or improved capabilities and relationships with community to generate evidence-informed solutions that are more effective, efficient, just, and sustainable. With greater clarity about the definition of social innovation, post-secondary educational institutions can create strategic plans and allocate resources to fulfil the Third Mission. With an evidence-informed definition, post-secondary educational institutions can develop a measurement framework to demonstrate outcomes and impacts of social innovation.

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Introduction.

Education and research are hallmarks of post-secondary educational institutions (PSEIs) (Johnson et al., 2023 ). More recently, contribution to society has been recognized as the Third Mission (Compagnucci and Spigarelli, 2020 ) because PSEIs are increasingly encouraged to undertake innovative initiatives with potential societal impact (Kohl et al., 2022 ). The Third Mission is generally interpreted as research and innovation to develop and commercialize tangible technical products that benefit to PSEIs (Benneworth et al., 2020 ). Typically, systems to commercialize innovation at PSEIs are competitive with well-developed technology transfer offices that may be organizationally and operationally disconnected from more collaborative, intangible, and complex social innovation (SI) activities (Johnson et al., 2023 ). This may result in SI initiatives becoming marginalized in favour of commercialization (Caroli et al., 2018 ). SI can be a product, process, or technology (Phills et al., 2008 ), or a principle, an idea, a piece of legislation, a social movement, an intervention, or some combination thereof (Phills et al., 2008 ). In alignment with Westley and Antadze ( 2010 ), others have focused their SI definition on values, inclusivity, and processes (Surman, 2018 ). SI has considerable conceptual alignment with social enterprise (SE), which has an interest in economic return accruing to one or more individuals or an organization to sustain growth or various non-profit activities (Lettice and Parekh, 2010 ; White et al., 2022 ). That is not to say that social good does not come from social enterprise; rather, the intent is different. In addition, SI may be undervalued for academic researchers because traditional research assessment, advancement, and remuneration structures at PSEIs privilege countable publications and research grants as currency rather than the more difficult-to-measure social impact (Aubert Bonn and Bouter, 2023 ). Such overt and covert differences in ideological perspectives and motivations may discourage researchers and their students from engaging in SI (Duval-Couetil et al., 2023 ). Nevertheless, PSEIs globally have embraced SI as part of their Third Mission (Compagnucci and Spigarelli, 2020 ; McDonnell-Naughton and Păunescu, 2022 ), and academic researchers are encouraged and, in some countries e.g., Research Excellence Framework ( 2022 ), supported in their efforts to achieve an impact on society (Penfield et al., 2013 ). Yet, the relationship between SI and PSEIs remains unclear, and there is an urgent need to explore the antecedents of social innovation in PSEIs (Wu et al., 2023 ). Similarly, there is limited guidance about impact measurement, resource allocations, infrastructure to accelerate SI, and frameworks for meaningful collaboration (Wu et al., 2023 ).

PSEIs are inherently multi-disciplinary. However, there is a disconnect between (a) enthusiastic PSEI leaders who support SI, (b) academic researchers who are looking to SI to sustain their research programs, and (c) existing institutional culture, structures, and processes to accommodate SI (Benneworth et al., 2022 ). Even with this disconnect, there may be considerable overlap in institutional structures and operational processes to support commercial innovation and SI (Benneworth et al., 2020 ). If PSEIs could clearly understand and capitalize on the synergistic effects of this overlap, SI holds great promise for the Third Mission to address the most pressing societal challenges (Bayuo et al., 2020 ). For this paper, we define a ‘societal challenge’ as a multi-level, multi-dimensional social need (situation) that requires determined effort (response) by various actors to address it successfully. The driver for global social change is the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which include five pillars: People, Prosperity, Peace, Partnerships, and Planet with 17 specific goals (Beynaghi et al., 2016 ).

The concept of SI has various definitions across disciplines and sectors (Eichler and Schwarz, 2019 ; Benneworth and Cunha, 2015 ), which risks a lack of clarity relative to PSEI’s strategic approaches and measurement of outcomes and impact on society. In their systematic review of the concept, Eichler and Schwarz ( 2019 ) identified 222 definitions of SI with five key elements: (a) addresses a social need, (b) is innovative, (c) has implementation and execution, (d) identifies improvement, and (e) identifies relationships and collaborations. However, these elements are applied to definitions generally and are not specific to PSEI. This generality presupposes that the meaning and operationalisation of SI are agnostic to the setting. Furthermore, Eichler and Schwarz ( 2019 ) used a thematic approach to identify the elements of SI rather than a well-established concept analysis method. In their literature review, (Benneworth and Cunha, 2015 ) recommended four dimensions of SI: (a) developing novel solutions, (b) creating social value by promoting community development, (c) forming wider collaborative networks, and (d) challenging existing social institutions through collaborative action. Thus, there is concern that the concept needs greater definitional precision and meaningfulness in PSEI structure, culture, and praxis. Imprecise definitions prevent researchers from self-identifying as social innovators partly because they lack a common frame of reference of ‘what is social innovation’ to define themselves and their work for their peers and leaders (Benneworth et al., 2020 ). Aligned with Benneworth et al. ( 2020 ), we assumed that a clear understanding of SI among major actors (government, business, civil society, and academia; Carayannis et al., 2018 ) was required to frame how an organization interacts with external partners (institutional logics) to strengthen partnerships to improve quality of life, well-being, and prosperity for society. Finally, in his seminal work, Nunnally and Bernstein ( 1994 ) argued that a clear conceptual understanding of a construct is necessary for effective measurement. Thus, a concept analysis was needed to develop a clear definition to: (a) guide institutional strategic direction and supports, (b) recognize and reward academic research in SI, and (c) accurately measure outcomes and impact of SI. The purpose of this concept analysis was to redress the definitional imprecision of SI by creating clarity across academic disciplines and sectors with the intent of application to PSEI. The research question was: What is the underlying structure of the concept of SI for PSEI? We aimed to develop an empirically derived definition of SI that has application for PSEI. This definition was critical to facilitate a transdisciplinary understanding of the concept and provide a foundation for coherence in measuring outputs, outcomes, and impacts of efforts labeled as SI at PSEI.

We employed Walker and Avant’s ( 2019 ) concept analysis procedure, a systematic approach to develop a definition to align understanding and create opportunities for precise measurement. For this study, we identified (a) the uses of SI in PSEI, (b) its defining attributes, (c) model, borderline, and related cases, (d) antecedents and consequences, and (e) empirical referents (Walker and Avant, 2019 ). To reflect the diversity of disciplines at PSEI, we used a multi-disciplinary approach to review the literature for scientific and common uses of the concept. Since we could not identify reporting guidelines for a concept analysis, we used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines (Moher et al., 2015 ) to search, retrieve, and analyse the literature. With support of an academic librarian (KAH), we conducted a preliminary exploratory search to refine and pilot test the search strategy for each database. Initial search terms failed to result in broad representation from various disciplines, so we refined the search criteria and reviewed 100 articles, indicating that the revised search criteria were successful. With consensus on the final search strategy, KAH systematically searched five multi-disciplinary and education databases with no time limits: (a) Academic Search Complete (EBSCO), (b) SCOPUS (Elsevier), (c) Web of Science Core Collection (Clarivate), (d) ERIC (EBSCO) and (e) Education Research Complete (EBSCO) with three main concepts: social innovation, models/frameworks, and post-secondary institutions. Keywords were the same for all databases, and relevant subject headings were used when available in a database. Both proximity searching and truncation were used to expand the keyword possibilities. To enable replication, see supplementary files for complete search strategies.

We included records if they met the following criteria: (a) published in English, (b) literature review or conceptual paper, and (c) the title, abstract, or keywords included SI or SE, and (d) addressed higher education, university/college, or PSEI. We excluded records if they (a) were unavailable in English, (b) were editorials, letters, books, conference abstracts, or dissertations/theses, and (c) focused on SI or SE solely in communities or corporate entities and did not involve PSEI. See Table 1 .

We reviewed 100 sample records for inter-rater agreement to screen titles and abstracts. KB screened all sample records; two research assistants independently screened 50% each with an inter-rater agreement (Fleiss’ kappa) of 94%. We resolved disagreements by consensus. We used Covidence (Covidence systematic review software. Veritas Health Innovation) to manage retrieval and screening processes. Covidence de-duplicated most records automatically; however, we manually de-duplicated a small portion of records (34/1830; 1.8%) in Covidence because of differences in titles across databases.

Screening was a two-step process, starting with titles and abstracts, then full text. For both steps, KB independently screened 100% of the records; two research assistants independently screened 50% each. If there was insufficient information to determine inclusion, we included the record.

We used an investigator-designed database (Airtable Workflow Management System, 2023 ) software to extract author, year, country, type of record, research method, concept, definition of concept, use of concept, discipline, theory, antecedents, and consequences. Critical appraisal was irrelevant because the aim was to understand the concept rather than assess the scientific rigor of a study. For included records, we deconstructed each definition by color-coding terms according to the five elements identified by Eichler and Schwarz ( 2019 ). We then reconstructed the words to create a definition of SI for PSEI. In two workshops, the research team discussed and achieved consensus about coding terms that we could not categorize into one of the five elements.

We identified 2776 records, of which 946 were duplicates. We screened 1830 titles and abstracts, of which 1063 did not meet inclusion criteria. We identified 767 records for full-text review. We could not retrieve 10 of these, leaving 757 full-text reports to assess for eligibility. Of these, 272 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the concept analysis. Many investigators who identified SI as the basis of their research omitted a definition. Instead, they presupposed a definition, resulting in ambiguous understanding, measurement, and outcomes. See Fig. 1 .

Identification of studies flow diagram.

Characteristics of included articles

Of the included articles, nearly half (43.6%) were from Europe, followed by Asia (27.8%) and North America (16.5%). The remainder were from Africa (3.7%), Australia or New Zealand (2.9%), and South America (4.8%). Almost all (97.8%) were published since 2010. In the following sections, we describe the results of the concept analysis (Walker and Avant, 2019 ).

Identifying uses of SI

In several articles (Shu et al., 2020 ; Kaya Özbağ et al., 2019 ; Solis-Navarrete et al., 2021 ; Lewis and Henry, 2019 ), SI referred to organic, grassroots movements to move ideas into products and services to achieve sustainable outcomes or impact. In other articles, SI and SE were used interchangeably with the idea that the application of SE business principles was useful in developing, implementing, and sustaining SI(s) (Choi and Majumdar, 2015 ; Flynn, 2017 ; Smith, 2012 ). Some articles described organizations as hybrid entities with a SE developed alongside an SI to increase its sustainability (Almeida et al., 2012 ; Daub et al., 2020 ; Greblikaite et al., 2016 ; Matzembacher et al., 2019 ; Vuorio et al., 2018 ; Yasir et al. 2021 ). SE blurs the boundaries between SI and business, and the notion of non-profit organizations (Shu et al., 2020 ).

SI requires systems-based, multi-actor, i.e., government, business, academia, and civil society, also known as the Quadruple Helix; (Carayannis et al., 2018 ) approaches to match the complexity of societal challenges (Nicholls et al., 2015 ; Anheier et al., 2019 ). Although mention of PSEI was an inclusion criterion, only a few articles (Benneworth et al., 2020 ; Carayannis et al., 2018 ; Terstriep et al., 2022 ) addressed the specific structures of PSEI that contributed to SI.

SI has been used to describe the positive relational aspects, nuances, and spaces of interactions among engaged actors (Villar Olaeta, 2017 ; Thomas and Pugh, 2020 ; Milley and Szijarto, 2022 ). Most articles described SI as collaboratively conceptualized and operationalised by community and academic researchers (Cunha and Benneworth, 2020 ; Păunescu, 2014 ; Milley and Szijarto, 2022 ) and the processes used to turn new ideas incrementally into products and services for social good. Irrespective of SI detail in varying projects, processes that included engagement, reciprocity, relationality, and action emerged.

A few articles were critical of the rationale for SI and pointed to the 2008 financial crisis and shift from government- and business-supported social safety nets to an expectation that SI would fill the void and redress insufficiencies in current systems (Lindberg et al., 2019 ). Some articles reported an implicit or explicit expectation that SI offers an approach to modernizing welfare states (Kamaludin et al., 2021 ). Aligned with this focus was the implicit message that society needs to do more with less (Edwards-Schachter and Wallace, 2015 ). This variation in the intent of SI from a political device advancing insufficiency in the social welfare system to collaborative action within reconfigured hierarchical processes created confusion about accountability for SI and PSEI contributions to positive social change.

In many definitions, SI was referred to as an outcome (Eichler and Schwarz, 2019 ; Kumari et al., 2020 ; Aguirre-Bastos, 2017 ; Cunha and Benneworth, 2020 ). Most articles used SI with implicit or explicit expectations that new products and services result in more sustainable, cohesive, and inclusive societies (Grimm et al., 2013 ). Beneath this was a foundation valued by principles of equity and distributive and procedural justice. However, the crux of this orientation was action for demonstrable positive social change (McKelvey and Zaring, 2018 ). Implicit in the articles was that academic actors represent many disciplines, each with diverse research expertise and capabilities but often limited capacity to synthesize or generate evidence-informed solutions to societal needs.

Defining attributes

Defining attributes are characteristics of a concept that appear repeatedly to enable the most comprehensive understanding (Walker and Avant, 2019 ). Benneworth and Cunha ( 2015 ) have suggested that a working definition of SI should encompass three themes: (a) mass change in organization of a social function, (b) collective coordination by novel societal institutions, and (c) constructive change of social power relations. First, we deconstructed definitions using Eichler and Schwarz’s ( 2019 ) five elements to identify defining attributes of SI. In addition, for PSEI, we identified the following attributes: (a) intentionality, (b) transdisciplinarity, and (c) evidence-informed solutions. See Fig. 2 .

Antecedents, defining attributes, and consequences for a concept analysis of social innovation for post-secondary educational institutions.

Addresses a complex social need

Schumpeter’s 1934 definition, which was consistent with Eichler and Schwarz’s ( 2019 ) first element, states that a defining attribute of SI is that SI addresses a social need (van der Have and Rubalcaba, 2016 ; Păunescu, 2014 ) with its value accruing to society rather than an individual (van der Have and Rubalcaba, 2016 ). Indeed, some suggest that ‘pure’ SI should not generate financial benefit (van der Have and Rubalcaba, 2016 ; Cardella et al., 2021 ). The idea that SI addresses a social need that emerges with the failure of traditional approaches (Nicholls and Murdock, 2011 ) is deficit-focused. Others take a positive approach with the idea that SI might improve quality of life, well-being, and prosperity (Pol and Ville, 2009 ; De Bernardi et al., 2022 ).

Novel to population or setting

SI must be novel and was often related to an earlier state of uncertainty, ambiguity, or complexity associated with the identified social need (Kaya Özbağ et al., 2019 ; Jiménez Escobar and Morales Gutiérrez, 2011 ; García-González and Ramírez-Montoya, 2021 ; Göransson, 2017 ). In some definitions, an existing innovation was new to the population or setting (Marques et al., 2018 ), contributing to its novelty. This idea is consistent with Westley and Antadze’s ( 2010 ) definition of SI, suggesting it influences the social system in which it occurs.

Novel relationships and capabilities

In developing and implementing a SI, a defining attribute is the formation of new social relationships and capabilities that benefit civil society and enhance society’s capacity to act (Eichler and Schwarz, 2019 ; Aguirre-Bastos, 2017 ; Arocena and Sutz, 2021 ; Anheier et al., 2019 ). SI convenes previously unrelated actors, ideas, practices, programs, or products in new configurations to address a social need (Westley et al., 2017 ; Arocena and Sutz, 2021 ). This results in societal benefits through more horizontal, collaborative relationships (Arocena and Sutz, 2021 ; Eichler and Schwarz, 2019 ; Kaya Özbağ et al., 2019 ; Marques et al., 2018 ; van der Have and Rubalcaba, 2016 ; Avelino et al., 2017 ; Ayob et al., 2016 ; Anheier et al., 2019 ).

Collaborative action

SI is rooted in collaborative action, frequently focusing on vulnerable groups (Castro-Spila, 2018 ; García-González and Ramírez-Montoya, 2021 ; Grinberga-Zalite and Mazure, 2017 ). Edwards-Schachter and Wallace ( 2017 ) refer to innovation as a collective learning process involving civil society that is aimed at addressing a social need with co-creation through experimentation, often explicitly drawing on “design thinking” (Bartoloni et al., 2022 ). Implicit in collaborative action is the concept of engagement with new partners and collaborations (Scott, 2020).

Intentional

The attribute of intentionality distinguishes SI from organic social change or even happenstance (Kaya Özbağ et al., 2019 ; Shu et al., 2020 ; Solis-Navarrete et al., 2021 ; Lewis and Henry, 2019 ). Accordingly, to align with strategic priorities, resource allocation, and accountabilities at PSEI, SI must be intentional (Grimm et al., 2013 ; Polbitsyn, 2021 ; Terstriep et al., 2022 ). Also, SI has a temporal dimension to satisfy changing social challenges (Caroli et al., 2018 ). Given the three missions of PSEI, the intentionality of SI seems integral to prioritizing and resourcing such efforts (Polbitsyn, 2021 ).

Transdisciplinary

PSEIs are inherently transdisciplinary, with a mandate for integration across research, teaching, and service (Milley and Szijarto, 2022 ). If the knowledge to respond to complex social needs lies at the boundaries of disciplines, then transdisciplinary collaboration must be a defining attribute of SI for PSEI.

Evidence-informed solutions

Aligned with the research mandate of PSEI (Compagnucci and Spigarelli, 2020 ), the attribute of evidence-informed solutions reinforces the expertise and contributions of academic researchers and students to develop evidence with the potential to address complex societal challenges. Solutions for some societal challenges may require synthesizing and mobilizing existing evidence; others require collaborative action to co-create new evidence. Evidence-informed solutions are more likely to improve societal impact with longer-term sustainability.

From these defining attributes, we propose that SI for PSEIs is the intentional implementation of a transdisciplinary initiative to respond to a social need enabled through collaborative action leading to new or improved capabilities and relationships with community to generate evidence-informed solutions that are more effective, efficient, just, and sustainable. Aligned with others (Centre for Social Innovation, 2023 ; Villar Olaeta, 2017 ; Foroudi et al., 2021 ), SI for PSEIs is an inclusive concept that includes community engagement, social entrepreneurship, care for the environment, and service learning. To demonstrate the defining attributes of SI at PSEI (Walker and Avant, 2019 ), we describe: (a) model case of SI at a PSEI (SI Initiative), (b) borderline case (Office of Sustainability), and (c) related case (Innovate Calgary, Social Innovation Hub). We used University of Calgary cases because we were most familiar with our own institution, could easily verify characteristics, and did not want to misrepresent entities from other PSEIs.

Model case—social innovation initiative

The model case, the SI Initiative at the University of Calgary (UCalgary), is an example of the concept and all its defining attributes (Walker and Avant, 2019 ). With strong community support, UCalgary was founded in 1966 (University of Calgary, 2023c ). UCalgary’s 2023 strategic plan, Ahead of Tomorrow, aims to: (a) increase access to impactful and future-oriented education; (b) harness the power of research and innovation to tackle society’s biggest challenges; (c) locate community at the center of all we do; and (d) make our processes to move ideas to action clearer, simpler, and better than any other university (University of Calgary, 2023a ). Thus, UCalgary has strategically positioned itself to advance education, research, and societal contribution (Third Mission). However, a need remains to understand how leadership and institutional logics create variability in approaches to achieve its goals. This understanding is critical to ensure profound and authentic movement beyond rhetoric in this ambitious goal.

In 2020, the Vice-President Research struck a multi-disciplinary SI Task Force that recommended: (a) understanding SI for PSEI, (b) building capacity for SI among faculty and students, and (c) rewarding SI (University of Calgary, 2021b ). In 2021, an academic director was appointed to lead the SI Initiative and develop a business plan. Aligned with Ahead of Tomorrow, the SI Initiative strategised how to mitigate the challenges of traditional PSEI institutional logics (Benneworth et al., 2022 ) and create clearer and simpler processes to move ideas into action in collaboration with the community.

Partnerships with community

Consultation with community leaders revealed an unevenness in meaningful and sustained community-university research partnerships. Community partners were no longer satisfied with researcher-initiated and -led projects, often perceived as transactional versus collaborative. Examples included requests to community partners for letters of support to help researchers secure funding/grants to explore a question that only identified the problem rather than a solution. The SI Initiative modified its approach to create novel cross-sectoral and transdisciplinary relationships and capabilities for mutual benefit to move the traditional university ‘push’ of research ideas to community ‘pull’ of collaborative research focused on solutions. Thus, the model case of SI at a PSEI embraces the concept of the ‘missing middle’ (Benneworth et al., 2020 ) among the major actors in SI. Academic researchers may have greater capacity than the other actors to form meaningful and sustained relationships to synthesize existing research or generate new evidence to support SI (Benneworth et al., 2020 ).

Students and student experiences

Given that undergraduate and graduate students want experiential learning, efforts are underway to design a model to increase student exposure to SI. Since most societal challenges are complex and take considerable time to achieve solutions, undergraduate student experiences will be implemented in four-month blocks with short-term outputs and outcomes designed within a larger SI Initiative. At the graduate level, a four-course certificate will expose students to SI theory and research with experiential learning in a capstone project for the master’s degree in Transdisciplinary Studies.

The SI Initiative adopted the role of the ‘missing middle’ (Benneworth et al., 2020 ) to engage in collaborative action among the Quadruple Helix actors in SI (Carayannis et al., 2018 ). To further strengthen academic researchers’ roles in engaging in novel collaborations, UCalgary invested $19MM in research and scholarship (University of Calgary, 2023d ) to transcend disciplinary boundaries. With its 2023–2030 strategic plan (University of Calgary, 2023a ), UCalgary will intentionally focus on improving its processes to enable collaborative action so researchers and community partners can move ideas to evidence and action more efficiently.

Mobilizing evidence-informed social innovation research

Often, researchers and students recognize that their research has societal value; in other cases, they need to learn how to mobilize it. The SI Initiative developed a coaching service for researchers to explore options for mobilizing knowledge, including co-creating solutions with community, creating an SE, and others. This service supports researchers to design an appropriate knowledge mobilization approach.

Borderline case—office of sustainability

A borderline case, UCalgary’s Office of Sustainability has most, but not all, of the defining attributes of SI (Walker and Avant, 2019 ). Since 2009, when the name was changed from Environmental Policy to Sustainability Policy, UCalgary has been committed to excellence and leadership in sustainability (University of Calgary, 2010 ). Within the portfolio of the Provost and Vice-President (Academic), the Office of Sustainability focuses on (a) social responsibility, (b) engagement, (c) experiential learning, (d) capacity building, (e) diversity, and (f) entrepreneurialism (University of Calgary, 2022b ). Through its Campus as a Learning Lab and Mobilizing Alberta projects, the Office of Sustainability brings together faculty, students, and staff for experiential learning and applied research projects focused on sustainability in UCalgary’s built and natural environment (University of Calgary, 2022a ). Given that experiential learning is the primary focus, not all projects generate evidence-informed solutions nor include community engagement. Thus, the Office of Sustainability is a borderline case.

Related Case—innovate calgary, social innovation hub

A related case, Innovate Calgary’s Social Innovation Hub (Innovate Calgary, 2023 ), demonstrates ideas like SI but differs when examined closely (Walker and Avant, 2019 ). Innovate Calgary has helped hundreds of companies and entrepreneurs bring their ideas to market with historical focus on technology commercialization and the creation of economic metrics (e.g., jobs created, revenue generated, capital raised). Resources include (a) invention disclosure, (b) protection of intellectual property, (c) company creation, (d) analysis of technologies for commercial potential, (e) marketing for scale, (f) innovation ecosystem connections, (g) mentorship, and (h) grant and venture navigation.

The Social Innovation Hub builds on technology commercialization pathways and expands the target audience to include researchers and innovators (i.e., social entrepreneurs) who have dual objectives of creating net positive societal impact in financially sustainable ways. Social entrepreneurs are typically active in markets and aim to generate economic profits, some or all of which are reinvested in pursuit of their social mission (Szijarto et al., 2018 ). Members of the Social Innovation Hub have access to: (a) space, (b) training to access early-stage investment funds, which are adjudicated from an SE lens, (c) mentorship in business practices to increase demand for their goods, services, or intervention, and (d) support to develop and access networks. SE is a term frequently associated with SI (Foroudi et al., 2021 ). However, unlike SI, it refers primarily to characteristics of an organization rather than innovation (Antadze and Westley, 2010 ; Benneworth and Cunha, 2015 ). SEs are distinguished from conventional business organization’s emphasis on profits to achieve social ends (Arena et al., 2015 ) without reliance on public funds (Luke et al., 2013 ). In contrast to Luke et al.’s emphasis on the exclusion of public funds, the Social Innovation Hub considers all types of capital (natural, human, and financial) to achieve durability and scalability in the intended outcomes of the social entrepreneur. Thus, Innovate Calgary’s, Social Innovation Hub is a related case because it lacks the defining attributes of novelty to a population or setting and transdisciplinarity. A SE may or may not advance evidence-informed solutions.

Antecedents

Walker and Avant ( 2019 ) have described antecedents as the conditions that must occur prior to the occurrence of the concept. Based on a precedent established by Fleiszer et al. ( 2015 ), we organized antecedents by (a) outer and inner contexts, (b) characteristics of SI at PSEI, (c) processes to implement SI, and (d) stakeholder characteristics (Damschroder et al., 2009 ). While the characteristics of SI initiatives will influence specific SI projects, in this article, we refer to SI as an initiative for PSEI with outcomes and impact for the institution.

Outer context

UCalgary is a prominent actor in a larger innovation ecosystem (Pel and Kemp, 2020 ). Government at multiple levels (federal, provincial, and municipal) creates legislation and policies to increase investment potential and prioritize SI approaches to address societal challenges. An engaged innovation ecosystem with meaningful and sustained relationships between UCalgary and its community is a critical antecedent for SI. PSEIs considered impenetrable ‘ivory towers’ focussed on researcher-driven SI are less likely to engage in their innovation ecosystem.

Inner context

Inner context antecedents necessary for SI at UCalgary include leadership, strategic priorities, innovation culture, infrastructure, education and training, resources, and incentives. For example, UCalgary’s leadership and strategic priorities generally align with innovation and SI (University of Calgary, 2023a ). A deep commitment to listening to stakeholders in cross-sectoral and transdisciplinary research, and a focus on education and training, resources, and incentives for SI will shape UCalgary’s institutional logics to support academic researchers and students to engage meaningfully in the SI ecosystem. Finally, the incentive structure for academics at UCalgary must shift to recognize and reward community-university partnerships like traditional rewards for teaching, research (grants and publications), and service (University of Calgary, 2021a ).

Characteristics of SI at PSEI

Antecedent characteristics of SI at UCalgary include education, infrastructure, and resources. Across faculties (e.g., nursing, medicine, social work, and business) and entities (e.g., Office of Sustainability, Innovate Calgary), UCalgary offers courses for many levels of learners, including certificates, workshops, and internships to increase exposure to SI theory and practice. With a focus on transdisciplinarity (University of Calgary, 2023d ), faculty and students work collaboratively across disciplines to synthesize or generate new knowledge with community to address social challenges. Finally, UCalgary recognizes that it must adopt an approach to the sustainable measurement of SI with data to inform impact and accountability (Cunha et al., 2022 ).

Process of SI at PSEI

Antecedent processes that enable SI must have common goals that bridge institutional logics (Benneworth et al., 2020 ). Clearly articulated in its 2023 strategic plan (University of Calgary, 2023a ), UCalgary aims to make its processes clearer and simpler, including more efficient structures and processes for community partners to engage with academic researchers. Aligned with the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment that challenged how traditional metrics of academic outputs are measured (DORA, 2023 ), determining the impact of SI at UCalgary requires attention to new measurement tools and processes like those proposed by Cunha et al. ( 2022 ).

Stakeholder characteristics

The final antecedent of SI is stakeholder characteristics. UCalgary is recognized at the forefront of entrepreneurial thinking with institutional leaders, faculty, and students who are competent in and committed to SI. Commitment to SI also requires intentional, meaningful, and sustained relationships with community partners to collaborate, conceptualize and progress on social challenges. Given that UCalgary intends to serve its community, the new strategic plan is to strengthen community engagement with high trust in partnerships for initiatives focussed on achieving social good.

Consequences of SI at PSEI

Walker and Avant ( 2019 ) have described consequences as the outcomes that occur because of the occurrence of the concept. From the literature, generic social change was the consequence identified in most definitions (Cardella et al., 2021 ; Choi and Majumdar, 2015 ; Edwards-Schachter and Wallace, 2017 ; García-González and Ramírez-Montoya, 2021 ; Kumari et al., 2020 ; McKelvey and Zaring, 2018 ; van der Have and Rubalcaba, 2016 ; Baptista et al., 2019 ; Shahverdi et al., 2018 ; Parthasarathy et al., 2021 ; Calvo Martinez et al., 2018 ). Generic social change referred to improved quality of life (Pol and Ville, 2009 ), social justice (Choi and Majumdar, 2015 ; Villar Olaeta, 2017 ), and quality of life, well-being, and prosperity that promoted inclusion of marginalized and vulnerable groups (Castro-Spila, 2018 ). However, there was limited specificity of either outputs, outcomes, or impact that resulted from SI initiatives generally, and none were specific to SI at PSEI. Thus, the consequences of SI are extrapolated from the literature and our knowledge of PSEI operations and outcomes.

Diffused/permeated culture of SI

PSEIs with strategic directions that include antecedents and attributes of SI, such as UCalgary, should expect a culture of innovation that contributes to its Third Mission by permeating disciplinary boundaries, research institutes, and other entities. This culture includes a general understanding of how faculty, students, and staff use SI to address societal challenges. Although not all will be interested in SI, nor abandon discovery research in favour of SI, at UCalgary the culture has shifted with greater emphasis on transdisciplinarity and meaningful and sustained community engagement for mutual benefit.

Reconfigured hierarchy in collaborations with civil society

UCalgary researchers increasingly engage in meaningful and sustained partnerships with individuals with lived experience. Aligned with concepts like integrated knowledge translation (Straus et al., 2013 ) and patient-oriented research (Zibrowski et al., 2021 ), these approaches erode traditional hierarchical relationships, and participants are guided and supported to co-create solutions as co-researchers. A better understanding of the lived experience of a social problem is more likely to result in workable and sustainable solutions.

Meaningful and sustained relationships with mutual benefit

Generally, one project, or even a single research program, has limited potential to address societal challenges. Thus, UCalgary is focussed on building meaningful and sustained relationships at multiple levels for large-scale initiatives (e.g., University of Calgary ( 2023b )). With the intent of meaningful and sustained relationships with government, business, and community agencies, UCalgary is building structures and processes to collaborate with researchers and students to co-create solutions. In addition, UCalgary faculties are increasing incentives for community engagement in annual performance assessments for academic researchers. Thus, UCalgary prioritizes strengthening relationships that benefit the community and faculty researchers.

PSEI growth

Success in grant competitions increases with evidence of meaningful and sustained community partners co-creating solutions to social challenges. Given that gaps in knowledge often lie at the boundaries of disciplines, the focus on transdisciplinarity is critical. A new master’s degree in Transdisciplinary Studies with an embedded certificate in SI increases graduate student exposure to theory and applied research in the field. In the context of the antecedents, UCalgary is well-positioned for growth among Canadian and international PSEIs.

Positive societal change

The final consequence of SI is a positive social impact on all citizen’s quality of life, well-being, and prosperity. Impact is achieved when the basic routines, resources, or beliefs change inside a social system (Westley, 2008 ) or when institutional changes occur (Pol and Ville, 2009 ; Carl, 2020 ). To capitalize on SI activities that improve quality of life, well-being, and prosperity, siloed governance structures in PSEIs need to be refined. Although offering bounded parameters, these governance structures and common means of independent engagement in scholarly activities and processes often constrain the potential for SI at PSEIs. One author proposed SI as an approach to Canada’s commitment to Truth and Reconciliation relative to Indigenous communities in Canada because of similar philosophical roots between SI education and Indigenous pedagogy (Kennedy et al., 2023 ). Through co-learning and meaningful consultation with Indigenous elders, SI may create opportunities for positive social change (Kennedy et al., 2023 ).

Empirical referents

Empirical referents are the indicators and measurement tools that provide evidence of the concept (Walker and Avant, 2019 ). With definitional clarity, the next step at UCalgary is to monitor implementation and measure the outcomes and impact of SI activities. Most articles in this analysis did not consider measurement or accountability for outcomes and impacts associated with SI projects, and each of the major actors will likely have different expectations for measurement. In their review of the literature from 2000 to 2015, Milley et al. ( 2018 ) reported themes in evaluation of SI generally, and noted differences in evaluation of SI and SE, where SI focussed on evaluation of learnings and SE focussed on summative return on investment, reflecting a balance between learning and accountability and building capacity for evaluation. To address the complexity of measuring SI initiatives, Cunha et al. ( 2022 ) proposed six dimensions (i.e., social, environmental, process, political, educational, and economic) with 38 indicators to measure the impact of SI. While these indicators suggest areas to demonstrate, document, and identify areas for investment, there is no consensus on indicators. Also needed are brief, reliable, and valid scales for measurement of outcomes and impact of SI at PSEI.

The purpose of this paper was to increase conceptual clarity between SI and other related phenomenon with application specific to PSEI. This review unearthed key attributes of SI for PSEI as we critically reflected on the literature and our experiences to advance SI. In addition to attributes of SI generally (Eichler and Schwarz, 2019 ), we exposed intentionality, transdisciplinarity, and evidence-informed solutions as critical attributes of SI for PSEI.

Our definition is similar to others (Benneworth and Cunha, 2015 ; Phills et al., 2008 ; Pol and Ville, 2009 ; Bragaglia, 2021 ) who defined SI as a novel solution to a social challenge that is more effective, efficient, sustainable, or just than current solutions, and for which the value created accrues primarily to society as a whole rather than private individuals. The defining attributes of intentionality, transdisciplinarity, and evidence-informed solutions were missing from previous definitions but are important to accountability for SI in PSEIs. Our definition uses a complex systems perspective in its reference to institutional logics and gives prominence to institutional theory (see, for example, Greenwood et al. ( 2011 ); (Moore and Westley, 2011 )). Processes include the interconnection of actors and activities in developing, diffusing, and utilizing innovation addressing societal challenges on an organizational or societal level (Fulgencio and Fever, 2016 ).

Aligned with others (Milley et al., 2018 ; Foroudi et al., 2021 ; Surman, 2018 ), we found that SI is an inclusive concept that permeates institutional culture at PSEI and encompasses research and practices such as experiential learning, community engagement, social entrepreneurship, and care of the environment, among others (Foroudi et al., 2021 ; Villar Olaeta, 2017 ). However, conceptual caution is required to differentiate SI from inclusive innovation (Patiño-Valencia et al., 2022 ). SI addresses general societal challenges, whether inclusive or not. Inclusive innovation requires reducing exclusionary structural social problems, such as poverty and inequity (Patiño-Valencia et al., 2022 ).

Our concept analysis corroborates findings that SI is social in its ends and means (Murray et al., 2010 ), where ‘ends’ refers to the goals and results, and ‘means’ refers to the tools that make these results happen (Aleksandrova et al. 2020 ). Like many others (Kaya Özbağ et al., 2019 ; Voorberg et al., 2015 ; von Schomberg, 2013 ), our definition reflects three important features: (a) focus on the production of sustainable outcomes; (b) innovation that changes relationships among major SI actors; and (c) SI outcomes that are not necessarily related to technology-driven innovations. Indeed, SI aims to develop novel relationships and capabilities that challenge, alter, or replace the dominant institutions or rules to address a social challenge (Avelino et al., 2017 ; Haxeltine et al., 2016 ). Thus, the normative ends of activities and outcomes of SI processes need to be agreed on through intentional, collaborative action based on contextual barriers and facilitators (Bolz and de Bruin, 2019 ). The ongoing challenge is evaluation with the correct balance between processes and outcomes.

Limitations

Although we undertook this concept analysis using a rigorous process with many articles reviewed, we noted limitations. We included only articles published in English; relevant information published in other languages may have furthered this work. We are cognisant that in seeking to understand the elements of a definition of SI, we did not attend to any weighting of elements that may have a bearing on SI activities and impact in different contexts, such as cross-cultural settings and ways of being and thinking. Future research warrants a more granular approach to understanding the importance of the key elements in individual contexts, and additional elements should be considered. Notwithstanding these challenges, this concept analysis is an essential first step in understanding SI in the context of PSEI. While the purpose of this concept analysis was to explore the definition of SI for application to PSEI, the model, borderline, and related cases are limited to one Canadian PSEI. This work invites future hypothesis-testing research and case applications of SI capacity in multiple, diverse PSEIs. Moreover, it remains unclear whether SI is a mature concept transcending context or whether the defining attributes identified here are specific to PSEI. The concept of SI must be contextualized to multiple levels in the ecosystem, inviting further research. Given the relatively slow adoption of the Third Mission in PSEI, many important insights about the conceptualization of SI may exist in the gray literature, which was out of scope for this study. Finally, Indigenous ways of knowing through oral traditions (Kennedy et al., 2023 ) may offer critical insights into SI that may be absent in this review.

Implications for PSEI

As part of organizational ‘social innovativeness’, PSEI are well positioned to connect major actors to co-create solutions that serve functional (efficiency and effectiveness) and transformational (justice and sustainability) endpoints (Anheier et al., 2019 ). Society will benefit from many new and unconventional partnerships with a deep purpose to improve quality of life, well-being, and prosperity. Together, these partners will (a) gain a deeper appreciation for the power of data, (b) advance applications using that data to generate evidence-informed solutions, and (c) invest in their data capacity and orient their organizational culture towards SI. Society will benefit from a better understanding of SI and the social challenges being addressed. To accomplish this, PSEIs need to orient students, staff, and faculty to SI and increase exposure through experiential learning that is systems-focused, transdisciplinary, collaborative, contextual, and reflective (McGowan, 2019 ).

We have advanced a conceptual and theoretical understanding of SI in PSEI, which informs future work of applying its defining attributes and invites exploratory work to evaluate the concept in PSEI. We conclude that SI is an inclusive concept that includes SE and technological innovation. Indeed, if social were removed from the concept, it may situate all innovation as having the potential to impact society positively (Schubert CEEP, 2021 ). A focus on innovation may also eliminate the blurriness in boundaries between SI and SE that use technology to advance their work. Central to this conclusion is recognizing multiple dimensions of value and differentiating the purpose of innovation as a tool to create forward progress in a society, not only as a means to economic development (Henderson and Teasdale, 2023 ). Only further examination will determine the extent to which we have captured the essence of SI generally and, more specifically, a contextually imbued meaning specific to PSEI. While we conclude that SI as a concept may not yet be sufficiently mature to offer a nuanced understanding in particular contexts, this concept analysis offers profound resonance, importance, and promise for the contribution of PSEIs within contemporary society.

Data availability

Search terms for each database are provided supplementary information to facilitate replication.

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K. M. Benzies, D. B. Nicholas, K. A. Hayden, T. Barnas, A. de Koning, A. Bharwani, J. Armstrong & J. Day

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KB conceptualized the study, designed the concept analysis, analysed data, and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. TB assisted with screening articles, data management, and editing. KAH conducted the literature searches and assisted with data management. DN, AB, ADK, JA, and JD assisted to conceptualize the study and interpret results. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Benzies, K.M., Nicholas, D.B., Hayden, K.A. et al. Defining social innovation for post-secondary educational institutions: a concept analysis. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 11 , 719 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03236-6

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Assault, drugs, sex work: Sharp rise in serious incidents at secondary schools

The Education Inspectorate received a record number of incident reports from secondary schools in the first four months of this year. The reports are also getting increasingly serious, with reports involving drugs, assaults, or even sex work, RTL Nieuws reports .

In the first four months of 2024, the Education Inspectorate received 128 reports of incidents involving physical safety and 242 reports involving social safety, compared to 96 and 184 in the same period in 2023. During the pandemic years, the number of incidents was much lower while students spent large parts of the school year distance learning from home.

“We see more incidents in the field of violence and safety. They are also often more violent in nature. It concerns injuries, or for example, the possession of weapons. We also see that arguments often escalate more quickly,” Rutger Pol, director of secondary education at the Education Inspectorate, told RTL. “This is a worrying development. Students must feel safe at school.”

Teachers and education experts told RTL Nieuws that “street culture” has entered schools. “Drug sales are a problem at almost every school,” education expert Leon Meijs, who supervises secondary schools in the field of safety, told the broadcaster. “Some schools have to close their doors during the day because otherwise dealers would walk in. At one school, there was prostitution of girls in the toilet. Boys from rival gangs have been banned from school because when they meet in the hallway, fights break out. This used to be extreme and unthinkable, but I see this behavior emerging in more and more schools.”

A survey of members of CNV Onderwijs showed that teachers also experience more crime in schools. “We have fights in front of the school, students dealing drugs and vapes, lover boys,” one teacher said. “You can confiscate telephones, but they have three, so to speak.”

Secondary schools are often insufficiently prepared for things like drug dealing and violence, according to Ph.D. research by criminologist Jennifer van den Broek. “This problem was not high on the agenda for years,” she told RTL. She surveyed almost 1,000 teachers and schools taff in secondary education. About half said that there had been drugs or weapons at their school in the past five years. A fifth indicated that criminals were recruiting kids at school.

Only a third said they knew exactly which signs of criminal behavior to look out for. “91 percent of them said they need additional information, but only 6 percent have received training. This shows that crime at school is not yet on the map everywhere,” Van den Broek said.

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• Pupil attendance in schools

Introduction

These figures are derived from regular data automatically submitted to the Department for Education (DfE) by participating schools. The data is submitted on a daily basis and includes the attendance codes for each pupil on their registers during the morning and afternoon sessions.

Figures relate to the attendance of 5 to 15 year old (i.e. compulsory school age) pupils in state-funded primary, secondary and special schools in England.

This release covers the 2023/24 academic year from 11 September to 17 May 2024. National level figures are included in underlying data for the week commencing 4 September. For the full 2022/23 academic year and termly pupil absence data, including by characteristics, please see this historical publication .

The figures are published as official statistics in development to give an indicative figure for the absence rate during the 2023/24 academic year. A national level figure was published on 7 September 2023 and from 28 September 2023 the pupil attendance dashboard will be updated fortnightly, providing aggregate metrics on overall absence and reasons for absence estimated at national, regional and local authority level only. The series was first published in 2022/23 and is intended to continue the series that was previously sourced from the daily Educational Settings Survey (EdSet) . Due to the timeliness of the data and that they are based on a subset of schools, figures are estimates that we expect to change as registers are adjusted. They should be viewed as an early indicator for the more detailed but less regular National Statistics on pupil absence (which include school level breakdowns). The National Statistics are updated termly, with the latest data published in May 2024 relating to the Autumn term 2023/24.

If you are a school that has not yet signed up to share your data, please visit ‘ Share your daily school attendance data ’ for more information. This will also give you, your local authority and your multi-academy trust (if applicable) access to daily attendance reports to help identify pupils needing attendance support earlier.

Schools can now use the ‘ Compare your attendance ’ dashboard to compare with other schools in the local authority. This has been updated to show data for this current academic year. Use it to compare absence and unauthorised absence for your school, as well as special educational needs and free school meals pupils.

Headline facts and figures - 2024

This release covers the 2023/24 academic year up to 17 May 2024.

The attendance rate (proportion of possible sessions attended) was 93.1% across all schools in the week commencing 13 May 2024 . The absence rate was, therefore, 6.9% across all schools.

By school type, the absence rates across the week commencing 13 May 2024 were:

• 4.5% in state-funded primary schools (3.0% authorised and 1.5% unauthorised)
• 9.6% in state-funded secondary schools (5.9% authorised and 3.7% unauthorised)
• 12.9% in state-funded special schools (9.5% authorised and 3.4% unauthorised)

The data shows that the attendance rate across the academic year to date was 93.0%. The absence rate was, therefore, 7.0% across all schools.

By school type, the absence rates across the academic year 2023/24 to date were:

• 5.3% in state-funded primary schools (3.9% authorised and 1.4% unauthorised)
• 8.8% in state-funded secondary schools (5.4% authorised and 3.4% unauthorised)
• 12.9% in state-funded special schools (9.7% authorised and 3.1% unauthorised)

High-level national figures for the week commencing 4 September 2023 (first week back) are available in the data catalogue below. For the full 2022/23 academic year and termly pupil absence data, including by characteristics please see this historical publication .

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Browse and download open data files from this release in our data catalogue

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Download all data available in this release as a compressed ZIP file

View related dashboard(s)

Access the Pupil attendance and absence in schools in England: data dashboard here

The pupil attendance dashboard is updated fortnightly. The latest data relates to the week commencing 13 May 2024. The dashboard displays attendance and absence headline figures, and reasons for absence at national, regional and local authority geographic levels. Data is available across state-funded primary, secondary and special schools and can be broken down by individual school type.

Underlying data is available within the “Explore data and files” section of this page, under the data catalogue.

Latest data - week commencing 13 May 2024

The latest data relates to the week commencing 13 May 2024 and is available in the pupil attendance dashboard . Data is collected on a daily basis and data for the interim weeks between publications is included in year-to-date figures and is available on a daily and weekly basis in the data catalogue available on this page (see “Explore data and files”). The dashboard displays attendance and absence headline figures, and reasons for absence at national, regional and local authority geographic levels. Data is available across primary, secondary and special schools and can be broken down by individual school type.

The data shows that the attendance rate across the week for all schools was 93.1%, giving an overall absence rate of 6.9%. The absence rate varied across the week with primary schools demonstrating the usual pattern of lower absence mid-week and a peak on Friday; consistent with weekly patterns seen during 2022/23 and in historical attendance data . Secondary absence varied in the latest week with the peak on Tuesday and lower absence on Thursday; this was predominantly driven by study leave (authorised absence) which coincides with a period of exams taking place in secondary schools.

Users should be aware of the following:

Response rate - 92% of schools shared data in the most recent week (though this has varied throughout the period of data collection), therefore national figures are estimates. Across school types this was: 94% of state-funded primary schools, 88% of state-funded secondary schools and 85% of state-funded special schools. Estimates for non-response - In recognition that response rates are not equal across school types and, therefore, not representative of the total school population, the total rates for all schools has been weighted based on the Spring 2023 school census. Reporting lag - Schools update their registers continually and attendance codes change, resulting in absence rates for a particular day to decrease over time. Analysis of data from the Summer 2022 term suggests that this could be a decrease in the absence rate of around 1 percentage point before settling down. Historical figures will be recalculated in each publication.

Spring term

Data for Spring term 2023/24 relates to the period from 2 January 2024 to 31 March 2024.

The overall absence rate for the Spring term was 7.3%, slightly above the Spring 2022/23 census absence figure of 7.0%. This is likely due to higher levels of illness absence with an illness absence rate of 3.9% in Spring 2023/24 compared to the Spring 2022/23 census figure of 3.6%.

Across the Spring term the persistent absence rate (pupils who miss 10% or more of their possible sessions) was 21.9%. This is a small increase from the Spring 2022/23 census persistent absence rate of 20.6%.

Absence remained high in the first week of the Spring term (7.9%) then fell to 6.5% in the week commencing 8 January. Absence then increased across the first half of the Spring term to a peak of 8.0% in the week just prior to half-term. Absence fell following the Spring half-term to 6.8%, remaining around this level until the week commencing 11 March when it was 7.5% and then rising to 8.2% in the final week of the Spring term. The increase in absence prior to half-term and the end of term is in line with weekly patterns seen during 2022/23 and in historical attendance data .

Changes in absence during the Spring term have mainly been driven by illness absence, which was 3.1% in the week commencing 8 January, but then increased to 4.5% in the week commencing 22 January. Illness remained around this level until the half-term break. Illness fell following the Spring half-term, to 3.2% in the week commencing 19 February however rose across the second half of the term to peak around 4.0% for the final few weeks of the term.

Unauthorised absence remained high in the first week of 2024 (3.1%) however then fell and remained around 2.3% for most of the first half of Spring term. There was a small increase in unauthorised absence in the week prior to half-term, when it was 2.5%. Unauthorised absence remained around 2.5% for most of the second half of the Spring term, peaking at 3.0% in the final week of the Spring term.

Free school meals (FSM) 

The overall absence rate for pupils who are eligible for free school meals was 11.3% in the Spring term. This compares to 5.9% for those pupils who were not eligible for free school meals. 

34.7% of pupils who were eligible for free school meals were persistently absent in the Spring term, compared to 17.2% of pupils who were not eligible.

Special educational needs (SEN)  

The overall absence rate for pupils with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan was 13.5% in the Spring term. This compares to 11.1% for pupils with SEN support and 6.6% with no identified SEN. 

36.0% of pupils with an EHC plan were persistently absent in the Spring term, compared to 31.8% for pupils with SEN support and 19.9% for pupils with no identified SEN.

The overall absence rate during the Spring term was 7.4% for female pupils and 7.2% for male pupils.

The persistent absence rate during the Spring term was 22.0% for female pupils and 21.7% for male pupils.

Academic year to date

Data for the academic year 2023/24 relates to the period from 11 September 2023 to 17 May 2024. Data is available in the pupil attendance dashboard and the data catalogue available on this page (see “Explore data and files”). The dashboard displays attendance and absence headline figures, and reasons for absence at national, regional and local authority geographic levels. Data is available across primary, secondary and special schools and can be broken down by individual school type.

Across the 2023/24 year to date, overall absence is 7.0%. The rate of persistent absence (pupils who miss 10% or more of their possible sessions) is 19.8%.

Absence peaked at 8.4%, in the final full week of the Autumn term (week commencing 11 December 2023), up from the start of the academic year when it was 4.9% and the previous peak in the week prior to the Autumn half-term when it was 7.1%. Absence fell following the Autumn term, dropping to 6.5% in the week commencing 8 January, but increased across the first half of Spring term to a peak of 8.0% in the week just prior to half-term. Absence fell again following Spring half-term to 6.8%, and then rose across the second half of the Spring term to 8.2%. Following the Easter holiday, absence fell and was 6.9% in the most recent week. The increase in absence prior to half-term and the end of term is in line with weekly patterns seen during 2022/23 and in historical attendance data .

Changes in absence throughout the academic year to date have mainly been driven by illness absence, which was 4.5% in the week commencing 11 December, up from the start of term when it was 2.0% and the previous peak of 3.8% in the week commencing 25 September. Illness absence fell at the start of the Spring term, dropping to 3.1% in the week commencing 8 January, but then increased to 4.5% in the week commencing 22 January. Illness remained around this level until the Spring half-term. Illness fell following the Spring half-term, to 3.2% in the week commencing 19 February however rose across the second half of the term to peak around 4.0% for the final few weeks of the term. Illness absence fell following the Easter holiday and was 2.7% in the most recent week

Unauthorised absence was fairly stable around 2.0% across the Autumn term, with peaks in the week immediately prior to half-term when it was 2.5% and in the final week of term when it was 2.7%. Unauthorised absence remained high in the first week of 2024 (3.1%) however then fell and remained around 2.3% for most of the first half of Spring term. There was a small increase in unauthorised absence in the week prior to half-term, when it was 2.5%. Unauthorised absence remained around 2.5% for most of the second half of Spring term, peaking at 3.0% in the final week of the Spring term. Unauthorised absence remained high following the Easter holiday, and was 2.5% in the most recent week.

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Official statistics in development

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Gov. Greg Abbott says he has enough votes after election to pass school voucher program

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Gov. Greg Abbott is declaring victory after Tuesday's primary election, announcing that the Texas legislature now has enough votes to pass a program using taxpayer money to send students to private schools.

The governor has made his school voucher plan one of his signature issues and has spent millions of dollars of his own campaign funds to defeat candidates who oppose it.

"What's really interesting in Texas is that for the last 25 years, we've ratcheted up the accountability, we've put an A-F rating system in schools, the traditional school system, so we have really high standards and really high accountability systems, but this $8,000 would go to a private school that is not required to do the state test and really has no rating system and very little accountability," Duncan Klussman, an assistant professor at the University of Houston and the former superintendent of Spring Branch ISD, explained.

Teachers groups have overwhelmingly opposed school vouchers, and so have lawmakers from rural areas, saying the policy will lead to falling enrollment, which then leads to falling funding for public schools.

"If you look at Cy-Fair right now, they're facing an almost $140 million deficit, and this could potentially make it worse. We expect that there would probably be more program cuts. They may be losing librarians like Spring Branch and others," Zeph Capo, the president of the Texas AFT, explained.

But, Abbott has been pushing for a private school voucher program for years, even keeping public school funding off his agenda until it passes.

Although his office did not answer ABC13's questions on Wednesday, Abbott promised to pass the program by next year.

As of now, it appears he will have the votes to do so.

"Certainly, the governor has what is likely to be a more friendly legislature to him going into the next session," Monty Exter, the director of Governmental Relations with the Association of Texas Professional Educators, said. "What it means exactly for any particular agenda item, including vouchers, it's a long time yet."

For more on this story, follow Pooja Lodhia on Facebook , X and Instagram .

Related Topics

• TEXAS POLITICS
• SCHOOL BOARD
• SCHOOL BUDGET
• PUBLIC SCHOOL

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