Data Wranglers
Insights. Impact. Student Success.
🏛️ ORPE ON CAMPUS
What predicts success in MTH 121?
NMC’s analysis found that high school GPA and prior math performance were stronger indicators of success than simply taking another math course first.
- 57% of students with a high school GPA of 3.49 or lower earned a C or better.
- 80% of students with a high school GPA of 3.50 or higher earned a C or better.
- 69% of students who started directly in MTH 121 succeeded, compared with 61% of students who took another NMC math course first.
Prior performance matters. Students earning a 3.0 or higher in MTH 111 later succeeded in MTH 121 75% of the time.
Note. MTH 121 only; excludes MTH 121/021
📣 DATA PRIORITIES
WHAT DATA MATTERS MOST TO COLLEGE PRESIDENTS?
A recent poll asked respondents to name the two data points most important to their president or CEO.
Enrollment was named more than twice as often as retention, the second-highest response.
🤖 RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT
Some college, no credential: an opportunity to reconnect
MDRC followed Washington’s on-time 2017 high school graduates and identified 18,498 students who enrolled in college but left without a credential.
- 29% of the cohort followed this pathway.
- 73% connected through a community or technical college.
- Median earnings among those stably employed were $42,473, about $500 more than peers who never enrolled.
Source: O’Donoghue et al. (2026), MDRC. Some College, No Credential.