In 2017, New Jersey set a goal of increasing the number of state residents with a postsecondary degree or credential to 65% of the population by 2025. A new report from the New Jersey Statewide Data System (NJSDS), A Review of State Postsecondary Attainment Goals and Progress, the first in a two-part series, details the key strategies, challenges, milestones, and specific programs New Jersey has implemented to achieve this attainment goal and examines the national landscape of initiatives and progress undertaken by other states.
The second report in this series, expected to release in fall 2024, will measure New Jersey’s benchmarks and progress toward this goal.
The New Jersey Statewide Data System (NJSDS), formerly the New Jersey Education to Earnings Data System (NJEEDS), is the State of New Jersey’s centralized longitudinal data system for public administrative data. Through coordination with partnering state agencies and initial funding from the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Labor, NJSDS has become a large statewide interagency and intergovernmental platform where data from participating agencies are securely stored to expand access and analysis to improve governance efforts, policymaking, and performance of public initiatives.
NJSDS is a collaboration between four New Jersey state agencies, each sharing individual-level data. The system is owned by the State of New Jersey and operated by the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.