Postsecondary Data Strategy

Six hexagons with icons inside, representing a "roadmap" - first one is blue with a logic model, second is green with a tree diagram, third is reddish orange with people brainstorming, fourth is blue with an online meeting, fifth is a green with a scatterplot, sixth is purple with map navigation. Text is overlaid that says "landscape analysis" for the first two, "external review with partners and community" for the next two, and "resource development (data framework, resources, manuals, dashboards, collecti

ERDC is in the process of formulating a postsecondary data strategy to guide how we identify, harmonize, and represent postsecondary data. We've been reviewing data, standards, best practices, and reports, working to create a postsecondary data framework and a set of recommendations to guide current and future postsecondary data efforts. (Our strategy work is supported by Gates Foundation funding.) 

In summer and fall 2025, we held two live, virtual partner sessions to gather feedback on the strategy and we offered drop-in office hours and a comment box to allow for asynchronous feedback. To learn more about the live sessions, see:

To summarize the work of the first year, we've produced a progress report on the postsecondary data strategy. The progress report includes our landscape analysis, results from the feedback sessions, and an overview of next steps ERDC will take towards the strategy in 2026. 

About the ERDC

The Education Research and Data Center (ERDC), based within the Office of Financial Management (OFM), maintains Washington state's preschool through workforce data system (P20W data system) that links together data from early learning, K12, postsecondary, and workforce sectors. ERDC was created in 2007 by legislation (RCW 43.41.400). Learn more about who we are and the data we maintain. You may also want to view our dashboards and publications.