Clarification for Enter and Retain Employment Goal/Cohort Data

We have received a few questions from programs asking about why employment cohort records are not being populated for some students, and/or data for employment goals is not populating Table 5 for some students. Please review the following for clarification of this issue.

 

The cohort method of data collection went into effect 7-1-12. Employment outcomes are collected and reported based on dates outside of the fiscal year range. For example, students reported on 12/13’s Table 5 were students who exited between 4-1-11 to 9-30-12; only one of those quarters was in the 12/13 FY.  For students who exited prior to the cohorts going into effect on 7-1-12, you must continue to manually update the goals data in the goals folder, as those students will not receive a cohort record due to them exiting prior to that change taking place. 

 

As an example, if a student was an NRS participant and exited on 5-28-12 with an active Enter Employment goal , you will still need to manually update the goal if it is met, based on the collection quarter of 7-1-12 to 9-30-12, because the student exited prior to the cohort changes taking place and will therefore not receive a cohort upon exiting. If a returning student was a 12/13 NRS participant and exited on 7-15-12 with a Work History of Unemployed, you would not need to do anything in the goal folder because this student exited after the cohort changes went into effect on 7-1-12 so will be automatically placed in the Enter Employment cohort.

 

Additionally, please remember that for returning students, cohort data is generated from their first employment record within the reporting fiscal year. As an example, if you have a student who was active in 2008, left, and is returning in 12/13, if their Work History record was Unemployed in 2008 and they gained employment in 2011, you must update the Work History folder and add a new record of Employed (Full or Part) with a start date reflecting when they began employment in 2011. These records must be updated by the first day of the new fiscal year (or before) in order for the cohort data to populate correctly.