An Audit Report on Performance Measures at the Higher Education Coordinating Board
October 2013
Report Number 14-008
Overall Conclusion
The Higher Education Coordinating Board (Board) reported reliable results for 10 (91 percent) of 11 key performance measures tested for fiscal year 2012 and the first two quarters of fiscal year 2013. A performance measure result is considered reliable if it is certified or certified with qualification.
Of the 11 performance measures tested, 10 were determined to be certified with qualification. The remaining performance measure was determined to be inaccurate.
It is important to note that many of the performance measures tested rely heavily on data that higher education institutions self-reported to the Board. However, the Board has only limited policies and procedures, such as edit checks and record counts, to verify whether that data is correct or complete. The Board conducts no other verification of the data. Therefore, the results of audit testing are only as reliable as the self-reported data.
Ten key performance measures tested were certified with qualification because, while the reported results were accurate, the controls over data collection and reporting were not adequate to ensure continued accuracy. Those 10 performance measures were:
- Percentage of University Students Graduating in Four Years.
- Percent of Public Two-year Institution Students Graduating in Three Years.
- Number of Students Receiving TEXAS Grants.
- Percentage of TEXAS Grant Recipients Who Earn a Baccalaureate Degree within Four Academic Years.
- Dollars Appropriated for Developmental Education.
- Dollars Appropriated for Developmental Education as a Percentage of Lower-division Instruction.
- Number of NHARP Research Projects Funded.
- Percent Increase in Fall Student Headcount Enrollment since Fall 2000.
- Increase in Fall Student Headcount Enrollment since Fall 2000.
- Percent Increase in Bachelor's Degrees, Associate's Degrees, and Certificates Awarded Since Those Awarded Fall 1999 Through Summer 2000.
One key performance measure—Pass Rate on State Certification Exams at Centers for Teaching Education at Texas Association of Developing College Institutions—was inaccurate because (1) the Board did not use the definition of that performance measure specified in the Automated Budget and Evaluation System of Texas (ABEST) to calculate the performance measure result and (2) a portion of the data the Board used to calculate the fiscal year 2012 performance measure was from fiscal year 2011.