Reporting and compliance is a part of doing business as an educational institution. All institutions that disburse Title IV federal financial aid to their enrolled students are required to abide by federal regulations. In addition, both private and public institutions must comply with regulations set forth by the state in which they are incorporated. Furthermore, public institutions have additional requirements set forth by state regulators. Oversight bodies may also impose policies such as those required for membership (e.g., programmatic accreditors, AAU, NC-SARA, etc.). Listed below are regulations that may be required of an institution, denoted at the state and federal levels, along with the ways in which Steppingblocks data and platforms may assist you in your compliance obligations along with case studies in which other institutions have used Steppingblocks’ data for compliance. Regulations and requirements for membership are not included below.

Program Review

Institutions may be required to regularly review academic degree programs to assess how they are meeting student learning outcomes and program objectives within the context of the university's mission.

As faculty prepare for the program review process, they need lots of information about their program to adequately assess it and craft their self-study report. Steppingblocks provides robust data on graduates’ outcomes, delineated by program and/or college. Steppingblocks' data can be used to provide faculty with rich information about whether graduates are getting hired, in which fields, and at what wages. Furthermore, faculty can compare skills in the alumni base versus those demanded by top employers compared to what skills the faculty aim to impart on their students. Understanding graduate destinations, skills, and salary outcomes is a powerful tool for department chairs and deans to mold programs for optimal student success. Many Steppingblocks partners utilize this for annual program review reports.

For example, North Carolina A&T University integrates Graduate Insights into the faculty process for the UNC system program review, and the University of North Georgia has used reporting outcomes for program approval. Check out our Help Center as well for more information on how to obtain rich insights on academic programs.

Student Learning Outcome Assessment

Some states require institutions to develop clearly articulated expected core student learning outcomes and regularly assess students to ensure they achieve those outcomes.

Steppingblocks can help with this assessment by providing robust data on graduates’ outcomes, delineated by program and/or college. Institutions often use the First Destination Survey (FDS), however Steppingblocks data is more robust and can be used as a tool to triangulate and supplement the FDS data. Steppingblocks data is also updated quarterly compared to once per year with the FDS. Furthermore, Steppingblocks data contains approximately 90% of the US workforce while FDS response rates tend to be far lower. See our First Destination Survey FAQ for more information.

Performance-based Funding

Many states have a performance-based funding system where state appropriations for public colleges and universities are allocated based on how well they perform on specific, measurable outcomes such as high graduation rates, retention, and post-graduation employment. Often based on workforce development incentives, common metrics include retention, students’ wage earnings after graduation, and the number of degrees/certificates awarded in state-defined critical needs areas.

Post-graduation outcomes tend to be a blind spot for most institutions that rely on low response rates and static data from the First Destination Survey. SB can help by providing robust data on post-graduation employment, a typical metric used in performance-based funding. Steppingblocks data is updated quarterly and provides far richer data to answer questions about post-graduation salaries, location, job types, skills, advanced degrees, and more. Florida International University is one such institution that has used Steppingblocks data to inform their metric reporting.

Accountability Reports

Many states require that institutions develop and report on accountability metrics that are closely aligned with those in the system strategic plan. Accountability plans are typically reviewed annually and designed to inform strategic planning, budgeting, and other policy decisions.

Steppingblocks can inform accountability reports by providing institutions data about their alumni to better understand where they work, their salaries, their locations, their career path, and their skills. All of this information can help the institution shape its strategic plan, adjust its curricula, and further enhance its processes to move in a direction that meets their accountability metrics more swiftly than if they did not have the data.

For example, New Mexico State University used Steppingblocks data to report on program outcomes to the state.

Programmatic Accreditation

Programmatic accreditation, also known as specialized accreditation or discipline-specific accreditation, is a voluntary, external peer-review process that evaluates specific departments, schools, or academic programs—rather than an entire institution—to ensure they meet high-quality standards for a particular profession. It verifies that curricula, faculty, and outcomes meet industry standards, and it is often required for professional licensure in fields like nursing, engineering, and law.

In the areas of outcomes reporting, Steppingblocks can help institutions enhance their self-study narratives with robust data on student outcomes, delineated by college, program, and/or graduation year. Institutions that have used Steppingblocks data in their reporting to accreditors include The University of Texas at Tyler with their ATMAE reaffirmation and Western Illinois University for AACSB reaffirmation.

OBBBA Earnings Test (34 CFR Part 668 Subpart S & Subpart Q)

Prior to July 1, 2026, institutions had to report detailed student-level data for Gainful Employment (GE) programs to the National Student Loan Data System annually. Institutions also had to report student-specific data to measure debt-to-earnings ratios and earnings premiums. Previously, institutions with only degree programs (associate's and above), had no GE exposure.

As of July 1, 2026, however, OBBBA extended earnings accountability to the entire degree-granting portfolio, and the merger with GE means there's one unified compliance framework rather than two parallel ones. The debt-to-earnings metric is eliminated entirely and the new framework uses a single metric, the earnings premium, applied uniformly across all program types. The penalty is loss of Direct Loan eligibility for two years after failing in two of three consecutive years.

Steppingblocks can provide the earnings data layer that institutions often lack from internal systems alone. Institutions with defensible, third-party earnings data are better positioned than those relying solely on College Scorecard, which has lag times and coverage gaps. Ultimately, OBBBA compliance requires the Department of Education's official earnings data releases, which pull from IRS and financial aid records. While Steppingblocks’ data doesn't replace those official calculations, it does allow institutions to run the analysis before the official measurements arrive, so they can prepare accordingly and not be surprised by the data release in 2027.

Misrepresentation

Under 34 CFR 668.74, institutions may not misrepresent the employability of an eligible institution's graduates. Steppingblocks data can help institutions to better understand the employability of their students by examining where their graduates have been employed. With richer and more current data, institutions are less at risk of misrepresenting their graduates’ employability.

Institutional and Programmatic Information

Section 668.43 of Chapter 34 in the Code of Federal Regulations (34 CFR 668.43) requires that institutions must make readily available to enrolled and prospective students, among other things, the following:

(14) If the institution's accrediting agency or State requires the institution to calculate and report a placement rate, the institution's placement in employment of, and types of employment obtained by, graduates of the institution's degree or certificate programs, gathered from such sources as alumni surveys, student satisfaction surveys, the National Survey of Student Engagement, the Community College Survey of Student Engagement, State data systems, or other relevant sources approved by the institution's accrediting agency as applicable;

(15) The types of graduate and professional education in which graduates of the institution's four-year degree programs enrolled, gathered from such sources as alumni surveys, student satisfaction surveys, the National Survey of Student Engagement, State data systems, or other relevant sources;

Steppingblocks can serve as a relevant source of information to calculate and report on the institution’s placement in employment, types of employment, and more, as necessitated by these regulations.

Institutional Accreditation

Institutional accreditation is a process in which a recognized agency evaluates an entire institution to ensure it meets established quality standards in order for the institution to disburse Title IV financial aid to its students.

Steppingblocks data helps institutions meet accreditation requirements by providing verifiable, large-scale alumni outcomes data that shows where graduates work, what they earn, and how their careers progress, without relying on low-response self-reported surveys. Because accreditors increasingly require demonstrated student success metrics, Steppingblocks gives institutions audit-ready evidence at the program and institution level that is both statistically credible and continuously updated.

Steppingblocks data is particularly useful in an accreditor’s quality enhancement plan (for SACSCOC) or quality initiative (for HLC) for institutions that want to use the opportunity to enhance workforce development or strengthen career readiness. Georgia State University used Digital Career Counselor as a tool for students to build their career path as part of their College to Career QEP.