Updated Navigating PES Markets Guide

Please note, that if you are an experienced user you can still jump directly to the sheet you want to use by using the blue navigation bar at the top of the screen.

Scoring rubrics play an important role since they are the base of how you will be evaluating programs. Selecting different scoring rubrics will shift how points are allocated in accordance with your current focus. You have access to both the industry standard rubrics that Gray provides as well as the option to adjust these in order to meet your institution's needs, values, and interests.

The list of geographic markets in your system is based on a distance analysis of student address data as well as the goals and interest

The Program Rank tab is a great place to start because it provides a high-level overview of how programs (organized by CIP code) compare to each other. The Program Rank tab can be useful to help determine CIP codes that warrant further analysis. This view can also be helpful as a first step in identifying new program opportunities. It is important to remember that the Program Rank tab provides a look at the data from a 30,000-foot view and that you will always have the option to dive into the details when we move to the Scorecard later in the process.

You can do this using the 2-digit CIP and 4-digit CIP filters. This step allows you to focus on a specific program area. The greater the number of digits in the CIP code, the more focused the search on a specific category of programs.

This step allows you to focus on a specific program area. The greater the number of digits in the CIP code, the more focused the search on a specific category of programs. 

This will zoom in to a specific grouping of similar programs. This may or may not be necessary, depending on the program area you are examining. For example, the 11’s includes all programs identified in the broad category of Computer & Information Sciences, where 11.01, 11.02, 11.03, etc. breaks down this general category into a number of more narrowly defined subcategories.

The same process can apply to any other 4-digit CIP code.

This view shows us a ranking of how each program in the 11.01 family of CIP codes is performing at the Bachelors award level and in the market of the Nation.

The header of this section shows us the same information we saw on the Program Rank tab. In this case, it highlights that this program scores in the 99th percentile compared to all other Bachelors programs in the currently selected market (national).

This quickly allows you to put the Value column into perspective, comparing your selected program to all other programs. Once again, the data is specific to the award level and market you have selected.

We can see that this program (11.0103 Information Technology) has had 9,957 New Student Enrollments in the past 12 months. The Pctl column shows us that this value is in the 98th percentile compared to the new student enrollment volumes of all other Bachelors programs in the nation.

Now that we know how to read an individual metric on the Scorecard, let’s discuss the category of Student Demand more broadly. This category looks at Google search, New Student Enrollment, and Completion volumes, as well as how each of those areas has trended year over year.

This creates two distinct sub-categories:
Size
Growth

You can combine this information to see the broader story of Student Demand. In this case, the Size sub-category shows us that this is a large program. Google Search Volume is in the 93rd percentile, New Student Enrollment is in the 98th Percentile, and the Sum of On-ground and Online Completions is also in the 98th percentile.

In the Growth sub-category, we can see that Google search volume is down year over year by 4,830 searches, which is a 4% decrease. New Student Enrollment is also down year over year seeing a decrease of 766 or 7%. However, Completions have grown by 9% year over year.

Overall, this seems to be large with mixed signals around the growth of this program. When you wrap up all of the data in the Student Demand category, this program scores in the 99th percentile.

The header of this section shows us the same information we saw on the Program rank tab. In this case, it highlights that this program scores in the 29th percentile compared to all other Bachelors programs in the currently selected market (national).

This quickly allows you to put the Value column into perspective, comparing your selected program to all other programs. Once again, the data is specific to the award level and market you have selected.

Let’s use the first line, “Campuses with Graduates,” as an example.

We can see that for this program (11.0103 Information Technology), there are 263 Campuses with Graduates at the Bachelors award level in the currently selected market (national). Compared to all other programs, this is a 96th percentile value, potentially indicating that there is a high volume of competition.

Now that we know how to read an individual metric on the Scorecard, let’s discuss the category of Competitive Intensity. This category looks at measures of competition: How many competitors are there? How large are these programs? How competitive/ expensive is it to capture Google search volume? These are some of the questions that this category addresses.

There are a few sub-categories of Competitive Intensity:
Volume of In-Market Competition
In-Market Program Sizes

In-Market Saturation

National Online Competition

You can combine this information to see the broader story of Competitive Intensity. In this case, we can see that there is a large volume of in-market competition with 263 campuses with graduates in the currently selected market (national), as well as a net change of two new campuses with graduates compared to last year.

The In-Market Program Sizes sub-category shows us that despite a large volume of competitors, the average program has 33 completions, which is in the 86th percentile. The median program completion size of 13 falls into the 71st percentile. We do see that year over year, the median completion size for these programs has decreased by 11% compared to the previous year.

We can see from the In-Market Saturation sub-category that Google keywords around this program have an average cost per click of $26, which is in the 97th percentile compared to all other programs.

Finally, we see that this program has a strong online presence, with 35% of completions nationally happening online.

The header of this section shows us the same information we saw on the Program rank tab. In this case, it highlights that this program scores in the 91st percentile compared to all other Bachelors programs in the currently selected market (national).

This quickly allows you to put the Value column into perspective, comparing your selected program to all other programs. Once again, the data is specific to the award level and market you have selected.

Let’s use the first line, “Job Postings Total (12 Months),” as an example.

We can see that for this program (11.0103 Information Technology), there were 75,161 Job Postings in the past 12 months, and the Pctl column shows us that this value is in the 96th percentile compared to all other programs. As a quick reminder, these job postings are specific to our selected market (in this case, the nation).

Now that we know how to read an individual metric on the Scorecard, let’s discuss the category of Employment more broadly. This category looks at three main data sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, American Community Survey (ACS) data, as well as alumni profile data that tracks real outcomes for graduates of specific programs.

There are several sub-categories of Employment:

Size: Entry Jobs

Underemployed

Growth: Entry Jobs

Saturation: Entry Jobs

Weighted Avg BLS Wages

National American Community Survey Bachelor's Degree Outcomes

You can combine this information to see the broader story of Employment. In this case, we can see that the entry-level job market is large with 75,161 relevant job postings in the past year which is in the 96th percentile. We can also see that wages for graduates of this program are strong with Post Entry w/Bachelors Medial wage of $87,201 which is in the 90th percentile compared to all other programs. Furthermore, for those who go on to earn a Masters degree (in any field), the Median wages go up to $113,879.

Lastly looking at some of the ACS data, we can see that 56% of Bachelor's graduates of this program go on to work in Direct Preparation Jobs.

This category does not impact the scoring.

You are able to look at both the demographics of your selected program in your selected market, as well as how they compare to ALL programs within your selected market.

Degree Fit will quickly help you identify if a program has a body of completions at your selected award level. The role that this category plays is to help ensure that the CIP code you choose is a fit. In most cases, you will see a score of 50th percentile, essentially a neutral score.

You want to pay attention if you ever see a score lower than the 50th percentile, as this indicates that you may need to look further.

This table does not impact the scoring.

The Cost Benchmarking data included here shows the Average and Median cost index per Student Credit Hour (SCH). This data comes from Gray DI's database of participating institutions that work with our PES Economics and Outcomes system.

Values are indexed to the average so that the average program has a value of 1.0. A value less than one would indicate that the Cost per SCH is less than the average program.

This table us what % of completions for this program are reported at each award level. For this program, we can see that 41% of completions happen at the Bachelors award level.

If we were reviewing this program at Doctoral where 0% of completions are reported, we would have seen the Degree Fit header highlighted in pink indicating that this CIP code. may not be a match for this award level.

The BLS Educational Attainment column (right-hand side of the table) shows us the highest level of education achieved by those who are currently employed in direct preparation jobs related to this program. This can also help inform if a CIP code is a good match for a particular award level.

Note: This table will not change based on your award level filters, it will always show you data across all award levels for your selected CIP code.

At this point, we have gained a better understanding of the competitive landscape for this program. The next step is to identify who the competitors actually are for this program. In order to do that, we need to move to the Competitors tab.

This will include online completions by In-Market Students to institutions located anywhere in the country.

As you filter these charts will change based on your current selections. For example, if you filter down to a single campus, then this will show you the completion trend that campus has seen over the past several years.

Note: you will need to scroll down to the bottom on the list.

Note: you can do the same thing for 5-year unit change.

This will identify how many online completions by in-market students each Campus had. When doing this you will notice that there may be out-of-market institutions who appear. This allows you to see how much of an online presence institutions form all over the nation have in your market of interest.

This will allow you to return to a particular view or table as data is updated over time.

You can also add a description if you would like to.

You can now return to this page by opening the Rubric tab and selecting the name of your saved bookmark. This will return you to the page that you have saved.