According to the Data Quality Campaign's Data 101, there are three key types of data common to education and workforce:

• Student Data (P-12)
  • Information such as attendance, grades, student growth, outcomes, enrollment.
  • Schools, school districts, and states collect student data and use it to make decisions about instruction, interventions, policy development, and resource allocation.
  • Most student data is stored at the school and district levels.
  • A limited amount of this data is reported to states.
  • States use and share this data in anonymous and aggregate forms.
• Postsecondary Data
  • Information such as admissions, enrollment, persistence, completion, courses or majors, use of support services or public benefits, financial aid, and student debt.
  • Information is collected to help better understand education options after high school, such as two- and four-year college programs, applied career training through community and technical colleges, professional certifications, and other noncredit training or education pursued after high school.
  • Many state, federal, and accrediting agencies require postsecondary institutions to report data for compliance purposes (e.g., federal financial aid eligibility or state authorization requirements).
  • Reporting requirements by governmental and other regulatory entities shape much of the data collected in the field.
  • Higher education institutions collect additional data on individual students and education programs. Data are typically used to evaluate programs and improve the tools and support offered to students. Such data is rarely collected at the state or federal levels.
• Workforce Data
  • Information relating to local or regional labor markets such as data about the existing workforce; wage information; use of social assistance programs; demand for occupations; growing fields and industry trends; and information on available training, skills, and credentialing resources.
  • Comes from a variety of sources, such as state unemployment records, tax data, public benefits programs, job posting sites, education institutions, job training programs, apprenticeship programs, the military, and adult education services.
  • The amount of data incorporated into statewide data systems is often limited. For example, in states where the data is incorporated, it may include only unemployment insurance data, which contains information from employers on their employees and their wages but has many gaps and limitations.
  • In many states, much of the data may be available only to private entities and employers.