Data Limits

The following information is provided to help you put the data in Kumu A'o, the Hawaii Consumer Report Card System (CRCS) in perspective.

Overall

• Career success depends on more than education and training. It also depends on and is affected by factors such as the school you attend, the subject you study, the level of education or training you attain, your personality, skills, temperaments, experiences, where you live, and the state and national economy.
• Kumu A'o is just one of many resources available for educational and related career information. Please check with your counselor for other career and education resources.

Training Providers

• Not every training provider in Hawaii participates as a WIA eligible training provider. Participation does not mean that the State Department of Labor endorses the provider (see DISCLAIMER) and non-participation does not reflect on the quality of the school.
• Keep in mind that the degree of services to special populations such as ex-offenders, minorities, immigrants, or economically challenged individuals, may affect the achievement and performance rates of students.
• Because trainers prepare students for specific types of accomplishments, performance rates and results are also affected by a school/training provider's mission . Community colleges, universities, and proprietary schools all have very different goals. You may want to talk to your counselor or someone at the school you are interested in to learn what their mission is for their students.

Students

• Not all students can be found once they complete or leave a program. They include individuals who find employment outside of the state, those who join the military, those who continue their education at another learning institution, and individuals whose occupations are not covered by the Unemployment Insurance (UI) wage records, such as those who become self-employed.
• Information about those who are self-employed is reported by the training providers who conduct their own follow-up surveys with former students. Career Kokua and the DLIR are unable to verify this data.
• Students who are already employed while enrolled in a training program are excluded from the Obtained Unsubsidized Employment computations. However, WIA participants who are employed during enrollment are counted in the Retained Employment measures. This is in accordance with federal program reporting requirements.
• Students may complete courses and programs at various times during the year. Student information contained in the Performance Measures tables are for the period of July 1, 2002 - June 30, 2003.
• Students who exited a training program early in the reporting period have more time to find employment than those who exit later.
• The completion rate is affected by the length of the training program and the number of completers in the reporting period.

Programs

• Different types of programs yield different achievements or results by design. Continuing education courses, university courses, workforce development programs, and baccalaureate programs each have specific goals which influence what students achieve after they leave.
• Some programs prepare students for self-employment and other occupations which may not be equally represented in the Kumu A'o CRC System.
• Some programs are not intended to prepare students for employment but for the improvement of skills or knowledge that will affect a person's job performance, career advancement, or retainment.
• Percentages are affected by small numbers of students, by using sample data submitted by training providers, or by unusual completion results.
• Enrollment in programs may extend beyond the requested period.
• Kumu A'o includes only programs that are approved for WIA for the project period of July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2005.

Data

• Enrollment is defined as the number of individuals enrolled in at least one course in one program per vendor within the 12-month period being measured.
• Performance information is limited to Long-term programs only.
• Performance information is displayed using the training provider's program titles. By using the provider's titles, the programs may not be comparable between providers.
• Retention data is based on individuals completing a program between July 1, 2002 to June 30, 2003.

Wages

• Wages reported are average quarterly wages. Exact placement dates for completers within the quarter following completion are not known and, therefore not used in the computations.
• Quarterly wages should not be used to estimate hourly wages.
• Wages are not adjusted for seasons or inflation.
• Wages do not differentiate between entry-level positions and senior or advanced positions.

Application of Data

• Kumu A'o provides only a snapshot of what happened to program completers during the report period. It does not have any information on what happened to students before or after the report period.
• Results may differ for each island.
• Kumu A'o does not identify where program completers found employment.
• The cost of education and training does not necessarily reflect quality and should be weighed carefully with other information such as length of the training and earnings potential.

Currentness of Information

• The data in Kumu A'o is updated once a year through a survey of training providers. All information is provided by the providers through this annual survey. Career Kokua also updates Kumu A'o whenever new information is submitted by the training provider, LWIBs, or the State.

Confidentiality

• Kumu A'o protects the confidentiality of individuals.
• Kumu A'o displays aggregated data only. It does not track information on individuals.
• Kumu A'o shows results for five or more students. Whenever a statistic involves fewer than five individuals, Kumu A'o will display a "<5" instead.