Ever get a letter from your alma mater asking what you’ve been up to since you graduated? That data is used to see how well the college has been doing. It’s especially important for public colleges to see if most graduates stick around. Ever send one back? No? Well, most don’t.

But that’s a pain for researchers who really want to know. The response are unlikely to be random so we can’t infer much about the results. Iowa Department of Education and Iowa Workforce Development teamed up to track alumni from Iowa community colleges using administrative records. That is, we don’t ask you, we just look in pre-existing databases to find you.

The result is an infographic [PDF] that explains the methodology and results. It’s part of an upcoming series on Iowa community colleges and labor supply.