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U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
IPEDS
New Keyholder
Handbook
2010‐11
IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
Overview of IPEDS ......................................................................................................................................... 3
What is IPEDS? .......................................................................................................................................... 3
How is IPEDS Used?................................................................................................................................... 3
Which Institutions Report to IPEDS?......................................................................................................... 3
Importance of the Keyholder’s Job ............................................................................................................... 4
Description of IPEDS Survey Components and Data ..................................................................................... 6
Keyholder Responsibilities ............................................................................................................................ 9
Submit accurate data on time ................................................................................................................... 9
Manage and coordinate all aspects of data submission ........................................................................... 9
Be the institutional point of contact ......................................................................................................... 9
Work with your state and system ............................................................................................................. 9
Stay informed… ......................................................................................................................................... 9
Contact the Help Desk… .......................................................................................................................... 10
Getting Ready for Data Submission ............................................................................................................ 11
IPEDS Data Submission Calendar ............................................................................................................ 11
Key Survey Concepts ................................................................................................................................... 16
General IPEDS ......................................................................................................................................... 16
Institutional Characteristics – Header Information ................................................................................ 16
Institutional Characteristics .................................................................................................................... 17
Fall Enrollment ........................................................................................................................................ 18
12‐Month Enrollment ............................................................................................................................. 18
Completions ............................................................................................................................................ 19
Graduation Rates .................................................................................................................................... 19
Student Financial Aid .............................................................................................................................. 20
Human Resources ................................................................................................................................... 22
Finance .................................................................................................................................................... 23
Using the IPEDS Data Collection System ..................................................................................................... 24
Entering Data .......................................................................................................................................... 26
1
Edits and Errors ....................................................................................................................................... 27
Resolving Errors ...................................................................................................................................... 29
Explanation Edits and Context Boxes ...................................................................................................... 30
Locking a Survey ...................................................................................................................................... 32
Help Menu .............................................................................................................................................. 33
Communications from NCES ....................................................................................................................... 34
Tips from Veteran Keyholders and the IPEDS Help Desk ............................................................................ 35
IPEDS Resources – Where to Get Help ....................................................................................................... 41
IPEDS Training ......................................................................................................................................... 41
Web Tutorials .......................................................................................................................................... 42
Face‐to‐face Workshops ......................................................................................................................... 42
IPEDS Listserv .......................................................................................................................................... 42
IPEDS Website ......................................................................................................................................... 43
Data Collection System Tutorial .............................................................................................................. 44
Using IPEDS Data ......................................................................................................................................... 45
Data Availability ...................................................................................................................................... 45
IPEDS Data Center ................................................................................................................................... 46
College Navigator .................................................................................................................................... 49
Data Feedback Report (DFR) and Executive Peer Tool (ExPT) ................................................................ 49
Tabulated Data ........................................................................................................................................ 50
If you need help using IPEDS data…. ....................................................................................................... 51
Additional Information................................................................................................................................ 52
List of Acronyms ...................................................................................................................................... 52
Useful Websites ...................................................................................................................................... 53
Statutory Requirements for Reporting IPEDS Data; Penalties for Noncompliance ................................ 54
2
Overview of IPEDS
WHAT IS IPEDS?
IPEDS is the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. It is a system of interrelated surveys
conducted annually by the U.S. Department’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). IPEDS
gathers information from every college, university, and technical and vocational institution that
participates in the federal student financial aid programs. The Higher Education Act of 1965, as
amended, requires that institutions that participate in federal student aid programs report data on
enrollments, program completions, graduation rates, faculty and staff, finances, institutional prices, and
student financial aid. These data are made available to students and parents through the College
Navigator college search Web site and to researchers and others through the IPEDS Data Center.
HOW IS IPEDS USED?
IPEDS provides basic data needed to describe — and analyze trends in —
postsecondary education in the United States, in terms of the numbers of students
enrolled, staff employed, dollars expended, and degrees earned. Congress, federal
agencies, state governments, education providers, professional associations, private
businesses, media, students and parents, and others rely on IPEDS data for this basic
information on postsecondary institutions.
WHICH INSTITUTIONS REPORT TO IPEDS?
The completion of all IPEDS surveys is mandatory for institutions that participate in
or are applicants for participation in any federal student financial aid program (such
as Pell grants and federal student loans) authorized by Title IV of the Higher
Education Act of 1965, as amended (20 USC 1094, Section 487(a)(17) and 34 CFR
668.14(b)(19)).
More than 6,700 institutions complete IPEDS surveys each year. These include
research universities, state colleges and universities, private religious and liberal
arts colleges, for‐profit institutions, community and technical colleges, non‐degree‐
granting institutions such as beauty colleges, and others.
3
Importance of the Keyholder’s Job
As an IPEDS keyholder, responsible for the submission of all IPEDS data for your institution, you have an
important job. The quality and accuracy of your institution’s IPEDS data depend on you.
The completion of all IPEDS surveys, in a timely and
accurate manner, is mandatory for all institutions that
participate in or are applicants for participation in any
Federal financial assistance program authorized by
Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. Submitting IPEDS data accurately and on time ensures that
your institution will meet its Program Participation Agreement for participation in Title IV federal
student financial aid programs with the US Department of Education. In this way, your institution will
avoid fines and other possible penalties for noncompliance with IPEDS reporting requirements.
IPEDS data are a public face of your institution. They are used by students and parents, through the
College Navigator website, to aid in the college search process; at the federal, state, and local level for
policy analysis and development; at the institutional level for benchmarking and peer analysis; and by
professional associations, private businesses, and the media.
College Navigator is a consumer
information and college search tool. It
was designed to help college students,
prospective students, and their parents
understand the differences between
colleges and how much it costs to attend
college. Users can select colleges based
on location, programs, degree offerings,
and a number of other characteristics,
and obtain information on admissions,
estimated student expenses, student
financial aid awarded, retention and
graduation rates, enrollment,
completions, accreditation status, campus security, and varsity athletic teams. It allows users to
designate favorite institutions, compare up to four institutions side‐by‐side, save sessions, and
download and print out information on institutions.
IPEDS data are used at the Federal, state, and local levels for
policy analysis and development.
4
The data feedback project provides each institution a context
for examining the data they submitted to IPEDS. The goal is to
produce an annual report that is useful to institutional
executives and institutions for benchmarking and peer
analysis, and that can help improve the quality and
comparability of IPEDS data. The report is mailed to Chief
Executive Officers and emailed to IPEDS institutional
keyholders and coordinators each fall. PDF versions of the
reports are available to institutions and the public from the
Data Center and Executive Peer Tool (ExPT).
IPEDS data are published by NCES in First Look publications,
and are used in the Digest of Education Statistics and The
Condition of Education.
Finally, IPEDS data are used by
institutions, researchers, education
providers, professional associations,
private businesses, the media, and
many others through the IPEDS Data
Center.
5
Description of IPEDS Survey Components
and Data
The following pages list the IPEDS survey components and the data collected by each.
Institutions are required to submit data for all survey components, unless the data do not apply to them
(for example, if an institution admits only graduate students, and therefore has no full‐time, first‐time
degree/certificate‐seeking undergraduate students, the Graduation Rates surveys would not apply). The
Data Collection System will determine whether a survey component is applicable or not. If you have
questions about this, contact the IPEDS Help Desk at 1‐877‐225‐2568, or ipedshelp@rti.org.
Survey components are customized for each institution, based on institutional characteristics such as
levels of program offerings (undergraduate, graduate) and institutional control (public, private not‐for‐
profit, and private for‐profit), and on answers provided by the keyholder to screening questions (for
example, Does your institution employ part‐time staff?).
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IPEDS SURVEY COMPONENTS
Component
Cycle
IC Header
Institutional Identification
Annual
Institutional Characteristics
(IC)
Annual
Fall Collection
Completions (C)
Annual
12‐month Enrollment (E12)
Annual
Data
•
•
•
•
•
•
Address; telephone number; websites
Control and affiliation
Calendar system
Levels of awards offered
Admissions requirements
Institutional pricing data for full‐time, first‐time,
degree/certificate‐seeking undergraduate students
o Displayed on College Navigator website, and
used to calculate average net price of
attendance, as required by HEOA
Tuition and required fees by level or program
Room and board charges
Awards conferred by program (6‐digit CIP code), by level
(associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, doctor’s, certificates),
and by race/ethnicity and gender of recipient
12‐month unduplicated headcount, by level of student
and race/ethnicity and gender
Full year instructional activity, measured in credit and/or
contact hours
o Used to compute full‐time equivalent (FTE)
enrollment
Employees by primary occupational activity, faculty
status, full and part time (collected separately for
medical schools)
•
•
•
•
•
Winter Collection
Employees by
Assigned
Position (EAP)
Annual
Salaries (SA)
Annual
•
•
Full‐time instructional staff by academic rank, gender,
and contract length/teaching period
Total salary outlay by academic rank, contract length,
and gender
Fringe benefits
Full‐time faculty by race/ethnicity and gender, contract
length/teaching period, and salary class intervals
Tenure of full‐time faculty by academic rank,
race/ethnicity and gender
Other full‐time employees by primary occupational
activity, race/ethnicity and gender, and salary class
intervals
Part‐time employees by primary occupational activity,
race/ethnicity and gender
New hires by primary occupational activity,
race/ethnicity and gender
•
Human
Resources
(HR)
Fall Staff (S)
•
•
Biennial
(odd‐
•
numbered
•
years)
•
•
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IPEDS SURVEY COMPONENTS
Component
Cycle
Fall Enrollment (EF)
Annual
Data
•
Full‐ and part‐time fall enrollments by level, by
race/ethnicity and gender of student
o Four‐year institutions report enrollment data by
level, race/ethnicity, and gender for 9 selected
fields of study in even‐numbered years
Age distributions by student level are collected in odd‐
numbered years
State of residence of first‐time first‐year students is
collected in even‐numbered years
Total number of students in the entering class
Fall‐to‐fall retention rates of full‐time and part‐time,
first‐time degree/certificate‐seeking undergraduate
students for less than 4‐year institutions, and first‐time
bachelor’s degree‐seeking students for 4‐year
institutions
Revenues by source (e.g., tuition and fees, government,
private gifts)
Expenses by function (e.g., instruction, research, plant
maintenance and operation)
Scholarships, physical plant assets and indebtedness
Assets, liabilities and net assets
Different formats are used based on the institution’s
accounting standards (GASB or FASB)
Number and percent of undergraduate and of full‐time,
first‐time, degree/certificate‐seeking undergraduate
students receiving student financial aid, by type of aid
and average amount of aid received
o Displayed on the College Navigator website and
used to calculate institutional average net price
and net price by income, as required by HEOA
Numbers of students entering the institution as full‐
time, first‐time, degree or certificate‐seeking in a
particular year (cohort), by race/ethnicity and gender
Number completing within 150% of normal time to
program completion
Number transferred to other institutions
Developed to help institutions comply with
requirements of Student Right‐to‐Know
Worksheets are provided to calculate rates
200 percent graduation rates, as required by HEOA
•
•
•
•
Spring Collection
Finance (F)
Annual
•
•
•
•
•
Student Financial Aid (SFA)
Annual
Graduation Rates (GRS)
Annual
•
•
•
•
•
200% Graduation Rates
(GR200)
Annual
•
•
8
Keyholder Responsibilities
SUBMIT ACCURATE DATA ON TIME
The primary responsibility of an IPEDS keyholder is to make sure all applicable survey components are
submitted accurately and on time. This includes entering data into the web‐based Data Collection
System, running the edits and resolving all edit issues and errors, and locking each component. All this
must be completed by the time the data collection closes to keyholders.
MANAGE AND COORDINATE ALL ASPECTS OF DATA SUBMISSION
In order to accomplish those tasks, you must manage and coordinate all aspects of data submission on
your campus, even if others on campus actually complete some components, or assist by extracting the
data from information systems. So it may be necessary for you to work with other offices to compile the
necessary data. An important part of this coordination is to make sure the other offices have all the
information and materials they need (blank forms, survey instructions, upload specifications, access to
the glossary, etc.). You may also need to arrange for others to have access to the Data Collection
System, by generating and issuing UserIDs and passwords.
BE THE INSTITUTIONAL POINT OF CONTACT
You must register in the IPEDS Data Collection System and keep your contact information current at all
times. As the keyholder, you are the institutional point of contact with NCES. If the Help Desk or survey
directors have questions about the data your institution has submitted, you will be contacted. You will
also receive all prompting emails and other important notices sent out during the data collection
periods.
WORK WITH YOUR STATE AND SYSTEM
Many states and systems have IPEDS coordinators who are responsible for state‐ or system‐level
coordination of IPEDS submissions. Roles filled by these coordinators vary from state to state and
system to system. If your institution is coordinated at one of these levels, it is your responsibility to
know how your role intersects with the coordinator’s role in the IPEDS data submission process. Also, it
is your responsibility to communicate with state and system coordinators concerning shared
responsibilities for data submission and the timing of data submission; some states and systems submit
data for institutions from their own information systems, relieving the institutions of some of the
burden for reporting directly to IPEDS, and some coordinators may have different due dates for data
submission that are not reflected in the federal IPEDS due dates.
STAY INFORMED…
NCES sends out information regularly in “This Week in IPEDS,” an electronic update sent via email. Be
sure to read these updates, as they include important and useful information. Also consider signing up
for the IPEDS Listserv, which will allow you to learn from other colleagues as they discuss issues
surrounding IPEDS reporting (and you can join in the discussion, too!).
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CONTACT THE HELP DESK…
Since you are responsible for making sure all IPEDS data are submitted for your institution, please
remember to contact the Help Desk in the following situations:
• If you do not receive a UserID and password every August;
• If the list of applicable surveys in the Data Collection System is not correct;
• If a survey status is not correct;
• If you have questions about survey instructions, glossary definitions, time periods for reporting;
• If you have problems entering data;
• If you have problems resolving edit failures;
• If you have problems locking your data;
• If you have questions concerning ANY followup email;
• If you have any other questions about IPEDS data submission.
The IPEDS Help Desk receives consistently high ratings from keyholders and coordinators for customer
service, helpfulness, and knowledge of IPEDS. They’re there to help you get your IPEDS data submitted
accurately and on time.
The Help Desk phone number is at the top of each screen in the Data Collection System:
IPEDS Help Desk
1‐877‐225‐2568
ipedshelp@rti.org
10
Getting Ready for Data Submission
1
The first thing we suggest you do is to familiarize yourself with the data collection schedule for the
year. The 2010‐11 data collection schedule is shown below. At the end of this manual is a
calendar that you can print out and post on your bulletin board for easy reference, and give to
others in your institution who help with IPEDS data submission; an electronic version is available
through the Data Provider Center.
IPEDS DATA SUBMISSION CALENDAR
August 4, 2010
UserIDs and passwords for the upcoming collection cycle will be distributed.
August 4, 2010
Registration opens. Includes:
Registration
Institution Identification
IC Header
All keyholders are required to register. Institutions are encouraged BUT NOT REQUIRED
to complete the Institution Identification page and the IC Header questions during the
Registration period.
Institution Identification must be completed and IC Header must be locked before the
Fall surveys can be started. The IC Header is available until the end of the Fall
collection. Institution Identification is available through Spring.
August 25, 2010
NCES will review the registration status of each institution. If a keyholder has not
registered as of this date, a letter will be sent to the CEO.
2010‐11 IPEDS Collection Schedule
Fall
Winter
Spring
Collection Opens
September 8
December 8
December 8
Collection Closes for
keyholders
(P and 88G logins)
October 20
January 26
April 13
Collection Closes for
coordinators
November 3
February 9
April 27
Survey components
included
Institutional Characteristics
Completions
12‐month Enrollment
Human
Resources
Fall Enrollment
Finance
Student Financial Aid
Graduation Rates
200% Graduation Rates
Deadline Extensions: There are no deadline extensions available for the IPEDS surveys.
11
2
Next, you’ll probably want to familiarize yourself with the survey reporting requirements by
reviewing the survey materials for the year, and by reviewing the posted changes for the
collection.
You can access the Data
Provider Center from the
IPEDS home page, or from
https://surveys.nces.ed.gov/i
peds/.
The Data Provider Center
has lots of good information
available from the left menu.
Here’s where you’ll find the
Survey Materials and the
Changes (also available from
the Help menu once you log
into the collection system).
12
To access the Survey
Materials, answer a few
questions on this screen to
get a short list of surveys to
choose from, or click View
All at the bottom of the page
to get the whole list.
Using the Survey Materials
option, you can download
and print blank survey
forms, instructions, FAQs,
and edit and import
specifications, so that you
can prepare your data for
submission, and alert others
at your institution to the
data you’ll need them to
provide to you for
submission. The Package
option puts all survey
materials together in a pdf
file for downloading.
Seasoned keyholders will tell you that it’s best to start early so that you aren’t trying to find and report
all the data in a last‐minute crunch. Also, if you submit all of your required data prior to the last three
weeks before data collection closes, we’ll send an email to your president or CEO alerting them to your
accomplishment.
13
From the Data Provider
Center, you can also get to
some valuable tools,
including the IPEDS Glossary.
By using the IPEDS Glossary, you can access all terms and definitions used for submitting IPEDS data.
You can search for terms or definitions, list terms by survey, pull up all terms alphabetically, or
download the entire glossary to your computer. Underlined terms are links to definitions.
14
3
Identify areas for further training. There are web tutorials available for each survey component.
These are free and posted on the web, so you can do them on your schedule, when you have
time. See the Resources section of this manual.
4
You may need others on campus to provide data for IPEDS reporting, particularly for the Human
Resources, Finance, and Student Financial Aid components. So it’s important that you:
• Equip these other data providers with the resources they need:
o the survey materials for the appropriate survey component,
o instructions on how to access the IPEDS Glossary, and
o instructions on how to access the web tutorials and other training resources.
• Communicate the importance of timely and accurate IPEDS reporting to all data providers
on campus.
• Consider developing an internal reporting calendar to ensure survey components are
locked by the due date. If they have a UserID and password, others on campus may provide
data, key enter or upload data to the IPEDS Data Collection System, and edit and clean
them, but only you, as the keyholder, may lock the data. Make sure other data providers
allow you the time you need to review their surveys before you lock them.
15
Key Survey Concepts
GENERAL IPEDS
•
•
Outsmarting IPEDS errors
o The IPEDS system includes numerous edits to ensure that institutions do not make errors in data
reporting. These edits may help the keyholder to fix an error, or it may be that the edit needs to
be overridden. If an edit needs to be overridden, the keyholder needs to call the Help Desk, and
should not attempt to ‘trick’ the edit by entering false data.
o For example, institutions receive an error message if they do not report prior year tuition data.
However, if an institution is new, they may not have prior year tuition data. They should call the
IPEDS Help Desk to override the fatal errors that result, and not attempt to enter false data.
Entering false data in this case would cause errors in multiyear tuition changes as well as false
information for students available on College Navigator.
Fixing errors from the prior year
o The IPEDS Prior Year Revision System is available to allow institutions to correct errors in their
prior year data submissions. All surveys are available for revision from the beginning of the
current year fall collection through the close of the current year spring collection, including the
time periods between the collections. On the Institutional Characteristics component, only the
Admissions data can be revised. You may correct prior year Price of Attendance data on the
current survey if necessary.
o Login to the Prior Year Revision System using your current year UserID and password.
o If you failed to respond to one or more of the prior year surveys, you may also supply your
missing data using this system
o The availability of this system DOES NOT IMPLY that institutions are no longer required to report
data according to the current year IPEDS collection schedule. This is NOT an extension of your
due date and the office of Federal Student Aid will continue to take appropriate action against
schools that do not meet their IPEDS reporting requirements.
INSTITUTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS – HEADER INFORMATION
•
•
Classifying institutions
o The questions about control and award level are used to determine many of the screens and
surveys throughout IPEDS. Incorrect reporting of control can lead to receiving the incorrect
Finance forms. Incorrect reporting of level can lead to incorrect reporting of tuition and fall
enrollment. Beyond the reporting ramifications, control and level determine the classification of
your institution for inclusion in federal reporting.
Selecting the right calendar system
o The calendar system you specify for your institution determines the version of many of the
IPEDS survey forms you will complete .
o If you select a calendar system of Semester, Trimester, Quarter, or 4‐1‐4, you are an Academic
reporter. You will use a fall cohort for reporting Graduation Rates and Student Financial Aid and
report pricing information based on a full academic year.
16
o
o
•
•
If you select a calendar system of Other Academic, you are a Hybrid reporter. These institutions
enroll continuously, or have block enrollments. Hybrid reporters report pricing information
based on a full academic year, but use a full‐year cohort for reporting Graduation Rates and
Student Financial Aid. Before selecting the Other Academic option, keyholders should contact
the Help Desk to make sure this choice is correct for their institution.
If you select a calendar system of Differs by program, or Continuous enrollment, you are a
Program reporter. Program reporters use a full‐year cohort for reporting Graduation Rates and
Student Financial Aid and report pricing information for their 6 largest programs.
Enrolling students
o The enrollment levels question has implications for reporting tuition data in the Institutional
Characteristics survey, as well as reporting fall enrollment. We ask that institutions select yes,
even if they do not have any current enrollment.
Full‐time, first‐time degree/certificate‐seeking undergraduate students
o Full‐time, first‐time students are a focus for many of the IPEDS surveys. Selection of full‐time,
first‐time students in the enrollment question is key to seeing the pricing page, as well as
reporting information in the Student Financial Aid and Fall Enrollment surveys. See the Fall
Enrollment section below for more information about determining who is a first‐time student at
your institution.
INSTITUTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS
•
•
•
•
A course is a part of a program
o A program is a combination of courses and related activities organized for the attainment of
broad educational objectives as described by the institution. When reporting number of
programs, make sure that you are not reporting the number of single courses available at your
institution.
Open admissions
o An open admissions policy is an admission policy whereby the school will accept any student
who applies. While some of these schools may make rare exceptions to the policy based on a
test such as the Ability to Benefit or similar test, a majority of applicants are accepted. IPEDS
does not collect admissions data for these institutions because the different admissions
numbers would have little meaning for these institutions.
Tuition is not price of attendance
o For one thing, more data are collected in price of attendance (room and board, books and
supplies, other expenses). Beyond that, though, price of attendance is only applicable to full‐
time, first‐time undergraduate students, whereas undergraduate tuition is the average of the
tuitions for all students at all undergraduate levels of instruction. These numbers may, then, be
different and should be reported differently where applicable.
Price of attendance is more important than it seems
o Price of attendance is used, along with data submitted on the Student Financial Aid survey, to
calculate the average net price of attendance at the institution. Incorrect reporting of price of
attendance in IC can have major implications for the calculated net price. The net price will be
17
FALL ENROLLMENT
•
•
•
First‐time degree/certificate‐seeking undergraduate student
o First‐time students are undergraduate students with no prior postsecondary experience.
Exceptions are made for students who enrolled for the first time in the prior summer term and
for students entering with advanced standing (college credits earned before graduation from
high school).
o First‐time student counts impact other sections of the Fall Enrollment survey and several other
survey components. For example, your institution’s Graduation Rates survey (GRS) cohort is
defined as your first‐time, full‐time students.
Nondegree/certificate‐seeking undergraduate student
o Nondegree/certificate‐seeking undergraduate students are students enrolled for credit, but are
not intending to earn a formal award. High school students enrolled for credit are considered
nondegree/certificate‐seeking until they earn their high school diploma (or equivalent),
regardless of their degree/certificate intentions.
First‐time student retention
o First‐time student retention is a Fall‐to‐Fall retention rate, tracking the number of first‐time
students enrolled in a particular Fall and counting the number of those students who are still
enrolled in the following Fall.
o For 4‐year institutions the retention rate is for bachelor’s degree‐seeking students only (first‐
time bachelor’s degree‐seeking students). But for 2‐year and less than 2‐year institutions, all
first‐time students are tracked.
o 2‐year and less than 2‐year institutions should include in their count of “retained” students,
first‐time degree/certificate‐seeking students from the prior Fall who are still enrolled, and first‐
time degree/certificate‐seeking students from the prior Fall who have completed their 1‐year or
less than 1‐year program.
12‐MONTH ENROLLMENT
•
•
12‐month unduplicated headcount must be greater than or equal to Fall Enrollment
o The 12‐month unduplicated headcount is a cumulative enrollment count over a full 12‐month
reporting period. This count must be greater than or equal to the Fall Enrollment that is
encompassed within the 12‐month time period. If no additional students enrolled after the Fall
Enrollment census date, then the 12‐month count would be equal to the Fall Enrollment count.
Full‐time equivalent (FTE) student enrollment
o FTE student enrollment is calculated directly from credit hour and contact hour data reported,
so in order for the FTE to be correct, instructional activity data (credit hour and contact hour
data) must be reported correctly.
18
o
It is intended to standardize student activity/course loads against a “normal” course load and is
used mostly for comparative purposes. FTE is used in many derived variables in the IPEDS Data
Center and in indicators in the Data Feedback Reports provided to institutions.
COMPLETIONS
•
•
•
•
The key data elements in the Completions survey include program of study and award levels:
o Programs of study are described using 6‐digit CIP Codes. Information about CIP codes can be
obtained from the CIP 2010 User Website:
http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cipcode/Default.aspx?y=55.
o Each program of study is associated with the specific degrees and/or certificates offered for that
program; these are described using award levels.
o Then, for each program of study, for each award offered, keyholders report the number of
completions by race/ethnicity and gender.
Difference between completions and graduation rates
o The Completions survey provides a count of the total number of undergraduate and graduate
degrees and certificates awarded by the institution in the previous 12 months, regardless of
when or where the student who earned the degree started his or her education, or whether the
student started as a full‐time or part‐time student.
o The Graduation Rates survey identifies a cohort of full‐time, first‐time degree/certificate‐seeking
undergraduate students who entered the institution in a particular fall term or year. Members
of this cohort who complete their program of study within 150% of normal time to completion
are counted in the institution’s graduation rate calculation.
Difference between a completion and a completer
o The Completions survey collects data on the number of degrees and certificates awarded in the
previous 12 months, not the number of students who completed a degree or award.
o It is therefore possible to have more completions than completers, because a student can
receive more than one degree or certificate.
Importance of reporting 0 completions (College Navigator)
o If a program is offered by the institution, but there were no completers of that program in the
reporting period, please be sure to report a zero in at least one cell for that program. Otherwise
the program will not show up in College Navigator in the list of programs offered by the
institution.
GRADUATION RATES
•
•
Definition of Graduation Rates, per Student Right‐to‐Know (SRK)
o The graduation rate is based on a cohort of all first‐time, full‐time degree/certificate‐seeking
undergraduate students. The rate is the number of these students who complete their program
within 150% of the normal time of that program divided by the total number in the cohort.
Cohorts
o The cohort for Graduation Rates is made up of full‐time, first‐time, degree/certificate‐seeking
undergraduates. Students remain in the cohort even if their status changes after they enter –
19
•
•
for example, if they become a part‐time student after their first semester, they still are
considered as part of the cohort.
o For 4‐year institutions, the cohort is divided into two different sub‐cohorts. These two sub‐
cohorts are (1) those students who upon entry are seeking a bachelor’s degree and (2) those
students who are seeking some other undergraduate award besides a bachelor’s. This is done
so that 4‐year institutions can be more easily compared with each other using the bachelor’s
sub‐cohort.
Revising cohorts
o Institutions have the option to revise their preloaded cohort if:
there are eligible people they omitted in the past;
students that were originally included should really not be part of the cohort because they
were not first‐time, or full‐time;
better information regarding race/ethnicity or gender is found out on eligible students.
The cohort should NOT be revised for students who have dropped out or transferred out.
100%, 200%, and GR200
o While the traditional Graduation Rate component collects data on both the 100% and 150%
completion rates, the GR200 focuses on the 200% rates. Data for the 100% and 150% rates are
preloaded into the GR200, where the respondent provides additional information on students
who have completed within the 200% timeframe. Although not part of the Student‐Right‐to‐
Know rate, the 200% graduation rate provides more accountability information on the school.
100% and 200% rates are mandated by HEOA.
STUDENT FINANCIAL AID
Term
Academic reporters
Program reporters / Hybrid reporters
Calendar system
(IC)
Semester, trimester, quarter, or
4‐1‐4
Differs by program, continuous basis /
Other Academic
Cohort
Students enrolled as of October 15,
2009 or the institution’s official fall
reporting date
Students enrolled anytime between
September 1, 2009 and August 31, 2010
Full aid year
(reporting period)
2009–10 academic year
Calendar year between September 1,
2009 and August 31, 2010
•
Aid Received
• “Aid received” in this component refers to financial aid that was awarded to, and accepted by, a
student. This amount may differ from the aid amount that is disbursed to a student.
20
•
Student Groups
• Information about the following student groups is requested for this component:
• Group 1. All undergraduate students
• Group 2. Of the students in Group 1, those who are full‐time, first‐time degree/certificate‐
seeking students
• Group 3. Of the students in Group 2, those who received grant or scholarship aid from the
federal government, state/local government, or the institution
• Group 4. Of the students in Group 2, those who received Title IV federal student aid
For public academic reporters, Groups 3 and 4 includes only those full‐time, first‐time
degree/certificate‐seeking students who pay the in‐district or in‐state tuition rate.
•
Title IV Federal Student Aid
• Title IV federal student aid includes the following:
• Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), Academic
Competitiveness Grant (ACG), National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent
Grant (National SMART Grant), Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher
Education (TEACH) Grant
• Federal Work Study
• Federal Perkins Loan, Subsidized Direct or FFEL Stafford Loan, and Unsubsidized Direct or
FFEL Stafford Loan
21
•
•
Living Arrangement
• The living arrangement categories used in this component are the same categories used to
describe living arrangements for Federal Student Aid purposes. Students indicate their intended
living arrangement on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Institutions should
use the most recently available information regarding student living arrangement.
Average Net Price
• Average net price is generated by subtracting the average amount of federal, state/local
government, or institutional grant or scholarship aid from the total cost of attendance. Total
cost of attendance is the sum of published tuition and required fees, books and supplies, and
the weighted average for room and board and other expenses.
HUMAN RESOURCES
•
•
For all institutions
o Report persons on the payroll of the institution as of November 1
o Report each staff member by primary function/occupational activity only once even if employed
in multiple positions
For degree‐granting institutions only:
o Report data in the order displayed as follows:
o
o
o
The total number of staff members reported in the EAP section MUST be reported in the Fall
Staff section. More specifically, the number of staff members by employment status (full
time/part time) and primary function/occupational activity for EAP and Fall Staff must match.
The total number of "Primarily instruction" and "Instruction/research/public service" staff
reported on the full‐time, non‐medical school page, in the EAP section MUST be reported in Part
D (headcount page) of the Salaries section.
The total number of full‐time instructional staff reported in the Salaries section MUST be less
than or equal to the total number of full‐time staff whose primary responsibility is instruction,
research, and/or public service in the Fall Staff section.
22
FINANCE
•
•
•
IPEDS Finance data are intended to come from the institution’s audited financial statement, but
deviations may need to be made to meet IPEDS reporting categories.
Total revenues and Total expenses per Student FTE should be reasonable compared with other like
institutions, based on data reported in the prior year. If either of these calculated values is outside a
reasonable range, you will receive an edit check.
Institutions must allocate expenses for Operation and Maintenance of Plant, Depreciation and
Interest to other functional expense categories such as Instruction, Research, etc.
23
Using the IPEDS Data Collection System
You will use the IPEDS web‐based Data Collection System to submit your data. Here are some tips for
using it.
The Data Collection
System is password
protected. You will
receive a UserID and
password each August
when registration opens.
You can create up to 6
additional UserIDs and
passwords for others on
your campus (through the
Tools menu).
Log in through the Data
Provider Center.
Data Collection System Features:
•
•
•
•
•
Survey screens are customized for each institution, based on criteria such as institution level,
degree‐granting status, and responses to screening questions.
The system calculates totals, differences, percentages, rates, and some derived variables (such as
full‐time equivalent enrollment and average net price of attendance), based on data entered.
Built‐in interactive edits flag potential data problems, discrepancies, and errors.
The system pulls data forward from one section to another where totals need to match.
Prior year reported values are included, in red, on many screens for comparison and editing.
24
This is the screen you see once
you log into the Data Collection
System. Across the top is a
menu bar; clicking Surveys will
bring you back to this screen.
Instructions are included on
most screens. Click on the
Instructions link in the upper
right‐hand corner.
If you have any questions about
whether you’ve submitted all
data for a particular collection, click the AM I DONE? link for an answer.
In the lower box on the Surveys screen, each survey is listed, along with its status, steps that can be
taken in order to get to the point where the survey is ready to be locked, and any options that are
available. Click on the underlined links to perform the desired action.
Survey Status Definitions
Not Applicable
NO DATA
No Data
Has Data
Edited
Institution is not required to complete the survey.
Content is not relevant to the institution.
Screening questions have not been answered.
Responses to screening questions are required to generate survey screens.
Screening questions have been answered but no data have been provided.
Some data have been entered, but survey is not complete.
Perform edits must be run.
Edits have been run.
Go to Edit Report to resolve any errors.
Clean
Locked
All edit errors and issues have been resolved.
Can proceed to lock the survey component.
Data have been successfully submitted by the institution.
Final lock must still be applied (by system level or state level coordinator). If
there are no “locking” coordinators, the survey status will go straight to
Complete.
All locks have been applied.
Complete
25
ENTERING DATA
There are 2 options for entering data into the Data Collection System: manual key entry and data
upload. You can use different methods for different surveys.
When keying data into the
system, each screen is saved
separately, using the buttons at
the bottom of the screen.
Underlined terms that appear
on the survey screens are linked
to the glossary; click on the link
for the definition. In addition,
instructions for each screen are
available by clicking the
Instructions link in the upper
right‐hand corner of the screen.
The File Upload option is found
under the Tools menu. You’ll
need to have a file formatted to
specifications in order to
perform the upload. Upload
specifications are part of the
survey materials.
There are 3 upload formats:
• Fixed width file
• Key value file
• XML
There is also a spreadsheet
upload option for Human
Resources and Finance, for
nondegree‐granting, for‐profit
institutions. This is handy if you
need to have someone in
another office complete the
survey, for example, your
accountant.
26
EDITS AND ERRORS
No matter how you enter your data, you will need to run the interactive edits to see if there are any edit
issues or potential errors. Some edits are run automatically when you save data on a screen. Other
edits are run when you click the Perform Edits link on the Surveys page. Error icons will usually appear
on a screen next to a data field; the icons identify the kind of error, and the severity of the problem. If
you click on an icon you will get a description of the problem. For example:
27
The error icon descriptions are displayed on each screen:
Error Types
Invalid data type
Confirmation
Explanation
Fatal
Override by administrator
An alpha character has been entered into a field that is restricted to
numeric characters, for example.
Certain data must be verified to check that the data entered is what is
intended. No explanations are necessary.
The data have been flagged because an unexpected value was entered.
Check for keying errors. Check to make sure the data are correct. If the
data are correct, enter an explanation. The icon turns grey when an
explanation has been entered. Explanations may be edited by clicking on
the icon.
The data have been flagged for a serious error. This could be due to
missing data, because the data violate internal consistency between parts
or components, because they violate reporting rules, or because you’ve
entered a value that is not likely for most institutions. Please review the
data for accuracy, and correct any incorrect data. Check for keying errors.
Do NOT fiddle with the data to try to erase the error. If the data are
correct, contact the IPEDS Help Desk for an override. If you do not
understand the nature of the error, contact the IPEDS Help Desk.
A fatal error has been overridden by an IPEDS Help Desk administrator,
because of the explanation provided by the keyholder.
28
RESOLVING ERRORS
All errors must be resolved before the component can be locked. This means that all confirmation edits
need to be confirmed, explanations must be entered for all explanation errors, and all fatal errors must
be fixed or overridden.
Once you have clicked Perform Edits on the Surveys screen, you will be able to access the Edit Report.
This is a concise listing of all edit errors and issues with the data for the component. This report will also
tell you the status of each error.
On this screen, you can see a description of each edit that has flagged out for your review. The Resolved
column will tell you if action is still required on your part to resolve the error. All edits must show Yes in
the Resolved column before you can lock your survey. Click on the underlined Explanation link in the
Severity column to enter an explanation. Click on the links in the Options column to return to the
survey screens.
Follow the Steps to Locking for EACH survey:
1. Enter data
2. Perform edits
3. Resolve errors (enter explanations in edit report, or correct data when appropriate)
4. Perform edits again
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 as needed, until survey status is Clean
6. Lock survey
29
EXPLANATION EDITS AND CONTEXT BOXES
Although similar because explanations and additional information are provided in both cases,
explanation edits and context boxes are NOT the same. The Help Desk reviews ALL edit explanations
and context box text.
Explanations must be
entered to resolve some
edits. Please provide clear
and comprehensive
explanations for why the
data are correct as entered.
This will minimize questions
and followup during the
NCES data review process;
you will be contacted if we
cannot understand your
explanation, or if the
explanation does not speak
to the problem. Explanations are NOT published, and do not appear on College Navigator.
Explanation Edit examples:
Enrollment increased.
This is not an explanation and, in fact, is the reason the data were flagged. What caused the large
increase in enrollment?
Better #1: Enrollment increased due to increased recruitment efforts.
Better #2: The increase is due to the addition of a nursing program, which has been very
popular.
The ratio is correct.
Again, this is not an explanation. How was the ratio calculated?
Better: The ratio provided was calculated based on X, Y, and Z reasons and accurately reflects
the ratio at our institution.
IPEDS has last year’s number wrong.
Better: The person responsible for reporting last year incorrectly reported the value. This year
we are correcting the error and will correct last year’s data in the Prior Year revision system.
30
Context boxes are optional. They are your friend, because they give you the opportunity to provide
further information or “context” that may help reviewers and data users understand and interpret the
data. Please pay special attention to those that will appear on College Navigator, and edit for grammar
and punctuation as well as suitability for display on the college search website. Also, note that the text
that you enter will appear along with the data on that same screen, so ONLY include context notes that
are relevant to the displayed data, otherwise the users of Navigator will likely have difficulty
understanding the context you provide.
Context box text examples
Context box text should be clear and concise, explanatory and factual.
Examples of good context notes:
• Open admission is available only for the College of Professional Studies' non‐traditional bachelor of
science degree in Management and Organizational Development. All other programs do not have an
open admissions policy.
• Tuition and fees for programs offered through the traditional on‐campus format are reflected in this
tuition and fee section. Tuition and fees for programs offered through the on‐line modality or the
evening modality are different from those reflected here and are available in the EFG University
Catalog or by contacting EFG University.
Context box text should NOT be a marketing opportunity or an edit explanation.
Examples of what to avoid:
• YZZ University is one of the nation’s most innovative liberal arts colleges. In addition to strong
academic majors in the humanities, social and natural sciences, the University features inventive
programs of study…
This is marketing and information should be factual, not flowery.
• HYU College does not have an office of disability services.
Institutions must collect disability data, even if they do not have an office of disability services. In
addition, this is not context, it is an explanation for unacceptable data.
• Our tuition rates are the best public tuition rates in State G. We offer students the most opportunity
for their dollar.
This is advertising, and it may or may not be factual.
31
LOCKING A SURVEY
The survey status must be
Clean before a survey can be
locked. To lock a survey, click
on the Lock link in the Steps to
Locking column on the Surveys
screen. Once a survey is locked,
the data become “view only.”
However, if you discover later
that you need to make a
correction to the data you’ve
submitted, contact the Help
Desk and ask them to unlock
the survey for you. A
confirmation email will be sent to you when you apply the lock; some keyholders print these out for
their records.
Once you’ve locked your
survey, you can print out the
data for your records and save
a PDF to your computer; use
the Print Data/Get PDF link in
the Options column.
32
HELP MENU
There are many resources
available under the Help menu
in the Data Collection System.
Also, please don’t forget to
contact the IPEDS Help Desk if
you have any questions, at 1‐
877‐225‐2568, or
ipedshelp@rti.org.
33
Communications from NCES
REMINDER EMAILS AND PHONE CALLS
NCES sends out many followup emails to keyholders, to remind them of survey due dates. Here is the
schedule for each collection:
• Email to keyholder that the collection has opened
• Email to keyholder, if no data have been entered by 4 weeks before the collection closes
• Phone call to keyholder or CEO, if no data have been entered by 2 weeks before the collection closes
• Email to keyholder if all surveys are not locked by 2 weeks before the collection closes
• Email to keyholder if all surveys are not locked by 1 week before the collection closes
Additional reminders in the Spring collection:
• Two additional reminders that the Spring collection is open, in This Week in IPEDS during February
• Email reminder 3 weeks before the collection closes if no data have been entered since the close of
Winter collection
ONE LAST CHANCE POLICY
Remember, there are NO reporting extensions in IPEDS. However, every institution can get special post‐
collection assistance to finish up their reporting for ONE collection. We call this the One Last Chance
policy. Contact the Help Desk if you anticipate needing this assistance.
DATA COLLECTION SYSTEM EMAILS
An automatic email is sent to keyholders upon registration, and when contact information is updated.
Automatic emails are also sent to keyholders (and coordinators) when each survey is locked.
COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE HELP DESK
The IPEDS Help Desk may contact you if there are questions about the data you’ve submitted.
THANK‐YOU EMAILS
If all surveys for a collection are locked by 3 weeks before the collection closes, a thank‐you email will be
sent to your institution’s CEO. This email will mention the keyholder by name, as the person primarily
responsible for this accomplishment.
THIS WEEK IN IPEDS
These emails are sent out whenever there is important information or announcements that need to be
communicated to keyholders. Topics can include training opportunities, news about data use tools (new
tools, new features), announcement of the data collection calendar and changes for the coming
collection, the availability of Technical Review Panel reports. This Week in IPEDS can also be found on
the IPEDS website, in the Newsroom.
34
Tips from Veteran Keyholders and the
IPEDS Help Desk
GET READY, GET SET….
Read all the training materials available through the IPEDS Help menu in the Data Collection System
completely, several times. The tutorials are especially helpful. Set internal deadlines for yourself and
the people at your institution who need to provide data to you. Start early ‐ the alternative is a wild
rush at the end, and possibly missing the IPEDS deadline.
Donald Wonnell
Assistant Ohio IPEDS Coordinator
Start submitting data for your surveys early during each collection period. Since there are no extensions
for submitting data, starting early will allow you to have sufficient time to address any questions
or issues you may encounter. The AIR web tutorials are a good place to become familiar with each of
the surveys collected by IPEDS.
Puska Smith
IPEDS Help Desk
Make sure that you have a general understanding of all the surveys and where the data originate.
Create your own set of audits for each survey to allow a quick check before locking the survey.
Sandra Kinney
Research Manager
Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education
Review, thoroughly, all of the items under the Help menu in the Data Collection System. You might not
need them now, but in the future you’ll know where to get answers to questions.
Donald Hairston
IPEDS Help Desk
Always print out a copy of the survey before you complete it or send it to an external office such as
financial aid. To generate a survey form that shows last year’s data, enter a data value onto one or
more of the screens, and then use the Print Forms (data) option.
Tammy Silva
Director, Institutional Research
University of Massachusetts‐Dartmouth
I think it is very important to use the glossary for every data unit.
Eileen Brennan
Institutional Research
Oakland Community College
35
Look at all the reporting dates for the various surveys before the reporting year even starts. My first
time through I thought I needed more current semester census data for the fall reports than was
actually needed. I was still able to complete the reports on time, but it would have been less of a rush
with better planning.
Claire Goverts
Office of Institutional Research
St. John Fisher College
There are several good reasons to work on your surveys as soon as the collection opens: you won’t have
to wait on the phone for help from the Help Desk and the Help Desk personnel can give you more of
their time since there won’t be any calls in queue; if you complete all surveys early, your CEO will get an
email recognizing your efforts for early completion; and there will be no need to go into panic mode
when you realize the survey deadline is within the next couple of days.
Dianne Ferris
IPEDS Help Desk
Filling in the IPEDS surveys is the easy part, but dealing with one's own institutional data systems is the
hard part. I believe I can generalize about dealing with the information system to some extent. It is a
three step process: (1) querying the student information system (SIS) for data, (2) conditioning and
cleaning it, and (3) running the appropriate reports to acquire summary statistics. I use saved queries on
the SIS that address IPEDS reporting needs, and SPSS scripts to help clean and classify the data
afterwards. I have to make sure I stay in touch with any coding changes that are made in the SIS. The
SIS could be used alone if it contains the proper classification codes for IPEDS reporting and appropriate
reports. But in this case one would want to run some exception reports to show any data that need
correction (such as SATs below 200 or dates of birth that haven't occurred yet). So three steps are still
involved.
Patricia DeWitt
Asst VP for Planning and Institutional Effectiveness
Shorter College
WORK WELL WITH OTHERS
Communicate with each office that will complete the IPEDS surveys. Before each collection period,
contact each office (financial aid, business office, human resources) that provides data for each survey.
Ensure that each office also has access to or a copy of the instructions for their particular survey.
Discuss timelines and answer any questions.
Sandra Kinney
Research Manager
Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education
Determine who your institutional contacts are early. Be sure to highlight any changes to the survey that
have been made since the last submission. Make it as easy as possible for your colleagues to help with
the survey and help them understand the importance of the submissions.
Yvonne Kochera Kirby
Assistant Director, Institutional Research
University of Arkansas
36
At the start of each year, I send the links to all of the new IPEDS survey forms, instructions, what's new,
and upload instructions to the individuals who will be preparing the survey that year. I follow up with a
reminder at the start of each collection period. This has enabled my college to be prepared and not be
so hassled during the data collection process. Since people are prepared they complete their data entry
earlier and that makes the edit and locking process much easier for the keyholder.
Darline Morris
Director Institutional Effectiveness, Research and Planning
Texas State Technical College Waco
If you must involve other players from across your institution in data entry and data acquisition, always
have the extra usernames and password established by the day that particular survey opens. Send the
opening day email from IPEDS to all other players immediately, the very day the email arrives. Follow up
with each of them, and meet with them to walk through the required data. Be sure to tell other players
assisting you that the deadline is one week prior to the real, actual IPEDS deadline. Do not allow them to
have an extension beyond that time frame as you will still need time to go in and verify all their data,
run error reports, and lock it down. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO LOCK! Remind others
assisting you that these surveys are not optional and that the CEO will be notified if things do not occur
on schedule.
Jack Mahoney
Director of Institutional Research & Assessment
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Don't wait until the last minute. Meaning especially: don't let your data sources wait until the last
minute. Because there will frequently be some glitch or error in the data which requires follow‐up and
correction and maybe consultation with the Help Desk, etc. If it's your own data, you can keep hacking
away at it until it's fixed, but if it's flawed data from somebody else's office, you're going to have a
process involving going back‐and‐forth, and that takes time.
Mike Tamada
Director of Institutional Research
Occidental College
Always run the report by the institutional offices that are responsible for the data entry before entering
it in the IPEDS system. I have sometimes found that changes in personnel in other offices can affect the
data integrity, making previously used coding obsolete without any warning. Having the office
responsible for the data bless the reported output can save later problems.
Janet H. Maddox
Director of Institutional Research
Oglethorpe University
A good piece of advice is to stay close to the registrar's office, the admissions office, financial aid, the
business office, and the IT people. Do them favors whenever possible.
Patricia DeWitt
Asst VP for Planning and Institutional Effectiveness
Shorter College
37
Don’t take it personally if people aren’t happy to see you. Being an IPEDS keyholder is sometimes
difficult, especially when deadlines approach and offices on campus have a focus on something other
than filling out an IPEDS survey.
Sandra Kinney
Research Manager
Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education
CHECK IT OUT
I’ve found it's vital that I compare each year's new data with as many prior years as possible. Beyond
what IPEDS automatically does, this provides a trend and enables me to look at the items in summary
form to be sure that we're not way off on the items we're reporting.
Jan W. Lyddon, Ph.D.
Director of Institutional Effectiveness
Franklin University
We believe in visual trend checks. Our worksheets usually have trend data for each school. We can add
the new data in and look at the chart.
Duncan Hsu
Nebraska Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education
Compare data compiled in IPEDS to other reports (financial statements, CDS, VSA, state reports, etc) and
double check the definitions. Compile data from peer institutions and see how your data compare.
There is always the chance that people are interpreting directions differently and this is one way to help
catch those instances. Using College Navigator, look at how your institution is portrayed. Does it look
right?
Yvonne Kochera Kirby
Assistant Director, Institutional Research
University of Arkansas
LEAVE A TRAIL
I document profusely ‐‐ what files I used, queries, recoding of data to match IPEDS, etc. Also, I
document questions or issues I may run into and why I resolved them the way I did. I have saved myself
so much headache by having good notes from previous years.
Julie Saville
Institutional Assessment and Analysis
Brigham Young University
38
When I took this job there was already a big white board in the office that outlined when each report
was due ‐‐ for the entire year. That was very helpful. I added notes on where I pulled data from ‐‐ and
this helped me to get the big picture. Also made notes on what information was duplicated for state
and feds. So, my #1 tip ‐ take copious notes on how you got what you got. At the time, it sometimes
feels like a waste but I find I always appreciate it a year later.
Angie Carrico
Southwestern Michigan College
When you lock your surveys, create a .pdf version of your submission and save it. I also try to share the
final submission with the office that is responsible. This provides quick and easy access to institutional
data, and fosters good communication and interoffice support.
Ellen Peters, Director
Institutional Research and Assessment Support
Bates College
In addition to an electronic filing system for IPEDS, I also keep hard copies of the IPEDS survey reports in
binders. These binders are organized/labeled/sorted by collection and by year. Along with hard copies
of the completed surveys are procedures manual, worksheets, programming scripts, and communication
pieces pertaining to the survey. Having such binders readily available for referencing would provide
instant search of needed info and help with new staff training as well.
Jion Liou Yen, Ph.D.
Executive Director of Institutional Research and Planning
Lewis University
WHEN YOU’RE STUCK…
The best thing to do when you are unsure of anything is to call the IPEDS help line. They are the best!!!
Katherine Palmieri
20 year veteran
Modern Welding School
Don't be afraid to call the Help Desk! They are very knowledgeable and very good at helping you resolve
issues. Whenever it looks like the IPEDS data requested doesn't exactly fit our institution, I always rely
on them for further explanation.
Katy Hill
Director, Assessment & Institutional Evaluation
Westwood College
Don’t wait until the last minute to lock your survey. You can always call or email the help desk to unlock
it for changes.
Tammy Silva
Director, Institutional Research
University of Massachusetts‐Dartmouth
39
Even after almost 20 years of doing IR, almost every year I will call the Help Desk at least once, and they
are very responsive. Best Help Desk I've ever encountered.
Mike Tamada
Director of Institutional Research
Occidental College
When you don’t understand something or the Data Collection System doesn’t seem willing to accept
data that are known to be correct, call the Help Desk rather than fudging or guessing at the data you
think the system is looking for.
Dianne Ferris
IPEDS Help Desk
DON’T REINVENT THE WHEEL
To improve or to invent your institution's process, consult with keyholders from similar institutions,
whether neighbors or others with whom you have a good working relationship.
Eileen Brennan
Institutional Research
Oakland Community College
40
IPEDS Resources – Where to Get Help
IPEDS TRAINING
The Association for Institutional Research (AIR) is the contractor responsible for IPEDS Training. They
have developed web tutorials and face‐to‐face workshops on various IPEDS topics. The materials and
information are available from the AIR website, at http://www.airweb.org. Click on IPEDS in the left
menu.
Direct links are also available from the Training and Outreach menu on the IPEDS website, through the
Data Collection System Help menu, and from the Data Provider Center.
At the end of this manual is a flyer with training information that you can print out to remind yourself,
and give to others on your campus. The flyer is also available in the Help Menu in the Data Collection
System.
41
WEB TUTORIALS
Professionally produced web
tutorials covering IPEDS data
submission and data use are
available from the AIR website.
These are free, and are
available 24 hours a day, so you
can use them on your schedule.
They are arranged by section,
so you can zero in on the part
you want help with, or you can
watch the whole thing. There is
a tutorial for each survey
component. Each one covers an overview of the survey, changes for the coming collection, and a step‐
by‐step review of instructions for data reporting and definitions to use.
The survey component web tutorials are posted by the opening of each data collection period. You will
be alerted through a This Week in IPEDS email.
FACE‐TO‐FACE WORKSHOPS
IPEDS workshops are face‐to‐face training sessions for IPEDS data providers and users. Possible
workshop topics include:
• Leading (Managing) an IPEDS Cycle
• IPEDS Data as the Public Face of an Institution
• IPEDS Data and Benchmarking: Supporting Decision Making and Institutional Effectiveness
• IPEDS Finance Training
A New Keyholders workshop is under development.
Workshops are co‐hosted by AIR and other higher education organizations and groups. Each workshop
is provided at no charge to the co‐host and workshop participants. Some travel assistance is available.
Attendance preference is given to keyholders.
IPEDS LISTSERV
Become a member of the IPEDS Listserv through the Data Provider Center and join in on discussions of
IPEDS topics of interest to keyholders and others.
42
IPEDS WEBSITE
The IPEDS website is available at http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/. Once there, you will find access to a lot of
good information.
• Keep current in the Newsroom
• Learn in Training & Outreach
• Read interesting reports in Publications
• Find definitions in the Glossary
• Submit data and get data submission help through the Data Provider Center
• Look up your institution on College Navigator
• Find data in the IPEDS Data Center and IPEDS Tables Library
• Get answers through IPEDS Resources
43
DATA COLLECTION SYSTEM TUTORIAL
A tutorial that explains how to
use the IPEDS Data Collection
System can be found under the
Help menu. This tutorial is also
available through the Data
Provider Center.
And, of course,
don’t forget the
IPEDS Help Desk:
1‐877‐225‐2568
ipedshelp@rti.org
44
Using IPEDS Data
DATA AVAILABILITY
Once IPEDS data have been entered, edited, cleaned, and locked, they pass
through additional review by the IPEDS Help Desk and NCES. The Help Desk
runs additional checks on the data before they are migrated to the
dissemination server. At this time, the edit explanations and context notes
are reviewed, and the keyholder may be contacted if questions about the
data submission arise. The Help Desk begins migrating the data while the
data collection is still in progress.
Once the data are migrated, they are available at the collection level in the
Data Center. Keyholders (and anyone who has a UserID and password for the
Data Collection System) can access the collection level data in the Data
Center as soon as their own institution’s data are migrated; to do this, go
through the Tools menu in the Data Collection System. Migration continues
after the data collection closes.
Once the data are migrated, NCES does additional Quality Control checks;
keyholders may be contacted if questions arise.
Approximately 3‐4 months after the data collection closes, College Navigator is updated, and the data
are available at the Early Release Level of the Data Center.
Approximately 1 year after the data collection closes, the First Look publication is released, and the data
are made public through the Data Center.
45
IPEDS DATA CENTER
The IPEDS Data Center is the place to go to get IPEDS Data. A table that explains how to use the Data
Center functions follows.
Please note that the IPEDS Tools Help Desk phone number is on every screen in the Data Center.
46
How to Use the IPEDS Data Center Functions
What do you want to
do?
Generate reports with
predetermined
variables
What should you use?
What do you get?
Look up an institution
(this is the only
function that limits
viewing to one
institution at a time)
Allows users to select a single institution and view
predetermined data for that institution. The
‘Institution Profile’ option provides selected data for
an institution and is a great option for someone
looking for a quick ‘snapshot’ of a single institution.
The ‘Reported Data’ option provides the actual
reported data, and is great for keyholders who need
to know how the data were reported in previous
years. The ‘Data Feedback Reports’ option provides
access to the institution’s annual reports in .pdf
format. Each option can be printed or downloaded
with Adobe.
Generates packaged reports for the institution(s)
selected. The user simply selects institutions and
then selects a template of interest for a quick and
easy report. An Excel file can be downloaded via a
Zip file.
Allows the user to order a variable based on the
values provided by institutions, and can be
downloaded or printed using Adobe.
Use this function to quickly look at a single variable
over multiple years. Graphs can be viewed for each
institution, the report can be downloaded in Adobe,
or users can download the data into a comma
separated file.
Select variables using the IPEDS variable tree, and
download into a comma separated file to
manipulate in Excel. Users can select as many
variables as they like – but should remember that
Excel has limits, and computer connections may
time out.
Generate statistics including sum, minimum and
maximum, mean and median, percentiles, and
standard deviation. View results on screen to access
a graph, or download into comma separated format
to create your own.
Generate pre‐defined
reports
Generate reports with
one user‐selected
variable
Rank institutions on
one variable
View trend for one
variable
Generate reports by
selecting multiple
variables using the
IPEDS variable tree
Compare individual
institutions
Create group statistics
47
How to Use the IPEDS Data Center Functions
What do you want to
do?
Generate large data
files in multiple formats
using all available IPEDS
variables
What should you use?
Generate a table or
make simplified peer
comparisons
What do you get?
Download survey data
files
Download the full data files for each survey to use in
SAS, STATA, or SPSS. This option also allows access
the data dictionaries.
Download custom data Select data using all available IPEDS variables,
files
including variables not in the IPEDS variable tree,
and use in SAS, STATA, or SPSS. This option also
allows access the data dictionaries.
Data Analysis System
Generate analytical tables of data (percentages,
(DAS)
means, and sums) and correlations matrices.
Executive Peer Tool
Create a peer report, including statistical reports and
(ExPT) and Data
graphs, using the variables used in the IPEDS DFR or
Feedback Report (DFR) download the IPEDS DFR.
48
COLLEGE NAVIGATOR
College Navigator is a consumer
information and college search tool. It
was designed to help college students,
prospective students, and their parents
understand the differences between
colleges and how much it costs to attend
college. Users can select colleges based
on location, programs, degree offerings,
and a number of other characteristics,
and obtain information on admissions,
estimated student expenses, student
financial aid awarded, retention and
graduation rates, enrollment,
completions, accreditation status, campus security, and varsity athletic teams. It allows users to
designate favorite institutions, compare up to four institutions side‐by‐side, save sessions, and
download and print out information on institutions. Access College Navigator from the IPEDS home
page at http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/. It’s always a good idea to look at your own institution’s listing on
College Navigator periodically, to see the information that prospective students are seeing.
DATA FEEDBACK REPORT (DFR) AND EXECUTIVE PEER TOOL (EXPT)
The Data Feedback Report provides each institution a context
for examining the data they submitted to IPEDS. The goal is to
produce an annual report that is useful to institutional
executives and institutions for benchmarking and peer
analysis, and that can help improve the quality and
comparability of IPEDS data.
The report presents selected indicators and data elements for
your institution and a comparison group of institutions. If the
keyholder did not specify a comparison group to use, NCES
selected one for this report. The figures are based on data
collected during the most recent completed IPEDS collection
cycle. Additional information is provided in the report, along
with a list of the institutions used in the comparison group,
and the criteria used for their selection.
The report is mailed to Chief Executive Officers and emailed to
IPEDS institutional keyholders and coordinators each fall. PDF versions of the reports are available to
institutions and the public from the Data Center and Executive Peer Tool (ExPT).
The ExPT may be used to view printed IPEDS DFRs, create Custom DFRs, and create statistical reports on
selected variables. Users can create and download a Custom DFR using different charts or a different
comparison group than used in the printed report; create and download a Statistical Analysis Report
49
showing statistics, tables, and graphs for the selected variables; download an institution’s IPEDS DFRs
for several recent years; download the most recent printed IPEDS DFRs for comparison group
institutions; download a data file of ExPT variables for the focus and comparison group institutions.
The ExPT has an extensive User Manual, so it’s really easy to use. You can access this tool through the
IPEDS Data Center at http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/datacenter/.
TABULATED DATA
The NCES Data Analysis System currently houses the IPEDS Tables Library, and the application that helps
users create their own tables from IPEDS data. Access these functions through the Data Center.
50
IF YOU NEED HELP USING IPEDS DATA….
There are web tutorials covering IPEDS data use tools on the AIR IPEDS Tutorials website, at
http://www.airweb.org. Click on IPEDS.
There is also an IPEDS Data Tools Help Desk, ready to answer your questions about how to use IPEDS
data tools. They’ll even walk you through the process of getting your data from the Data Center. Here’s
how to contact them:
IPEDS Data Tools Help Desk
1‐866‐558‐0658
ipedstools@rti.org
51
Additional Information
LIST OF ACRONYMS
AIR – Association for Institutional Research
C – Completions survey component
CIP – Classification of Instructional Programs
DFR – Data Feedback Report
E12 – 12‐month Enrollment survey component
EF – Fall Enrollment survey component
ExPT – Executive Peer Tool
F – Finance survey component
FAFSA – Free Application for Federal Student Aid
FSA – Office of Federal Student Aid
FTE – Full‐time equivalent
GR200 – 200% Graduation Rates survey component
GRS – Graduation Rates survey component
HEA – Higher Education Act
HEOA – Higher Education Opportunity Act
HR – Human Resources survey component
IC – Institutional Characteristics survey component
NCES – National Center for Education Statistics
OPEid – Office of Postsecondary Education Identification number (for Title IV)
PPA – Program Participation Agreement (for Title IV)
SFA – Student Financial Aid survey component
SRK – Student Right‐to‐Know
TRP – Technical Review Panel
52
USEFUL WEBSITES
IPEDS Home Page
http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/
• Find links to
• Data Provider Center
• College Navigator
• IPEDS Data Center
• Glossary
• Newsroom
• Resources
• Training information
IPEDS Data Provider Center
https://surveys.nces.ed.gov/IPEDS/
• Log in to the Data Collection System
• Find information on
• Data submission procedures and requirements, including survey materials and
submission calendar
• Links to tools, including AIR/IPEDS web tutorials, glossary, IPEDS Prior Year Data Revision
System, IPEDS Listserv
• Technical information
AIR/IPEDS Training Website
http://www.airweb.org/?page=819
• Access IPEDS web tutorials
• Get information on face‐to‐face workshops
CIP 2010 User Website
http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cipcode/Default.aspx?y=55
• Get information on Classification of Instructional Programs codes for reporting IPEDS data
53
STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS FOR REPORTING IPEDS DATA; PENALTIES FOR
NONCOMPLIANCE
GENERAL MANDATE
NCES is authorized by law under the Section 153 of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (P.L. 107‐
279). Accordingly, NCES "shall collect, report, analyze, and disseminate statistical data related to
education in the United States and in other nations, including ‐
• collecting, acquiring, compiling (where appropriate, on a state by state basis), and disseminating
full and complete statistics on the condition and progress of education, at the pre‐school,
elementary, secondary, and postsecondary levels in the United States, ...;
• conducting and publishing reports and analyses of the meaning and significance of such
statistics;
• collecting, analyzing, cross‐tabulating, and reporting, to the extent feasible, so as to provide
information by gender, race, ...; and
• assisting public and private educational agencies, organizations, and institutions in improving
and automating statistical and data collection activities..."
MANDATORY REPORTING FOR INSTITUTIONS WITH PROGRAM PARTICIPATION
AGREEMENTS
The completion of all IPEDS surveys, in a timely and accurate manner, is mandatory for all institutions
that participate in or are applicants for participation in any Federal financial assistance program
authorized by Title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, as amended. The completion of the
surveys is mandated by 20 USC 1094, Section 487(a)(17) and 34 CFR 668.14(b)(19).
Title IV, HEA program regulations 34 CFR 668.84, 668.85, and 668.86 provide that the Department may
initiate a fine action or other administrative action, such as a limitation, suspension or termination of
eligibility to participate in the Title IV, HEA programs, against institutions that do not comply with the
requirement to complete and submit the surveys. The regulations permit a fine of up to $27,500 for
each violation of any provision of Title IV, or any regulation or agreement implementing that Title. In
determining the amount of a fine, the Secretary considers both the gravity of the offense and the size of
the institution (34 CFR 668.92(a)).
VOCATIONAL EDUCATION DATA
IPEDS responds to certain of the requirements pursuant to Section 421(a)(1) of the Carl D. Perkins
Vocational Education Act. The data related to vocational programs and program completions are
collected from postsecondary institutions known to provide occupationally specific vocational
education.
DATA ON RACE/ETHNICITY AND GENDER OF STUDENTS
The collection and reporting of race/ethnicity and gender data on students and completers are
mandatory for all institutions which receive, are applicants for, or expect to be applicants for Federal
financial assistance as defined in the Department of Education (ED) regulations implementing Title VI of
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (34 CFR 100), or defined in any ED regulation implementing Title IX of the
54
Education Amendments of 1972 (34 CFR 106). The collection of race/ethnicity and gender data in
vocational programs is mandated by Section 421(a)(1) of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act.
FALL STAFF DATA
The collection and reporting of race/ethnicity and gender data on the Fall Staff (S) section of the Human
Resources (HR) component are mandatory for all institutions which receive, are applicants for, or expect
to be applicants for Federal financial assistance as defined in the Department of Education (ED)
regulations implementing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (34 CFR 100). The collection of data are
also mandated by P.L. 88‐352, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Equal
Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 (29 CFR 1602, subparts O, P, and Q). Institutions with 15 or more
full‐time employees are required to respond to the IPEDS Fall Staff component under this mandate.
STUDENT RIGHT‐TO‐KNOW
Sections 668.41, 668.45, and 668.48 of the Student Assistance General Provision (34 CFR 668) were
amended to implement the Student Right‐to‐Know Act, as amended by the Higher Education
Amendments of 1991 and further by the Higher Education Technical Amendments of 1993 and 1999.
The final regulations require an institution that participates in any student financial assistance program
under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, to disclose information about
graduation or completion rates to current and prospective students. The final regulations also require
such institutions that also award athletically related student aid to provide certain types of data
regarding the institution's student population, and the graduation or completion rates of categories of
student‐athletes, to potential athletes, their parents, coaches, and counselors.
CONSUMER INFORMATION
•
•
Section 101 of the Higher Education amendments of 1965 (P.L. 105‐244) requires that NCES
collect the following information about undergraduate students from institutions of higher
education: tuition and fees, cost of attendance, the average amount of financial assistance
received by type of aid, and the number of students receiving each type.
Section 132 of the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) of 2008 (P.L. 110‐315) requires that
NCES make the following consumer information about postsecondary institutions available on
the College Navigator college search web site: the institution’s mission statement; a link to the
institution’s website that provides, in an easily accessible manner, information on student
activities, services for individuals with disabilities, career and placement services, and policies on
transfer of credit; admissions rates and test scores; enrollment by race and ethnicity, gender,
enrollment status, and residency; number of transfer students; students registered with the
disability office; retention rates; graduation rates within normal time of program completion
and 150% and 200% of normal time; number of certificates and degrees awarded, and programs
with the highest number of awards; student‐to‐faculty ratio and number of faculty and graduate
assistants; cost of attendance and availability of alternative tuition plans; average grant aid and
loans, and number of students receiving such aid, by type; total grant aid to undergraduates;
number of students receiving Pell Grants; three years of tuition and fees and average net price
data; three years of average net price disaggregated by income; a multi‐year tuition calculator;
College Affordability Lists and reports; Title IV cohort default rate; and campus safety
information. Some of these items will be phased in over a 5‐year period from passage of the
bill. State spending charts and a link to Bureau of Labor Statistics information on starting
salaries are also required
55
IPEDS DATA PROVIDER CENTER
https://surveys.nces.ed.gov/IPEDS/
PRIOR YEAR DATA
REVISIONS:
IPEDS 2010‐11
Data Collection Calendar
(Keyholder UserIDs start with P or 88G)
Registration
Opens
Fall Collection
Opens
Keyholder close
Coordinator close
Winter Collection Opens
Keyholder close
Coordinator close
Spring Collection Opens
Keyholder close
Coordinator close
8/4
9/8
10/20
11/3
12/8
1/26
2/9
12/8
4/13
4/27
IPEDS Help Desk
Mon – Fri, 8:30 am – 5 pm Eastern
1‐877‐225‐2568
ipedshelp@rti.org
Registration
Institution Identification
IC Header
Institutional Characteristics
Completions
12‐month Enrollment
Human Resources
Fall Enrollment
Student Financial Aid
Graduation Rates
200% Graduation Rates
Finance
Revisions to data submitted
for 2009‐10 can be made
through the IPEDS Prior Year
Revision System. ALL survey
components can be revised
during the following time
period:
Opens ................... 9/8/2010
Keyholder
close ............... 4/13/2011
Coordinator
close ............... 4/27/2011
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CUSTOM COMPARISON
GROUP UPLOAD FOR 2011
DATA FEEDBACK REPORT:
Keyholders may upload
custom comparison groups
as follows:
Start..................... 9/8/2010
End ...................... 7/15/2011
Suggested path
of study for new
IPEDS keyholders:
Association for Institutional Research
www.airweb.org/ipeds
Guide for New IPEDS Keyholders
Online video with instructions
and tips on completing the
surveys including entering,
editing, and locking data.
Online overviews and
step-by-step guidance for
completing the IPEDS surveys.
See the 2010 Survey Tutorial
Update Schedule (right).
AIR has provided training for users of IPEDS data and tools since 1999. The
funding for this work comes from the National Center for Education Statistics
(NCES) and aligns with AIR’s mission to support high quality data and decisions for
higher education.
AIR offers IPEDS training and information at no charge to participants. Training
options include online tutorials and workshops (see left sidebar) as well as online
resources such as training on 2010 CIP codes, in-depth information on changes to
reporting race/ethnicity data and the net price calculator requirement, and more.
For AIR’s IPEDS resources, tutorials, and updates visit www.airweb.org/ipeds.
2010 Survey Tutorial Schedule
Online overviews and guidance
for using IPEDS data tools
including College Navigator
and the Executive Peer Tool.
SEPT
8
DEC
Training sessions for IPEDS
data providers and users
covering topics such as
benchmarking, managing an
IPEDS collection cycle, and
how IPEDS data are used by
the public.
8
IC Header, Institutional Characteristics,
Completions, and 12-month Enrollment
Human Resources, Fall Enrollment,
Finance, Student Financial Aid, Graduation
Rates, and 200% Graduation Rates
AIR updates its training
on IPEDS survey
components and data
tools to help IPEDS
keyholders, data users,
and IR practitioners stay
current with the latest
changes enacted by
Congress.
For questions concerning IPEDS training, contact the IPEDS Help Desk: 1-877-225-2568 or ipedshelp@rti.org
AIR is a subcontractor of the U.S. Department of Education for which it develops IPEDS training, materials, and resources.
As a professional association of more than 4,000 institutional researchers, planners and decision makers from more than
1,500 higher education institutions around the world, AIR helps advance research that improves the understanding, planning
and operation of higher education institutions.
| File Type | application/pdf |
| File Title | IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook |
| Subject | 2010-11 |
| File Modified | 2010-08-04 |
| File Created | 2010-08-04 |