IPEDS Timeline Change Memo

MEMORANDUM OMB # 1850-0582 v.12

DATE: December 21, 2012

TO: Rochelle W. Martinez

Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget

FROM: Jessica Shedd

Acting IPEDS Program Director, National Center for Education Statistics

THROUGH: Kashka Kubzdela

National Center for Education Statistics

SUBJECT: Change request to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) 2011-14 current active record (OMB# 1850-0582 v.11)

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) would like to make changes to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) reporting beginning with the 2013-14 IPEDS web-based data collection. Current authorization for IPEDS expires June 30, 2014 (OMB# 1850-0582) and covers activities through the 2013-14 data collection. A request for three-year renewal will be submitted in 2013; however, there are certain minor issues of timing and efficiency that we would like to address before we submit the changes we will request for 2014-15 through 2016-17 data collections. This request is to make modifications for the 2013-14 collection cycle.

IPEDS is a web-based data collection system designed to collect basic data from all postsecondary institutions in the United States and the other jurisdictions. IPEDS enables NCES to report on key dimensions of postsecondary education such as enrollments, degrees and other awards earned, tuition and fees, average net price, student financial aid, graduation rates, revenues and expenditures, faculty salaries, and staff employed. The IPEDS web-based data collection system was implemented in 2000-01, and it collects basic data from approximately 7,000 postsecondary institutions in the United States and the other jurisdictions that are eligible to participate in Title IV Federal financial aid programs. All Title IV institutions are required to respond to IPEDS (Section 490 of the Higher Education Amendments of 1992 (P.L. 102-325)). IPEDS allows other (non-title IV) institutions to participate on a voluntary basis. About 200 elect to respond. IPEDS data are available to the public through the College Navigator and IPEDS Data Center websites.

The proposed changes originated with the IPEDS Technical Review Panel (TRP) and NCES, in an effort to increase the timeliness of the release of graduation rates data and increase the accuracy of the calculation of average institutional net price. The changes consist of moving graduation rates and 200% graduation rates components from spring to winter collection and moving the opportunity to revise prior year of cost of attendance data to the student financial aid component in the winter collection. The proposed revisions do not change the estimated burden for the approved 2013-14 data collection (OMB# 1850-0582 v.11), and do not impact the overall cost of this collection to the federal government.

Move Graduation Rates and 200% Graduation Rates Components from Spring to Winter Collection

NCES is under increased pressure from legislators, policy makers, and data users to provide graduation rates data earlier. While legislation and regulation dictate the method and timetable for calculating these rates, there is some latitude for movement within the data collection calendar to speed up the process. Currently, both the Graduation Rates (GR) and 200% Graduation Rates (GR200) components are collected in the Spring, with a submission due date of early April.

The IPEDS Technical Review Panel (TRP) meeting in November 2007 made the suggestion to move the collection of Graduation Rates data to a “late Winter” data collection, which would be open from approximately November 1 to February 1. The TRP felt that institutions would be able to meet the new due date since it falls five months after the latest status date for determining graduation rates data (August 31 of the previous year). While NCES did not implement a late Winter data collection, the dates of the Winter data collection were extended in 2010-11 so that it now runs from early December to early February, approximating the suggested late Winter due date.

Moving the collection period during which these data are collected would allow NCES to release preliminary graduation rates data in May rather than August. Additionally, this move would balance the reporting schedule for institutions, making 3 components due in Winter and 3 due in Spring (instead of 1 in Winter and 5 in Spring), and would spread out Help Desk activities (follow-up, quality control editing, and migration) more evenly throughout the year.

NCES requests clearance to move the GR and GR200 components from the Spring collection to the Winter collection, starting with the 2013-14 data collection. This revision does not change the items collected, only the collection period in which the data are submitted.

Move the Opportunity to Revise Prior Year of Cost of Attendance Data to the Student Financial Aid Component in the Winter Collection (from the Institutional Characteristics Component in the IPEDS Prior Year Revision System).

The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 requires that NCES calculate an average institutional net price, and display it on College Navigator and on the College Affordability and Transparency website. The elements of this calculation are cost of attendance, collected on the Institutional Characteristics (IC) component in the Fall, and financial aid, collected on the Student Financial Aid (SFA) component in the Spring. In order to improve the calculation of this measure, NCES proposes to give keyholders a chance to revise the cost of attendance data at the same time they submit the financial aid data on the SFA component. Because the IC and SFA components are not aligned within the same data collection period, the current procedure has caused problems and confusion for institutional keyholders. This requested change will allow keyholders a chance to verify the 3 prior years of cost data that will be used in the calculation of their institution’s average net price at the same time that they can see the calculation.

Current year cost of attendance data are collected on IC in the Fall. Each year, 3 years of prior year cost of attendance data (submitted in previous years) are presented for context, but revisions must be made in the IPEDS Prior Year Revision System. Currently, those 3 years of prior year data are displayed in summary form on SFA in the Winter, but are not able to be revised.

We propose to open the following items to revision on SFA, and close them to revision on IC in the Prior Year Revision System:

• Published in-district, in-state, and out-of-state tuition and required fees (as applicable)

• Books and supplies

• On campus and off campus (not with family) room and board and other expenses (as applicable)

• Off campus (with family) other expenses (as applicable)

NCES requests clearance to allow the revision of the 3 prior years of cost of attendance data on SFA in the Winter collection. For the 2013-14 data collection, this would be data for 2012-13, 2011-12, and 2010-11. This revision moves the opportunity for revising cost of attendance items from the IC component in the Prior Year Revision System in the Fall to the SFA component in the current year Winter data collection and does not change the overall burden.

Table 1 shows the screen that will be added to the Student Financial Aid component. The SFA screens were originally submitted as IPEDS 2010-11 IC Student Financial Aid-SFA.pdf.

Table 1. New Screen for SFA Component
Cost of Attendance for Full-time, First-time Degree/Certificate-Seeking Undergraduate Students Estimates of expenses for books and supplies, room and board, and other expenses are those from the Cost of Attendance report used by the financial aid office in determining financial need. Please talk to your financial aid office to ensure that you are reporting correctly.
	Prior Year 1	Prior Year 2	Prior Year 3
Published tuition and required fees
In-district
Tuition	Preloaded	Preloaded	Preloaded
Required fees	Preloaded	Preloaded	Preloaded
Tuition + fees total	Calculated	Calculated	Calculated
In-state
Tuition	Preloaded	Preloaded	Preloaded
Required fees	Preloaded	Preloaded	Preloaded
Tuition + fees total	Calculated	Calculated	Calculated
Out-of-state
Tuition	Preloaded	Preloaded	Preloaded
Required fees	Preloaded	Preloaded	Preloaded
Tuition + fees total	Calculated	Calculated	Calculated
Books and supplies	Preloaded	Preloaded	Preloaded
On campus
Room and board	Preloaded	Preloaded	Preloaded
Other expenses	Preloaded	Preloaded	Preloaded
Room and board and other expenses	Calculated	Calculated	Calculated
Off campus (not with family)
Room and board	Preloaded	Preloaded	Preloaded
Other expenses	Preloaded	Preloaded	Preloaded
Room and board and other expenses	Calculated	Calculated	Calculated
Off campus (with family)
Other expenses	Preloaded	Preloaded	Preloaded

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