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pdfIPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
2012 - 2013
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS
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..................................................................................... 7
Keyholder Responsibilities .......................................................................................................................... 10
Submit accurate data on time................................................................................................................. 10
Manage and coordinate all aspects of data submission ......................................................................... 10
Be the institutional point of contact ....................................................................................................... 10
Work with your state and system ........................................................................................................... 10
Stay informed… ....................................................................................................................................... 10
Contact the Help Desk… .......................................................................................................... 11
Getting Ready for Data Submission ............................................................................................................ 12
Data Submission Calendar ...................................................................................................................... 12
Prior Year Revision System Calendar ...................................................................................................... 12
Key Survey Concepts and Common Pitfalls ................................................................................................ 17
General IPEDS ......................................................................................................................................... 17
Reporting Map ........................................................................................................................................ 18
Institutional Characteristics – Header Information ................................................................................ 19
Institutional Characteristics .................................................................................................................... 21
Student Financial Aid .............................................................................................................................. 23
Enrollment .............................................................................................................................................. 26
Completions ............................................................................................................................................ 29
Graduation Rates .................................................................................................................................... 31
Human Resources ................................................................................................................................... 33
Finance .................................................................................................................................................... 34
Using the IPEDS Data Collection System ..................................................................................................... 38
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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Entering Data .......................................................................................................................................... 40
Edits and Errors ....................................................................................................................................... 41
Resolving Errors ...................................................................................................................................... 42
Explanation Edits and Context Boxes...................................................................................................... 43
Locking a Survey...................................................................................................................................... 46
................................................................................................................................................................ 46
Help Menu .............................................................................................................................................. 47
................................................................................................................................................................ 47
Communications from NCES ....................................................................................................................... 48
Tips from Veteran Keyholders and the IPEDS Help Desk ............................................................................ 50
IPEDS Resources – Where to Get Help ....................................................................................................... 57
IPEDS Training ......................................................................................................................................... 57
Online Tutorials ....................................................................................................................................... 58
Face-to-face Workshops ......................................................................................................................... 58
IPEDS Listserv .......................................................................................................................................... 59
IPEDS Website ......................................................................................................................................... 59
Data Collection System Tutorial.............................................................................................................. 60
Using IPEDS Data ......................................................................................................................................... 61
Data Availability ...................................................................................................................................... 61
IPEDS Data Center ................................................................................................................................... 62
College Navigator .................................................................................................................................... 65
College Affordability and Transparency Center ...................................................................................... 65
Data Feedback Report (DFR) and Executive Peer Tool (ExPT) ................................................................ 66
Tabulated Data........................................................................................................................................ 67
If you need help using IPEDS data…. ....................................................................................................... 68
Additional Information................................................................................................................................ 69
List of Acronyms ...................................................................................................................................... 69
Useful Websites ...................................................................................................................................... 70
Statutory Requirements for Reporting IPEDS Data; Penalties for Noncompliance ................................ 71
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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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 of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics
(NCES). IPEDS gathers information from every college, university, and technical and vocational
institution that participates in Title IV 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 7,000 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-degreegranting institutions such as beauty colleges, and others.
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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; by institutions 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. Most of the data displayed on
College Navigator is submitted through
IPEDS. 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.
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The College Affordability and
Transparency Center displays
information about tuition and net
prices at postsecondary institutions.
The site highlights institutions with
high and low tuition and fees as well
as high and low net prices (the price
of attendance minus grant and
scholarship aid). It also shows
institutions where tuition and fees
and net prices are increasing at the
highest rates. These lists are made
from the IPEDS data you submit.
IPEDS data are displayed on the
FAFSA online form. As potential
students apply for financial aid, they
can see the tuition and fees, average
net price, graduation rates, retention
rates, and transfer rates for the
schools they’re interested in.
IPEDS data are used at the Federal, state, and local levels for
policy analysis and development.
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Each fall, you and your institution’s Chief Executive Officer
receive a copy of your institution’s personalized IPEDS Data
Feedback Report. This report uses graphs to compare your
institution’s data for selected items to data reported by a group
of comparison institutions. The result is an annual report that is
hopefully useful to institutional executives and institutions for
benchmarking and peer analysis, and that can help improve the
quality and comparability of IPEDS data. 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,
Web Tables state and sector reports, 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.
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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-forprofit, and private for-profit), and on answers provided by the keyholder to screening questions (for
example, Does your institution employ part-time staff?).
IPEDS SURVEY COMPONENTS
Collection / Component
Cycle
Data
REGISTRATION
IC Header
Institutional Identification
Annual
•
•
•
•
Address; telephone number; websites
Control and affiliation
Calendar system
Levels of awards offered
•
•
Admissions requirements
Institutional price/cost 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
Number of 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
Number of completers, separately by race/ethnicity,
gender, age, and level of award
FALL COLLECTION
Institutional Characteristics
(IC)
Completions (C)
Annual
Annual
•
•
•
•
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IPEDS SURVEY COMPONENTS
Collection / Component
Cycle
Data
FALL COLLECTION, continued
12-month Enrollment (E12)
Annual
•
•
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
WINTER COLLECTION
Student Financial Aid (SFA)
Annual
•
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
•
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 (even-numbered years)
Number of students engaged in distance education, by
level and location
Age distributions by student level (odd-numbered years)
State of residence of first-time first-year students (evennumbered 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 (less than 4-year institutions), and first-time
bachelor’s degree-seeking students (4-year institutions)
Numbers of students entering the institution as fulltime, 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
Fall Enrollment (EF)
Annual
•
•
•
•
•
Graduation Rates (GR)
Annual
•
•
•
•
200% Graduation Rates
(GR200)
Annual
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
•
•
Page 8
IPEDS SURVEY COMPONENTS
Collection / Component
Cycle
Data
SPRING COLLECTION, continued
Human Resources (HR)
Annual
•
•
•
Biennial
(oddnumbered
years)
Finance (F)
Annual
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
Employees by primary occupational activity, faculty
status, full and part time (collected separately for
medical schools)
Full-time instructional staff by academic rank, gender,
and contract length/teaching period
Total salary outlay and number of months covered, by
academic rank and gender
Full-time and part-time employees by primary
occupational activity, race/ethnicity and gender
New hires by primary occupational activity,
race/ethnicity and gender
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)
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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 submit accurate data on time, 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 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, and
through the Message Center in the Data Collection System. Be sure to read these updates, as they
include important and useful information. Training notices are also sent out via email. And consider
signing up for the IPEDS Listserv, which will allow you to learn from colleagues as they discuss issues
surrounding IPEDS reporting (and you can join in the discussion, too!).
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CONTACT THE HELP DESK…
B 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
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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 2012-13 data collection calendar 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.
DATA SUBMISSION CALENDAR
IPEDS 2012-13
Data Collection Calendar
(Keyholder UserIDs start with P or 88G)
Registration
Opens
8/8
Fall Collection
Opens
Keyholder close
Coordinator close
Opens
Keyholder close
Coordinator close
Opens
Keyholder close
Coordinator close
9/5
10/17
10/31
12/5
2/6
2/20
12/5
4/10
4/24
Winter Collection
Spring Collection
Registration
Report Mapping
Institution Identification
IC Header
Institutional Characteristics (IC)
Completions (C)
12-month Enrollment (E12)
Student Financial Aid (SFA)
Fall Enrollment (EF)
Graduation Rates (GR)
200% Graduation Rates (GR200)
Finance (F)
Human Resources (HR)
PRIOR YEAR REVISION SYSTEM CALENDAR
Revisions to data submitted by your institution last year (that is, during the 2011-12 data collection) can
be made through the IPEDS Prior Year Revision System. Components will be open for revision during
their regular collection period. For example, revisions to the Completions component submitted last
year can be made during the current year Fall collection period.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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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/
ipeds/.
The Data Provider Center
has lots of good
information available from
the tabbed menus. 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).
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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To access the Survey
Materials, answer a few
questions on this screen to
get a short list of surveys to
choose from. Once you’ve
completed your IC Header
component, you can search
for your institution’s
customized survey materials
by entering your UnitID or
institution name. Or, click
View All at the bottom of the
page to get the complete list
of all survey component
versions for all types of
institutions.
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. Note
the 2013-14 changes column. If there are changes for next year, these survey screens will help you
prepare for them.
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, and mention you by name in the email.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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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.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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3
Identify areas for further training. There are web tutorials available for each survey component
and one specifically for new keyholders. These are free and posted on the web, so you can do
them on your schedule, when you have time. The component tutorials are also available from
the survey screens, so you can access this “just-in-time” information as you’re submitting your data.
There are also face-to-face workshops around the country every year. See the Resources section of this
manual, and the training flyers attached to the end of this manual for more information about training
opportunities.
4
You may need others on campus to provide data for IPEDS reporting, particularly for the Student
Financial Aid, Human Resources, and Finance components. So it’s important that you:
•
•
•
Equip these other data providers with the resources they need:
o 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.
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Key Survey Concepts and Common
Pitfalls
GENERAL IPEDS
Edits and errors
You may receive error messages as you enter your data. Each survey component contains interactive
edits that will check for blank fields, invalid values, or values that fall outside expected ranges. These
edits are in place to protect the integrity of the data you report. They will not be triggered unless there
is something unique about the data you report that requires additional attention.
Some errors will require you to confirm the values you entered. Some errors will require you to provide
an explanation for the values you entered. Information entered to resolve explanation edits will not be
made public. However, these edit explanations should provide adequate and reasonable information to
explain anomalies in the data. Finally, some errors are ‘fatal’ and will require you to either fix a data
problem or contact the IPEDS Help Desk for help with resolution.
Common Pitfall: Institutions should provide adequate and reasonable information to resolve
system edits that require explanations. The IPEDS Help Desk will follow up with institutions that
provide inadequate explanations for data.
Outsmarting IPEDS errors
The IPEDS system includes numerous interactive edits to ensure that institutions do not make errors in
data reporting. These edits may help the keyholder to identify an error, or it may be that the data have
been reported accurately, but 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.
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 inaccurate data. Entering
inaccurate data in this case would cause errors in multiyear tuition changes as well as inaccurate
information for students available on College Navigator.
Fixing errors from the prior year
The IPEDS Prior Year Revision System is available to allow institutions to correct errors in their prior year
data submissions. All survey components are available for revision during their regular collection
period. For example, revisions to the Completions component can be made during the Fall collection
period.
o Login to the Prior Year Revision System using your current year UserID and password.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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o
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
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.
Context boxes
Optional context boxes allow you to provide more information about the data you are reporting. For
example, on the Student Financial Aid survey component, because institutions do not report on
amounts of grant or scholarship aid from private sources for full-time, first-time students, you may want
to note in the context box in SFA, Part C that “Full-time, first-time undergraduate students are also
awarded an average of $X,XXX from private sources.”
Information entered in these context boxes may be made public on College Navigator, so make sure that
the information you enter is understood easily by students, parents, and the general public, and is free
from grammatical or spelling errors.
Common Pitfall: Some institutions enter information in the context boxes that does not
correspond with the data being reported on the screen or that is not appropriate for public
consumption. NCES reviews the information in the context boxes and will not publish information
that is not applicable or appropriate for public consumption.
Summary screens
Each survey component has one or more summary screens, which keyholders should review carefully.
These screens contain reported values and calculated statistics and that will appear on College
Navigator, the College Affordability and Transparency Center, and the Data Feedback Reports. Verifying
the data before they appear in these very public places will prevent embarrassing mistakes.
REPORTING MAP
Each August, many keyholders are asked to verify their institution’s Reporting Map. An IPEDS Reporting
Map describes how the data from the various campuses that are listed on the institution’s Program
Participation Agreement (PPA) are accounted for in the institution’s IPEDS reporting.
If there are differences between how your institution and additional locations are listed in IPEDS and
how they are listed in on your PPA, you will need to explain what that means for your IPEDS reporting.
You will be presented with screens on which to do this.
Tip: Not all Program Participation Agreements are currently accurate. As a keyholder, you may
need to work with your Financial Aid office to reconcile the IPEDS Reporting Map, and your
institution may need to contact the office of Federal Student Aid to get PPA inaccuracies corrected.
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INSTITUTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS – HEADER INFORMATION
Classifying institutions
The questions about institutional control (public, private not-for-profit, private for-profit) and award
levels (certificates and degrees) offered are used to determine which survey components and which
versions of the survey components your institution must submit. Incorrect reporting of control can lead
to your institution receiving the incorrect Finance form. Incorrect reporting of award levels can lead to
incorrect reporting of tuition and enrollment. Beyond the reporting ramifications, control and award
levels determine the classification of your institution on the College Navigator website and other places
data are displayed.
Enrolling students
The enrollment levels question has implications for reporting tuition data in the Institutional
Characteristics survey, as well as reporting enrollment. If your institution offers programs at an
enrollment level, we ask that institutions answer Yes, even if those programs do not have any current
enrollment.
Full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students
Full-time, first-time students are a focus for many of the IPEDS survey components. Selection of fulltime, first-time students in the enrollment question is key to seeing the cost of attendance page, as well
as reporting information in the Student Financial Aid, Graduation Rates, and Fall Enrollment surveys.
See the Fall Enrollment section below for more information about determining who is a first-time
student at your institution.
Calendar system
Reporting your institution’s predominant calendar system correctly is important because it affects how
you report data on many other IPEDS components. See the chart on the next page for details.
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Understanding how IPEDS reporting is affected by calendar system
IC-Header
(IC-H)
Institutional
Characteristics (IC)
Cost of attendance for
full-time, first-time,
degree/certificateseeking undergraduate
students
Institutional
Characteristics (IC)
Average tuition & fees
for all undergraduate
students
Student Financial Aid
(SFA)
Reporting period
Student Financial Aid
(SFA)
Student cohort
Fall Enrollment
(EF)
Graduation Rates
(GR & GR200)
Student cohort of fulltime, first-time,
degree/certificateseeking undergraduate
students
Academic Reporter
Program Reporter
*Hybrid Calendar
Calendar Systems
Calendar Systems
Systems
Item B3 asks the respondent institution to specify the predominant calendar
system. For institutions that are NOT new to IPEDS, this item is preloaded
and the Help Desk must be contacted in order to make changes.
Semester
Quarter
Continuous enrollment
Other academic
Trimester
Differs by program
4-1-4
Cost of attendance for
Cost of attendance for
• Entire cost of the
an academic year
an academic year
LARGEST program
• Breakdown of living
expense costs per
month, for students
in the largest
program
Average tuition & fees
for an academic year
For 2nd – 6th largest
programs, total tuition
& fees for the entire
program
Standard academic year Defined by the
institution; must fall
within the period of July
1 through June 30
Students enrolled on
Students enrolled at
October 15, or the
any time within the
institution’s official fall
institution’s academic
reporting date
year,
Students enrolled on
Students enrolled at
October 15, or the
any time within the
institution’s official fall
period of August 1
reporting date
through October 31
Fall cohort: Students
Full-year cohort:
enrolled on October 15, Students enrolled at
or the institution’s
any time within the
official fall reporting
period of September 1
date
through August 31
Average tuition & fees
for an academic year
Standard academic year
Students enrolled at
any time within the
period of August 1
through October 31
Students enrolled at
any time within the
period of August 1
through October 31
Full-year cohort:
Students enrolled at
any time during the
period of September 1
through August 31
*Note: Hybrid institutions are those that offer programs with term-based cost of attendance (like an
academic reporter, but enroll students throughout the year (like a program reporter).
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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INSTITUTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS
Reporting period for cost of attendance
Institutions report cost of attendance data for full-time, first-time, degree/certificate seeking
undergraduate students in different ways, depending on reporter type.
Academic reporters
and
Hybrid reporters
Report cost of attendance for an academic year.
Program reporters
For the institution’s largest program, report some cost of
attendance items for the entire program (tuition and required fees;
books and supplies), and some cost of attendance items for one
month (living expenses; other expenses). This allows us to calculate
both program cost of attendance and academic year cost of
attendance.
Cost of attendance and tuition – what’s the difference?
Undergraduate cost
of attendance
Applicable to academic, program, and hybrid reporters, and
collected only for full-time, first-time students. Costs include tuition
and required fees, books and supplies, room and board/living
expenses, and miscellaneous other expenses.
Program reporters that enroll full-time, first-time
degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students report tuition &
fees, and books & supplies for the largest 6 programs at the
institution. Cost of attendance is reported for the institution’s
largest program; room & board and other expenses are not
reported for the second through fifth largest programs.
Undergraduate
tuition and required
fees
Applicable only to academic and hybrid reporters, and collected for
both full-time and part-time students. This tuition is an average of
tuition and required fees charged to all levels (e.g., freshman
through senior) of students.
Graduate tuition and
required fees
Applicable only to institutions with graduate level programs;
collected for both full-time and part-time students. This is the
average for all graduate programs, with the exception of Doctor’s
degree – professional practice programs.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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Doctor’s degree –
professional practice
tuition and required
fees
Collected for selected Doctor’s degree – professional practice
programs.
On campus housing requirement
Institutions are asked whether all full-time, first-time degree/certificate seeking undergraduate students
must live on campus.
Common Pitfall: Indicating that all students must live on campus when exceptions are made.
Even if 1 in 10,000 students is allowed to live off campus, this should not be selected. This causes
problems between the IC and Student Financial Aid components and the calculation of the
institution’s average net price.
Tuition guarantee
When reporting cost of attendance, academic and hybrid reporters are asked to indicate if the tuition
and/or fees are covered by a tuition guarantee program. Additionally, they are asked to report the
percentage that the tuition is guaranteed not to go up more than.
Common Pitfall: Reporting the non-guaranteed rate and checking tuition guarantees (for
institutions with different rates)
Common Pitfall: Some institutions incorrectly report large numbers (e.g., 100%, 97%) when they
should be reporting smaller numbers (e.g., 0%, 3%)
Open admission policy
Institutions that allow a majority of students that apply to enroll at the institution are considered to
have an open admission policy. Exceptions may be made for extraordinary circumstances, but most
students are allowed to enroll. For example:
Open
admission
Students take the Ability to Benefit test, and 98% of students
that take the test are allowed to enroll.
Not open
admission
Students take the Ability to Benefit test, and 50% of students
that take the test are allowed to enroll.
Selection process
Common Pitfall: Only first-time, degree/certificate-seeking students should be reported.
Common Pitfall: Students should only be reported at levels that were ALSO reported in IC
Header.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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Tip: When adding together the men and women columns, the number can be less than the total,
but not greater than the total.
Tip: The number of enrolled students submitting ACT/SAT scores should be less than or equal to
the total number of enrolled students.
Estimated enrollment
Common Pitfall: Students should only be reported at levels that were also reported in IC Header.
Tip: 0s should be entered for levels that are offered, but at which no students enrolled in the
current year.
Tip: Cells that are not applicable to an institution should be left blank.
Cost of attendance is more important than it seems
Cost 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 cost of attendance on IC
can have major implications for the calculated net price. The net price will be available to students via
College Navigator, and will also be used in a series of ‘watch lists’ mandated by the HEOA and posted on
the College Affordability and Transparency Center. It is important to make sure that you are reporting
these data correctly so that you do not mistakenly end up on a watch list, or accidentally provide poor
data to students.
STUDENT FINANCIAL AID
Reporting period: Academic year
Institutions report data for one academic year. What constitutes an “academic year” differs for
academic reporters and program reporters. For the purposes of SFA, an “academic year” is defined as
follows:
Academic
reporters
and
Hybrid
reporters
The period of time generally extending from September to
June; usually equated to 2 semesters or trimesters, 3 quarters,
or the period covered by a 4-1-4 calendar system
Program
reporters
To be defined by the institution, so long as it falls within the full
aid year period of July 1–June 30
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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Student cohort
Institutions report on a cohort of students based on their reporter type. For the purposes of SFA, the
student cohorts are defined as follows:
Academic
reporters
Undergraduate students enrolled as of October 15 or as of the
institution’s official fall reporting date
Program
reporters
Undergraduate students enrolled anytime during the academic
year, as defined by the institution
Hybrid
reporters
Undergraduate students enrolled at any time within the period
of August 1 through October 31
Student groups
The Higher Education Opportunity Act requires the Department to collect information about financial
aid awarded to different groups of students. In SFA, there are four groups of students for which financial
aid data are collected:
Group 1: All undergraduate students
Group 2: Of Group 1, full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking students
Group 3: Of Group 2, students who were awarded any grant/scholarship aid from the federal
government, state/local government, or the institution
For public institutions: Only those paying in-state/in-district tuition rates
For program reporters: Only those enrolled in the institution’s largest program
Group 4: Of Group 2, students who were awarded any Title IV federal student aid
For public institutions: Only those paying in-state/in-district tuition rates
For program reporters: Only those enrolled in the institution’s largest program
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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Tip: Each part of SFA asks for different types of aid to be reported for each group. Consult the
instructions and screens to make sure you are reporting the correct aid amounts for the correct
groups of students.
Common Pitfall: Group 1 includes all undergraduate students, which means that new and
continuing full-time students, part-time students, degree/certificate-seeking students, and nondegree/certificate-seeking students should be included.
Types of financial aid that should be reported
Institutions should report on the following types of aid:
o Federal grants
Title IV
Educational assistance funds from other agencies
Note: Veterans education benefits should not be included, as they are no longer
treated as Estimated Financial Assistance for Federal Student Aid purposes as of July 1,
2009
o Federal loans to students
o State/local government grants, scholarships, waivers
o Institutional grants, scholarships, waivers
o Private grants or scholarships
o Private loans to students
o Other sources of aid known to the institution
Common Pitfall: Some institutions think that they should report Title IV federal student aid only.
This is incorrect. Institutions must also report aid from other sources.
Aid awarded
o Institutions report on grant or scholarship aid that has been awarded to students. This may be
different from aid that was actually disbursed to students. For example, a student may be
awarded grant or scholarship aid at the beginning of the academic year but then leave the
institution before the entire amount is disbursed. In this case, you would report the original
amount of grant or scholarship aid that was awarded, even though the entire amount was not
actually disbursed to the student.
o For reporting loans to students, institutions should report on loans that were awarded to and
accepted by the student.
Data from other IPEDS components
The SFA component is connected to other IPEDS components. Examples of data that are carried forward
from other IPEDS components and preloaded in the SFA component include the following:
o Data from the Institutional Characteristics (IC) component
Cost of attendance information
Living arrangement options
o Data from the Fall Enrollment (EF) and 12-month Enrollment (E12) components
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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Undergraduate count
If you have any questions about the data that are preloaded in the SFA component, contact the IPEDS
Help Desk.
College Affordability and Transparency Center
Net price amounts calculated in SFA will be used to populate the Department’s College Affordability and
Transparency Center.
ENROLLMENT
Who counts?
All students enrolled for credit (i.e., instructional activity that can be applied by the recipient toward the
requirements of a postsecondary degree, certificate, or other formal award, irrespective of the activity’s
unit of measurement) are included in IPEDS enrollment reporting. This includes students who are
enrolled for credit but are not seeking a degree or certificate.
Common Pitfall: There can be confusion around the fact that all students enrolled for credit
should be reported to IPEDS, regardless of whether or not the students are enrolled in programs
that participate in Title IV federal financial aid programs. Institutions may incorrectly think that they
should only report students in Title IV eligible programs at their institution. If an institution is
required to report to IPEDS (i.e., they have at least one Title IV program participation agreement
with the Department of Education) then the institutions should report on all students enrolled for
credit.
Reporting periods: 12-Month Enrollment vs. Fall Enrollment
Fall Enrollment is a count of students enrolled for credit on a particular date in the Fall. When the
student count is taken differs for academic reporters and program reporters, as detailed below. In
contrast, the 12-month Enrollment is a cumulative unduplicated headcount over the full 12-month
period of July 1 – June 30.
Fall Enrollment
Academic reporters
Students enrolled as of October 15 or as of the institution’s
official fall reporting date
Program reporters
and
Hybrid reporters
Students enrolled anytime between August 1 – October 31
12-Month Enrollment
All Institutions
Students enrolled anytime during July 1 – June 30
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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Because the 12-month Enrollment is a cumulative enrollment count over a full 12-month period, this
count must be greater than or equal to the Fall Enrollment count that is encompassed within the 12month time period. If no additional students enrolled after the Fall Enrollment reporting date/time
period, then the 12-month count would be equal to the corresponding Fall Enrollment count.
Tip: If the 12-month enrollment count reported in the current year’s 12-month Enrollment
survey component is not greater than or equal to the fall enrollment count reported in the previous
year’s Fall Enrollment survey component, a fatal error will appear. The data must be corrected or
you must call the IPEDS Help Desk for assistance in resolving this error.
12-Month Enrollment
Instructional Activity and Full-time Equivalent (FTE) Students
FTE student enrollment, estimated from the instructional activity data reported on the 12-month
Enrollment survey component, is intended to standardize student activity/course loads against a
“normal’ course load. FTE is used in many derived variables in the IPEDS Data Center and in indicators in
the Data Feedback Reports provided to institutions.
Tip: FTE student enrollment on the 12-month Enrollment survey component is calculated
directly from the credit hour and contact hour data reported. In order for the FTE calculated for
your institution to be accurate, the instructional activity data (credit and contact hour data) must be
reported correctly.
Tip: If credit and/or contact hour data are correctly reported and the system calculated FTE
estimates are not reasonable for your institution, there is an opportunity to enter more accurate FTE
data for your institution. However, the option to report an alternate FTE should be used only if the
system calculated estimates are not reasonable and your alternate calculation method should be
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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clearly detailed if an edit is received.
Common Pitfall: Institutions that report instructional activity in contact hours have, at times,
confused the length of a program with the instructional activity reported on Part B of the 12-month
Enrollment survey component. Institutions should report the total contact hour activity (or credit
hour activity) over the 12-month period, not the average hours for a student or the program length.
Program length is reported on the Institutional Characteristics survey component.
Fall Enrollment
First-time degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduate student
A first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate student is a student with no prior postsecondary
experience who enrolled with the intention of earning a degree or certificate. Students who enrolled for
the first time in the preceding summer term and students entering with advanced standing (i.e. college
credits earned before graduation from high school) are also considered first time for IPEDS reporting
purposes.
Tip: First-time student counts reported in Part A of the Fall Enrollment survey component have
an impact on other sections of the Fall Enrollment component and several other IPEDS survey
components, such as the Graduation Rates survey (GR) component and the Student Financial Aid
(SFA) component. For example, an institution’s Graduation Rates Survey (GR) cohort is determined
by the full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students reported in the
corresponding year’s Fall Enrollment component.
Non-degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate student
Non-degree/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
degree/certificate intentions.
Undergraduate entering class
Degree-granting, academic reporting institutions report entering class data in Part D of the Fall
Enrollment survey component. Entering class data are intended to represent all students new to your
institution in a given Fall and provide context for the GR cohort. The entering class includes not only
first-time and transfer-in undergraduate students, but also non-degree/certificate-seeking
undergraduate students new to your institution in the Fall. The percent of the entering class that is
represented by the institution’s GR cohort is then included on College Navigator with the GR data.
Tip: The entering class data are particularly useful for institutions that enroll a large number of
part-time undergraduates or non-degree/certificate-seeking undergraduates. For these institutions,
the GR cohort (full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduates) may reflect a very
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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small percentage of their enrollment. Showing the GR cohort as a percentage of the undergraduate
entering class can indicate to data users when this is the case.
First-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate student retention
Retention data, reported in Part E of the Fall Enrollment survey component, is a Fall-to-Fall retention
rate that tracks the number of first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduates enrolled in a
particular Fall and counts the number of those students who are still enrolled in the following Fall. For
4-year institutions, the retention rate is for bachelor’s-seeking students only. But for 2-year and lessthan-2-year institutions, all first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduates are tracked.
Tip: Two-year and less-than-2-year institutions report first-time degree/certificate-seeking
students from the prior Fall that are still enrolled but should also include those who completed their
1-year or less-than-1-yr program in that timeframe. For these institutions, the retention rate is
calculated as:
[(First-time students from Fall 20xx who are still enrolled in Fall 20xx+1
+
(First-time students from Fall 20xx who completed their program by Fall 20xx+1)]
/
First-time students, Fall 20xx
Common Pitfall: For primarily associate’s institutions that grant bachelor’s degrees (and thus are
classified as 4-year institutions in IPEDS), the fact that their retention data is based on bachelor’sseeking students only (not all first-time degree/certificate-seeking students) can be confusing. Even
though bachelor’s-seeking students may represent a small percentage of their first-time
undergraduate students, their retention data should be based on these students only.
COMPLETIONS
Reporting period
Institutions should report completions data for degrees and certificates awarded for the 12-month time
period beginning July 1 of the previous calendar year and ending June 30 of the current calendar year.
For the Fall 2012 reporting period, then, the IPEDS Completions component will collect data on all
degrees and certificates awarded between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012.
Program of study
Completions data are reported for each program of study at an institution. Programs of study are
described using 6‐digit Classification of Instructional Program (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.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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Tip: You must report data for all programs that are offered. If there are no completions for the
year, just enter 0.
Common Pitfall: Not entering “0” for programs that are still offered but for which there are no
completions.
Award levels
Within each CIP code, data are reported by gender and race/ethnicity (using the new race/ethnicity
categories) for each award level awarded by the institution. The 11 award levels are:
1. Postsecondary award, certificate, or diploma of (less than 1 academic year)
• Less than 900 contact or clock hours
• Less than 30 SEMESTER or TRIMESTER credit hours, or
• Less than 45 QUARTER credit hours
2. Postsecondary award, certificate, or diploma of (at least 1 but less than 2 academic years)
• At least 900, but less than 1800 contact or clock hours, or
• At least 30, but less than 60 SEMESTER OR TRIMESTER HOURS
• At least 45, but less than 90 QUARTER HOURS
3. Associate's degree
4. Postsecondary award, certificate, or diploma of (at least 2 but less than 4 academic years )
• 1800 contact or clock hours, or
• 60 or more SEMESTER OR TRIMESTER credit hours, or
• 90 or more QUARTER credit hours
5. Bachelor's degree
6. Postbaccalaureate certificate
7. Master's degree
8. Post-master's certificate
9. Doctor's degree - research/scholarship
10. Doctor's degree - professional practice
11. Doctor's degree - other
Tip: Only credit awards conferred as the result of completion of a recognized program of study
should be reported (the instructional activity completed as part of the program can be measured in
contact hours, credit hours, or some other unit of measurement). Do NOT report non-credit awards,
such as informal certificates of completion or merit.
Common Pitfall: Reporting completions for an award level that was NOT specified as offered on
the previous year’s last Institutional Characteristics survey component.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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Completions vs. completers
The Completions survey component now has two sections, that collect different data:
• The Completions section collects data on the number of degrees and certificates awarded in
the previous 12 months. These data are reported by program (CIP code) and award level; the
race/ethnicity and gender of the student earning the degree or certificate are also reported
• The Completers section collects data on the number of students who completed a degree or
award. These data are reported at the total level by race/ethnicity and gender of the student;
and by race/ethnicity, gender, and age within consolidated award levels.
Tip: It is possible to have more completions than completers, because a student can receive
more than one degree or certificate.
Difference between completions and graduation rates
o The Completions survey component 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 component 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.
GRADUATION RATES
Definition of Graduation Rates, per Student Right-to-Know (SRK)
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.
Types of reporters and cohorts
Institutions report on a fall cohort or full-year cohort depending on the institutution’s reporting type.
Reporter types are based on the predominant calendar system of the institution (see the chart earlier in
this section).
Academic reporters
Report on a fall cohort
Program reporters
and
Hybrid reporters
Report on a full-year cohort
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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Who is in the cohort
The cohort for GR is made up of first-time, full-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students.
For 4-year institutions, the cohort is divided into two different sub-cohorts. These two sub-cohorts are
those students who upon entry are seeking a bachelor’s degree, and 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.
Common Pitfall: A student remains in the cohort even if their status changes after they enter.
For example, if a student becomes part time after their first semester, they are still considered as
part of the cohort.
Cohort Revisions
Institutions have the option to revise their preloaded cohort if:
o there are eligible students they omitted in the past;
o students that were originally included should really not be part of the cohort because they were
not first-time, or full-time;
o better information regarding race/ethnicity or gender is found out on eligible students.
Common Pitfall: The cohort should not be revised for students who have dropped out or
transferred out.
Tip: If the initial cohort changes by more than 20%, please make sure to add a good edit
explanation for the large change.
Non-completers
The No Longer Enrolled column is a calculated column which is the remainder of the revised cohort after
all of the completers, transfers, exclusions, and students still enrolled have been subtracted.
Common Pitfall: Some institutions try to distribute all of their students in their cohort into the
data entry columns, leaving zero students in the calculated No Longer Enrolled column. Please only
include students in the transfer-out and exclusion columns if they actually are eligible to be reported
there.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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200% Graduation Rates
Cohorts
There are two types of cohorts tracked for the GR200. The cohort (fall or full-year) depends on the
reporter type for the purposes of the GR component of IPEDS.
4-year and
above
institutions
Include only those students in the bachelor degree-seeking
cohort
Less than 4year
institutions
Include all students in the cohort
Tip: If a 4-year institution does not have a bachelor degree-seeking cohort in the cohort year,
this component will be not applicable for them.
Reporting the completers within 151-200% of normal time
The number of completers for both 100% and 150% of normal time will be preloaded into the GR200
questionnaire. The GR200 component collects data for completers within 151-200% of normal time.
Common Pitfall: While the data for 150% of normal time are cumulative (in that it also includes
those who completed within 100%), the data reported for the 200% of normal time should include
just those additional students who completed between 151 and 200%.
HUMAN RESOURCES
Reporting Employees
o Report employees on the payroll of the institution as of November 1, 2011
o Report each employee only once. If an employee in a single job could be coded in more than
one occupation:
• code the employee in the occupation that requires highest level of skill
- OR • if there is no measurable difference in skill requirements, code the employee in the
occupation in which they spend the most time
o Report all staff using the new IPEDS occupational categories, which align with the Standard
Occupational Classification (SOC) codes. More information can be found at the HR/SOC
Resources page: http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/resource/soc.asp.
Tip: Report data in order of displayed screens.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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Tip: Report employees difficult to categorize in any of the context boxes, including the last
screen called “Human Resources Survey Evaluation.”
Tip: If a screen is N/A, enter a 0.
Reporting “Postsecondary Teachers”
Degree-granting institutions
•
•
•
•
Non-degree-granting institutions
Postsecondary Teachers by Function
Instruction
Instructional
Instruction/research/public service
staff
Research
Public service
Postsecondary Teachers
Reporting Salaries
Common Pitfall: Average salaries inadvertently reported instead of total salary outlays.
Common Pitfall: Salary outlays for part-time staff inadvertently included.
FINANCE
Reporter Types
There are six IPEDS finance survey component reporter types based on institutional control and degreegranting status. Public institutions generally fill out their financial information using the GASB reporting
standards whereas private not-for-profit and for-profit institutions report their data using FASB
standards. Degree-granting institutions report data on their financial position, changes in net assets, and
details of endowment assets that non degree-granting institutions do not report. These are the six
reporter types:
Public
Private, not-for-profit
Private, for-profit
Degree-granting
√
√
√
Non-degree granting
√
√
√
Reporting period
The finance survey component data covers financial activities for the 12-month fiscal year. Institutions
enter the start and end dates for the fiscal year they are reporting.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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Tip: The fiscal year reported for IPEDS in 2012-13 should be the most recent fiscal year ending
before October 1, 2012.
Common Pitfall: Institutions should not try to manipulate their current fiscal year data to make
corrections to their prior year data. Those corrections need to be made in the Prior Year Revision
System.
Data Source
Data are based on information from institutions’ audited general purpose financial statement (GPFS).
However, the GPFS is only a starting point for reporting; some figures will need to be modified to meet
IPEDS reporting requirements. Many derived variables and indicators that show on the survey screens
and in the Data Feedback Reports use Finance and Enrollment data together, such as “Core expenses
per FTE student.”
Common Pitfall: If an institution gets an error message, they should revisit the IPEDS reporting
instructions. Providing an edit explanation that, “the numbers are correct because they are pulled
from the GPFS” is not a valid explanation.
Recent Changes
All institutions are now reporting expenditures in a similar format with total amounts (operating and
non-operating combined) and require allocating operations and maintenance (O&M), interest, and
depreciation amounts across the functional expense categories.
Tip: NACUBO has provided a resource document to help GASB-reporting institutions do these
allocations available at:
http://www.nacubo.org/Business_and_Policy_Areas/Accounting/Advisory_Reports/Advisory_Report_20101_Public_Institution_Methodologies_for_Allocation_Depreciation_Operation_and_Maintenance_of_Plant_an
d_Interest_Expenses_to_Functional_Expense_Categories.html
Common Pitfall: Allocating O&M, interest, and/or depreciation into only one or two categories.
Common Pitfall: Not allocating these expenses but including them in the total expenditures,
with the result that these amounts are only captured in “Other” expenses.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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Negative Values
There are only a few variables (such as investment income/returns and changes to net assets) where it is
acceptable to report negative amounts. The vast majority of finance variables should be positive
amounts. Unacceptable negative amounts most commonly appear in the “Other” variables for both
revenues and expenses because they are calculated values that institutions do not directly report.
Tip: If you have a negative value for “Other” variables it means that the reported revenue by
source or functional expenditure amounts have been over counted somewhere resulting in a higher
Total (revenue or expenditure) amount than the actual reported Total amount(s).
Common Pitfall: Reporting negative revenues; these should most likely be counted as positive
expenses. An example of an error explanation illustrating this pitfall: “Negative other revenue is a
result of program expansion expenses.”
Tip: Most GPFS include only one category for “Non-operating revenue (expense).” Negative
dollar amounts here are truly expenses, and should be reported as such. This particularly applies to
negative interest amounts, which should be captured in the expense section.
Common Pitfall: Reporting negative expenses; these should most likely be counted as positive
revenues. An example of an edit explanation illustrating this pitfall: “Other expenses amount is
negative due to gain on disposal of property, plant, and equipment.”
Common Pitfall: Trying to make revisions to prior year data by reporting a negative amount for
current year data.
Student Grant Aid
Student grant aid amounts are reported in three different parts of the finance survey component:
o Scholarships and Fellowships
o Revenues
o Expenses
Common Pitfall: When reporting student grant aid, many institutions do not report allowances
to tuition and fees and auxiliary enterprises, even when those monies are, in fact, used as
discounts/allowances.
Common Pitfall: Following GASB accounting standards, Pell grants should be recorded as Federal
non-operating revenue and should have an offsetting allowance for tuition and fees that shows the
amount applied to students’ accounts. This also applies to private institutions that do not treat Pell
grants as pass-through transactions.
Common Pitfall: Most loans, including FDSL, should not be reported as a revenue or expense
because these are pass-throughs. These amounts are accounted for when they are paid to the
institution from students as a tuition & fee and/or auxiliary enterprise revenue.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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Tip: There is a tip sheet explaining the treatment of scholarships and fellowships, discounts and
allowances, and net scholarship and fellowship expenses on the IPEDS resources page:
http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/factsheets/fct_ipeds_finance_03072007_3.asp.
Endowment Assets
For FASB- and GASB-reporters, when reporting endowment assets at the beginning of the year, there
were sometimes discrepancies with the end of the prior year. The IPEDS instructions state: “Report the
amounts of gross investments of endowment, term endowment, and funds functioning as endowment
for the institution and any of its foundations and other affiliated organizations. … For institutions
participating in the NACUBO Endowment Study, this amount should be comparable with values reported
to NACUBO.”
Common Pitfall: The value of endowment assets does not change overnight. It may be that
some institutions realized that they controlled other entities that hold endowments assets and have
included them in the current year data rather than in prior year revisions.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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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.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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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 from a link in
the upper right-hand corner.
The Message Center will tell
you if you have new, unread
messages.
If you have any questions about whether you’ve submitted all required data for a particular collection,
click the AM I DONE? icon for an answer.
On the Surveys screen, each survey is listed, along with its due date, 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
Clean
Locked
Complete
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.
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.
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ENTERING DATA
There are two 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;
mouseover the link for the
definition. Instructions for
each screen are available by
clicking the Instructions link in
the upper right-hand corner of
the screen. Some screens have
links to web tutorials applicable to the screen, also at the top 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
Keyholders who have done the
programming to produce upload
files say that it’s a real timesaver in the long run.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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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.
The error icon descriptions are displayed on each screen:
Error Types
Invalid data type
An alpha character has been entered into a field that is restricted to
numeric characters, for example.
Confirmation
Certain data must be verified to check that the data entered is what is
intended. No explanations are necessary.
Explanation
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.
Fatal
Override by administrator
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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
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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EXPLANATION EDITS AND CONTEXT BOXES
Explanation edits and context boxes are NOT the same, although they’re similar because explanations
and additional information are provided in both cases. 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 edits are requesting reasons for changes or other data submitted. If we only need an
acknowledgment that data are correct, a confirmation edit will be in place, and you will only need to
click a button. But if we ask for an explanation, please enter a reason, not a confirmation.
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.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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More explanation edit examples that you can use as a guide:
For large variances from the prior year:
• A popular new program in Massage Therapy fueled enrollment increases for first-time/part-time
female students.
• Average institutional grants increased as we sought to emphasize scholarships for meritorious
achievement, since Pell was increased for needy students.
• Graduation rates decreased in part because several programs were discontinued and students in
those majors transferred elsewhere.
• Average tuition costs rose more than 20% for several reasons. First, the institution had not
raised tuition in more than four years. Second, we have implemented more intensive programs
that have higher tuition rates, and these programs are popular, which affects the average tuition
rate. Third, students are choosing to take more credits per semester than previously, which also
affects average tuitions.
For not having additional completers between 151-200%:
• Our accreditation body does not allow students to continue beyond 150%.
• All students who completed did so within 150%.
Context boxes are optional.
They are your friends, 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.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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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 Example
College Catalog or by contacting Example College.
Context box text should NOT be a marketing opportunity or an edit explanation.
Examples of what to avoid:
• Example College 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 College features inventive
programs of study…
This is marketing and information should be factual, not flowery.
• Our tuition rates are the best public tuition rates in our state. We offer students the most
opportunity for their dollar.
This is advertising, and it may or may not be factual.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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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.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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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 1-877-2252568, or ipedshelp@rti.org.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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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
• Email to new keyholder, if all surveys are not locked 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
• Phone call to new keyholder or CEO, if all surveys are not locked 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 are sent during the Spring collection, because it is so long.
ONE LAST CHANCE POLICY
Remember, there are NO reporting extensions in IPEDS. However, every institution can get special postcollection 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.
MESSAGE CENTER
Each time you log into the Data Collection System, check the upper-right-hand corner for new messages.
You can re-read messages using the Message Center function under the Tools menu.
THANK-YOU EMAILS
If all survey components 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.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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THIS WEEK IN IPEDS
These emails are sent out whenever there is important information or announcements that need to be
communicated to keyholders. This Week in IPEDS can also be found on the IPEDS website, in the
Newsroom.
TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES EMAILS
Special emails are sent out periodically to alert keyholders to IPEDS training opportunities. See the
Resources chapter of this handbook for more information.
SOME NOTES CONCERNING COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE HELP DESK
If you receive a communication from Help Desk personnel or NCES requesting a response, please do not
ignore it. Many times, we are trying to prevent you from having compliance issues or unfavorable (and
incorrect) data that will show on College Navigator, the FAFSA website, the College Affordability and
Transparency Center, and in the Data Feedback Reports.
Many keyholders have complained about the emails that say that we will contact your CEO if you
haven’t responded by a particular date. This is not intended to be a threat, but a safeguard, as quite
frequently a failure to respond indicates that the keyholder has left the institution and has not been
replaced. These calls start approximately two weeks prior to the end of collection, which would still give
a replacement keyholder time to get the data and complete the surveys. At the end of collection, we
call regarding data quality issues. At this point, we would have either a request for clarification of an
explanation or we have found a problem that needs to be addressed. Frequently, these issues can be
resolved in just a minute or two, although sometimes there are deeper problems that do take more
time. It’s not that we want to bug you or don’t understand that you have other things for which you are
responsible. We are required to keep calling until we get the matter resolved.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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Tips from Veteran Keyholders and the
IPEDS Help Desk
GETTING READY
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. If you start within a week of the collection opening, you’ll have plenty of
time to research/find the data needed. The AIR web tutorials are a good place to become familiar with
the key concepts you’ll need in order to do your IPEDS reporting.
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, you can either click the Survey Materials link from the
Overview page of each survey or you can go to Survey Materials under the Help tab. If you need to
access prior year data, you can click on Previously Reported Data on the Overview page or you can
retrieve the surveys in the Prior Year Revision System at https://surveys.nces.ed.gov/ipeds_py using
your current ID and password to make access. READ the survey before attempting to answer it. READ
the instructions. READ the FAQs. They help.
Tammy Silva
Director, Institutional Research
University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth
&
Patricia Gerrald
IPEDS Help Desk
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
Page 50
I think it is very important to use the glossary for every data unit.
Eileen Brennan
Institutional Research
Oakland Community College
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
Assistant Vice President for Planning and Institutional Effectiveness
Shorter College
ENLISTING THE HELP OF 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
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
Page 51
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
Keyholders can assign/designate additional users if necessary, so all reporting burden may not fall on
just you, as the keyholder. There are up to six additional IDs and passwords that can be distributed to
other folks on your campus so that they can assist with entering and reviewing data. As the keyholder,
you have the ability to restrict these users’ access to specific surveys if you desire. Only the keyholder
may lock the data.
Racquel Perkins
IPEDS Help Desk
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. 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 of Institutional Effectiveness, Research and Planning
Texas State Technical College Waco
If you 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
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
Page 52
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
Create a positive work environment for those who are part of your IPEDS Team. Thank folks for taking
the time to gather the data you need. Be available to answer questions and provide your
assistance. Always respect the timing of other projects your colleagues may be working on and schedule
things you can, like prior year data collection, when workloads are lighter.
Donna Silber
Coordinator, Institutional Effectiveness
Maricopa Community College District
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
Assistant Vice President for Planning and Institutional Effectiveness
Shorter College
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
VERIFYING YOUR DATA
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
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
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
Page 53
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
KEEPING RECORDS
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
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
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
I create binders for each of the individual IPEDS survey components with forms, instructions, FAQs,
narrative edits, glossary terms, and upload instructions. Dividers are added as necessary for
miscellaneous categories, for example: questions and resolutions; contacts for each individual
section; supporting documentation; directions/links to all electronic copies of our completed
reports. Every year I update the binder, making sure to save a copy of the blank forms and
instructions. IPEDS forms can change from year to year, and if we have to use the Prior Year Revision
System to resubmit one of our surveys, we have the blank prior year forms to work with.
Donna Silber
Coordinator, Institutional Effectiveness
Maricopa Community College District
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
Page 54
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
GETTING ADVICE
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
GETTING HELP
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 IPEDS 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
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
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
Page 55
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
If you are not certain of the questions being asked, there are several ways to get assistance. On each
page of the surveys, there is a hyperlink in the upper right hand corner to the instructions for that
page. Also, each underlined word in the surveys is a hyperlink to the glossary definition of that
word. The full set of instructions and FAQs is available under the HELP tab in “Survey Materials.” Most
importantly, do not hesitate to call the Help Desk for assistance. We deal with most of the questions
that you will have on a daily basis, and know how to research more unusual questions efficiently. We
can often save you a great deal of frustration if you call us.
Remember that during the last two weeks of each collection period, it is more difficult to reach the Help
Desk for assistance with questions, override requests, or other assistance without waiting on hold. The
middle weeks of each collection are often lull times, and Help Desk personnel have more time available
to help you understand the surveys and learn how to use the system. If you do the surveys early, you
have plenty of time to get help if you run into difficulty. Call early!
Patricia Gerrald
IPEDS Help Desk
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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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/ipeds.
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 are two flyers with training information that you can print out to remind
yourself, and give to others on your campus. The flyers are also available in the Help Menu in the Data
Collection System.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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ONLINE TUTORIALS
Professionally produced online 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.
The New Keyholder Online Tutorial is specifically for new keyholders, and provides an overview of
keyholder responsibilities and how the IPEDS data submission process works.
The survey component web tutorials will assist you in understanding the key concepts and common
pitfalls you need to know in order to accurately submit data for the different survey forms. These can
be accessed from the survey screens, and through the Training and Outreach menu on the IPEDS
website, the Data Collection System Help menu, and from the Data Provider Center. The survey
component web tutorials are posted by the opening of each data collection period. You will be alerted
through a training email.
FACE-TO-FACE WORKSHOPS
New IPEDS keyholders find the full-day New Keyholders Workshop particularly valuable. This workshop
provides you with a thorough introduction to the IPEDS data collection cycle and reporting
requirements. Created specifically for new IPEDS keyholders, this workshop outlines the roles and
responsibilities of a keyholder and the resources available to assist in the IPEDS planning and reporting
processes. The workshop also provides you an opportunity to create an IPEDS planning calendar for the
upcoming data collection cycle. Attendance at this workshop is limited to new keyholders, there is no
fee to attend, and you can request up to $500 to offset the cost of travel. Watch for special email
announcements.
New this year is the Best Practices for Reporting and Using IPEDS Data workshop. This workshop
focuses on best practices for efficiently and effectively submitting IPEDS data and maximizing the value
of IPEDS by utilizing the data for other purposes on campus.
Other IPEDS face-to-face workshops for IPEDS data providers and users include the following topics:
• IPEDS Data as the Public Face of an Institution
• IPEDS Data and Benchmarking: Supporting Decision Making and Institutional Effectiveness
• IPEDS Finance Training
There is no charge to attend any of these workshops. Some travel assistance is available. Attendance
preference is given to keyholders.
Training emails sent to keyholders will alert you to these workshops.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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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.
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; see the College Affordability and Transparency
lists
• Find data in the IPEDS Data Center and Tables Library
• Get answers through IPEDS Resources
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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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
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Using IPEDS Data
Data Entry by
Respondents
Editing
of Survey Data
Locking
of Survey Data
Migration to DC
Collection Level
Preliminary
Public Release
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.
(unimputed)
Provisional
Public Release
(imputed)
Final Release
(revised)
Once the data are migrated, NCES does additional Quality Control checks;
keyholders may be contacted if questions arise.
Soon after the data collection closes, College Navigator is updated, the First
Look publication is released, Preliminary (unimputed) data are publicly
available through the Data Center.
Approximately 3 months after that, the First Look publication is reissued,
and Provisional (imputed) data are publicly available through the Data Center.
Approximately 1 year after that, the Final data are made public through the Data Center.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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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. Once you’ve accessed the Data Center, an extensive user manual is available
under the Help icon in the upper-right-hand corner.
Please note that the IPEDS Tools Help Desk phone number is on every screen in the Data Center.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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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.
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
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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. Recent enhancements allow the
user to obtain separate analyses for subgroups and
create more detailed analyses by groups, and to
weigh comparison institution variable values against
multiple subgroups.
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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
Generate a table or
make simplified peer
comparisons
What should you use?
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.
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.
Trend Generator
Generate trend data for certain IPEDS data. Display
trends at aggregate level, or by institutional and
student characteristics.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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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.
COLLEGE AFFORDABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY CENTER
The College Affordability and
Transparency Center, available at
http://collegecost.ed.gov/, includes
information for students, parents, and
policymakers about college costs at
America’s colleges and universities. The
Center includes several lists of institutions
based on the tuition and fees and net
prices (the price of attendance after
considering all grant and scholarship aid)
charged to students. These lists meet
requirements outlined in the Higher
Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) and will
be updated annually and posted on the
College Navigator website by July 1.
These lists are generated using the IPEDS
data that your institution reports. Since additional reporting requirements are mandated for institutions
that appear on some of the lists, it’s important to make sure that the data you’ve reported are accurate.
Additional information about how the lists are generated can be found at
http://collegecost.ed.gov/catc/about.aspx.
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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
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/.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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TABULATED DATA
The IPEDS Tables Library can be accessed from the IPEDS homepage. The Tables Library has tabulated
data on enrollments, graduation rates, institutional prices, student financial aid, faculty and staff, and
more.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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IF YOU NEED HELP USING IPEDS DATA….
There are online tutorials covering IPEDS data use tools on the AIR IPEDS Tutorials website, at
http://www.airweb.org/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
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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Additional Information
LIST OF ACRONYMS
AIR – Association for Institutional Research, develops and conducts IPEDS training
C – Completions survey component
CIP – Classification of Instructional Programs
DC – Data Center
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
GR – Graduation Rates survey component
GR200 – 200% 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)
RTI – RTI International, operates IPEDS Help Desk
SFA – Student Financial Aid survey component
SOC – Standard Occupational Classification system (used in IPEDS HR reporting)
SRK – Student Right-to-Know
TRP – Technical Review Panel
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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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/ipeds
• Access IPEDS online tutorials
• Get information on face-to-face workshops
CIP 2010 User Website
http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cipcode
• Get information on Classification of Instructional Programs codes for reporting IPEDS data
HR/SOC Information Center
http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/resource/soc.asp
• Get information to assist with reporting using the new IPEDS occupational categories
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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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. 107279). 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).
The Department of Education relies on postsecondary institutions to accurately report data to IPEDS,
and nearly all institutions do. Institutions themselves sometimes identify misreporting issues and work
with ED to correct those problems without the need for further action by the Department. The
Department is concerned about any instances of intentional or significant misreporting. Under these
circumstances, the Office of Federal Student Aid may take administrative action to appropriately
address the issue.
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)).
Each year, the Office of Federal Student Aid issues fine notices to institutions for not completing their
IPEDS surveys in a complete and accurate manner within the required timeframes. Other institutions
are sent warning letters. According to the Office of Federal Student Aid, an institution's failure to
accurately complete and submit these surveys is a serious violation of its obligations under the Higher
Education Act, and appropriate action will be taken.
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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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
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
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
Page 72
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
2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
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2012 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
Page 74
IPEDS DATA PROVIDER CENTER
Prior Year Data Revisions:
https://surveys.nces.ed.gov/IPEDS/
• Revisions to data submitted for 201112 can be made through the IPEDS
Prior Year Revision System.
Components will be open for revision
during their regular collection period.
For example, revisions to the
Completions component can be made
during the fall collection period.
IPEDS 2012-13
Data Collection Calendar
(Keyholder UserIDs start with P or 88G)
Registration
Opens
Fall Collection
Winter Collection
Spring Collection
Opens
Keyholder close
Coordinator close
Opens
Keyholder close
Coordinator close
Opens
Keyholder close
Coordinator close
8/8
9/5
10/17
10/31
12/5
2/6
2/20
12/5
4/10
4/24
IPEDS Help Desk
Mon – Fri, 8:30 am – 5 pm Eastern
1-877-225-2568
ipedshelp@rti.org
Registration
Report Mapping
Institution Identification
IC Header
Institutional Characteristics (IC)
Completions (C)
12-month Enrollment (E12)
Student Financial Aid (SFA)
Fall Enrollment (EF)
Graduation Rates (GR)
200% Graduation Rates (GR200)
Finance (F)
Human Resources (HR)
Average Net Price for College
Affordability and Transparency
Center (CATC) and College
Navigator:
• The 2013 CATC lists will be generated
using IC and SFA data submitted in
2011-12, and revised, if necessary, in
the Prior Year Revision System. Cost of
attendance data on IC can be revised
during the fall data collection.
Financial aid data can be revised
during the winter collection. The lists
will be posted by 7/1/13. Revised net
price data will be posted on College
Navigator in March 2013.
Custom Comparison Group Upload
for 2013 Data Feedback Report
1/2/13 – 7/16/13
Association for Institutional Research
Guide for NEW IPEDS Keyholders
AIR offers IPEDS training and information at no charge to participants through face-to-face workshops
and online tutorials. The New Keyholder Overview Tutorial and New Keyholder Workshop are
specifically designed for new IPEDS Keyholders. Funding for this work comes from the U.S. Department
of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
Suggested Path of Study for New IPEDS Keyholders
www.airweb.org/ipeds
IPEDS Resources
New Keyholder Training & IPEDS Workshops Questions?
AIR IPEDS Team: 850-385-4155 x202 or ipedsworkshops@airweb.org
Institution specific data collection questions?
IPEDS Help Desk: 1-877-225-2568 or ipedshelp@rti.org
Institution specific data tools questions?
IPEDS Help Desk: 1-866-558-0658 or ipedstools@rti.org
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.
Association for Institutional Research
AIR’s IPEDS Resources: www.airweb.org/ipeds
AIR offers IPEDS training and information at no charge to participants through face-to-face workshops
and online tutorials. Funding for this work comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s National
Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
Face-to-Face Workshops
AIR’s IPEDS curriculum includes full-day workshops for 40-60 participants. Travel assistance is also available.
The New Keyholder and IPEDS Data for Office Efficiencies Workshops are specifically designed for IPEDS
Keyholders.
New Keyholder Workshop
Outlines the roles and responsibilities of a Keyholder and the resources available to
assist in the IPEDS planning and reporting processes.
Best Practices for Reporting and Using IPEDS Data to Improve
Office Efficiencies
Focuses on best practices for efficiently and effectively submitting IPEDS data and
maximizing the value of IPEDS by utilizing data for other purposes on campus.
Additional IPEDS Workshops
Training sessions for IPEDS data providers and users covering the following topics:
• IPEDS Data as the Public Face of an Institution
• IPEDS Data and Benchmarking: Supporting Decision Making and Institutional
iiEffectiveness (Part 1 and 2)
• IPEDS Finance Training
Online Tutorials
Tools Tutorials: Overviews and guidance for using IPEDS data tools including the
Data Center, Trend Generator, Executive Peer Tool, College Navigator, and Net Price
Calculator.
New Keyholder Overview Tutorial: Instructions and tips on completing IPEDS
surveys including entering, editing, and locking data.
Survey Component Tutorials: Guidance on specific terms and definitions (first-time,
full-time students) for completing IPEDS surveys.
AIR’s IPEDS Resource Center provides additional information, including: List of Current IPEDS
Trainers, NCES Presentations and Links, and General FAQs.
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.
IPEDS Help Desk
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has contracted with RTI International to provide the IPEDS Help Desk.
We are proud to have served in this role since July of 2000.
The IPEDS Help Desk is comprised of 16 to 18 staff, many of them with years of experience on IPEDS, operating out of
RTI’s Call Center in Raleigh, NC. We respond to phone calls and emails, make prompting (reminder) calls during the last 2
weeks of each collection, and review all survey data after locked and complete. Please call or email if we may be of
any assistance to you, or the schools that you coordinate.
The help desk is open weekdays 8:30am to 5:00pm Eastern time throughout the year. During the final 10 days of each
collection, we also operate evening and weekend hours.
IPEDS Help Desk
1-877-225-2568
ipedshelp@rti.org
IPEDS Data Tools Help Desk
1-866-558-0658
ipedstools@rti.org
IPEDS Listserv
To read and/or participate in discussions about IPEDS, please join the IPEDS Listserv:
http://ipedslistserv.rti.org/
| File Type | application/pdf |
| File Modified | 2013-08-08 |
| File Created | 2012-08-01 |