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pdfIPEDS New Keyholder Handbook 2015-16
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..................................................................................... 6
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
Report Mapping ...................................................................................................................................... 18
Institutional Characteristics – Header Information ................................................................................ 19
Institutional Characteristics .................................................................................................................... 21
Student Financial Aid .............................................................................................................................. 23
Admissions .............................................................................................................................................. 26
Enrollment .............................................................................................................................................. 28
Completions ............................................................................................................................................ 32
Graduation Rates .................................................................................................................................... 34
Outcome Measures................................................................................................................................. 37
Human Resources ................................................................................................................................... 38
Finance .................................................................................................................................................... 40
Academic Libraries .................................................................................................................................. 42
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Using the IPEDS Data Collection System ..................................................................................................... 44
Entering Data .......................................................................................................................................... 46
Edits and Errors ....................................................................................................................................... 47
Resolving Errors ...................................................................................................................................... 48
Explanation Edits and Context Boxes...................................................................................................... 49
Locking a Survey...................................................................................................................................... 52
Help Menu .............................................................................................................................................. 53
Communications from NCES ....................................................................................................................... 54
Tips from Veteran Keyholders and the IPEDS Help Desk ............................................................................ 56
IPEDS Resources – Where to Get Help ....................................................................................................... 59
IPEDS Training ......................................................................................................................................... 59
Online Tutorials ....................................................................................................................................... 59
Face-to-face Workshops ......................................................................................................................... 59
Online Keyholder Courses ....................................................................................................................... 60
IPEDS Listserv .......................................................................................................................................... 61
IPEDS Website ......................................................................................................................................... 61
Data Collection System Tutorial.............................................................................................................. 62
Using IPEDS Data ......................................................................................................................................... 63
Data Availability ...................................................................................................................................... 63
Use the Data............................................................................................................................................ 64
Find Your College .................................................................................................................................... 66
Additional Information................................................................................................................................ 67
List of Acronyms ...................................................................................................................................... 67
Statutory Requirements for Reporting IPEDS Data; Penalties for Noncompliance ................................ 68
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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 (HEA), as amended, requires that institutions that participate in federal student aid programs
report data on enrollments and admissions, program completions, graduation rates and outcome
measures, faculty and staff, finances, institutional costs, student financial aid, and academic libraries.
These data are made available to students and parents through the College Navigator college search site
and the College Affordability and Transparency Center website, 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, financial aid used, staff
employed, dollars expended, and degrees and certificates 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-degree-granting 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 U.S. 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 and College Affordability and Transparency websites, 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.
The College Affordability and Transparency
Center houses the College Scorecard 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. The College
Scorecard and lists are both based on the IPEDS data you submit.
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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 attending.
IPEDS data are used at the Federal, state, and local levels for policy analysis and
development.
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 IPEDS
Data Center.
IPEDS data are published by NCES in First Look publications, Web Tables state and
sector reports, and are used in the annual Digest of Education Statistics and The
Condition of Education reports.
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 components 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?).
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IPEDS SURVEY COMPONENTS
Component
Cycle
Data
Registration
IC Header (IC-H)
and
Institutional
Identification
Annual
Institutional
Characteristics
(IC)
Annual
Completions (C)
Annual
Address; telephone number; websites
Control and affiliation
Calendar System
Levels of awards offered
Open admission policy
Library expenditures (degree-granting institutions only)
Fall Data Collection
Data collected in the Institutional Characteristics survey provide general information
about the institution. Data collected include:
Institution address, telephone number, and website;
Educational offerings and mission statements;
Control/affiliation, award levels, and calendar system; and
Student charges, including cost of attendance data (tuition and required fees
and room and board charges for institutions with full-time, first-time
degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students).
Completions data are collected for award levels ranging from postsecondary
certificates of less than 1 year to doctoral degrees. Data collected include:
Degree completions by level and other formal awards by length of program,
by race/ethnicity and gender of recipient, and by program (6-digit CIP code).
Beginning in 2012, IPEDS began collecting data on the number of completers
at an institution by gender, by race and ethnicity, and by age. These data are
collected at the total as well as by award level.
Also in 2012, IPEDS began collecting data for programs that are offered
completely via distance education.
IPEDS also collects information on the number of students receiving degrees with
double majors by 6-digit CIP code (for the second major) and by race/ethnicity and
gender of recipient.
12-month
Enrollment (E12)
Annual
12-month enrollment data are collected for students enrolled in credit-bearing
courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The 12-month reporting period is
July 1-June 30. Data collected/calculated include:
Unduplicated headcounts by level of student and by race/ethnicity and
gender;
Instructional activity (contact or credit hours); and
Full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment (calculated based on instructional
activity).
FTE is used in computing expenses by function per FTE and revenues per FTE, which
are reported on the IPEDS Data Feedback Report.
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Winter Data Collection
Student
Financial Aid
(SFA)
Annual
Financial aid and military benefits are collected for students.
Graduation
Rates (GR)
Annual
Section 1 of SFA collects financial aid data for undergraduate students.
Additional, data are collected for full-time, first-time degree/certificateseeking undergraduate students to calculate the annual average net price of
college attendance in accordance with the Higher Education Act of 1965, as
amended.
Section 2 of SFA collects military service members and veteran’s benefits
(DoD Tuition Assistance Program and VA Post 9/11 GI Bill) for undergraduate
and graduate students.
Graduation rates data are collected for full-time, first-time degree and certificateseeking undergraduate students. Data collected include:
Number of students entering the institution as full-time, first-time degree or
certificate-seeking students in a particular year (cohort), by race/ethnicity
and gender;
Number of students completing their program within a time period equal to
one and a half times (150%) the normal period of time; and
Number of students who transferred to other institutions.
This survey was developed to help institutions comply with requirements of Student
Right-to-Know.
200%
Graduation
Rates (GR200)
Annual
Graduation rates data are collected for full-time, first-time, degree- and certificateseeking undergraduate students. Numbers of students who completed within their
program’s normal time to completion, 150% of normal time, and 200% of normal
time are used to calculate the graduation rates. This survey was developed to fulfill
requirements in the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008.
Outcome
Measures (OM)
Annual,
beginning
2015-16
The Outcome Measures component collects outcomes data from degree-granting
institutions on 4 degree/certificate-seeking student cohorts (full-time, first-time; parttime, first-time; full-time, non-first-time entering; and part-time, non-first-time
entering students). For each of the 4 cohorts, the component collects a status update
8 years after the cohort enters the institution using the following categories:
Received award;
Did not receive award, still enrolled at reporting institution;
Did not receive award, subsequently enrolled at another institution; and
Did not receive award, subsequent enrollment status unknown
A total of students who did not receive an award will be calculated.
Admissions
(ADM)
Annual,
beginning
2014-15
The admissions component collects basic information on the selection process
including:
2015-16 IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook
Requirements for admission;
Admissions yields; and
Test scores (for institutions where test scores are required).
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Spring Data Collection
Fall Enrollment
(EF)
Annual
Fall enrollment data are collected for all students enrolled in credit-bearing
courses/programs which could potentially lead to awards ranging from postsecondary
certificates of less than 1 year to doctoral degrees. Data collected include:
The number of full and part-time students enrolled in the fall by level,
race/ethnicity, and gender;
Residence and high school graduation status of first time, first-year students
(in even years);
Age of students (in odd years);
Cohort numbers to compute retention rates;
Student-to-faculty ratio; and
Distance education.
In even-numbered years, four-year institutions are also required to provide
enrollment data by level, race/ethnicity, and gender for 9 selected fields of study for
the Office for Civil Rights.
Finance (F)
Annual
This component collects data related to the financial condition of the institution. Data
collected include:
Revenues by source (e.g., tuition and fees, government grants and contracts,
private gifts);
Expenses by function (e.g., instruction, research, academic support,
institutional support);
Assets and liabilities; and
Scholarships and fellowships.
Different formats are used based on the institution’s accounting standards (GASB or
FASB).
Academic
Libraries (AL)
Annual,
beginning
2014-15
The Academic Libraries component collects basic information on library collections,
expenditures, and services for degree-granting postsecondary institutions. Data
collected include:
Counts of books, media, and database collection held in the physical and
digital/electronic form; and
Library expenditures on salaries/wages, materials/services, and
operations/maintenance.
Institutions with annual library expenditures less than $100,000 are only required to
report collections information.
Human
Resources (HR)
Annual
Biennial
(odd-years)
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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
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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 for your institution, even if others on campus actually complete some components/ assist by
extracting the data from information systems. As keyholder, you are responsible for making 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, and you will be contacted
if the Help Desk or survey directors have questions about your institution’s data. 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/ systems have IPEDS coordinators who are responsible for state- or system-level
coordination of IPEDS submissions. Coordinator roles 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 data submission process. Also, it is your responsibility to
communicate with state/system coordinators concerning shared responsibilities for data submission and
timing of data submission; some states/systems submit data for institutions from their own information
systems, relieving institutions of some of the burden for reporting directly to IPEDS. 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 through “This Week in IPEDS” and through the Message Center in
the Data Collection System. These updates include important and useful information, including
information on training opportunities. And consider signing up for the IPEDS Listserv, to learn from
colleagues as they discuss issues surrounding IPEDS reporting, and follow IPEDS on Twitter!
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CONTACT THE HELP DESK
Since you are responsible for making sure all IPEDS data are submitted for your institution, please
remember to contact the Help Desk in the following situations:
If you do not receive a UserID and password every August;
If the list of applicable surveys in the Data Collection System is not correct;
If a survey status is not correct;
If you have questions about survey instructions, glossary definitions, time periods for reporting;
If you have problems entering data;
If you have problems resolving edit failures;
If you have problems locking your data;
If you have questions concerning ANY followup email;
If you have any other questions about IPEDS data submission.
The IPEDS Help Desk receives consistently high ratings from keyholders and coordinators for customer
service, helpfulness, and knowledge of IPEDS. They are 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
The first thing we suggest you do is to familiarize yourself with the data collection schedule for
the year. The 2015-16 submission 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 Collection Center.
DATA SUBMISSION CALENDAR
PRIOR YEAR REVISION SYSTEM CALENDAR
Data submitted by your institution last year (that is, during the 2014-15 data collection) can be revised
as needed through the IPEDS Prior Year Revision System. Components will be open for revision during
their regular collection period, except that Fall components will open on 9/9 instead of 9/2. For
example, revisions to the Completions component submitted last year can be made during the current
year Fall collection period.
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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 Login Page for the Data Collection System from the IPEDS home
page by clicking on Report Your Data.
Choose ‘Access resources’ to see lots of helpful information, including Survey materials, survey
schedules, and changes to the data collection (also available from the Help menu once you log into
the collection system).
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When you open the Survey Materials link, answer a few
questions on the 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.
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.
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The ‘Report Your Data’ page also includes helpful reporting guides and tools, as well as key
information about the IPEDS data collection. This is also one place where you can find the IPEDS
glossary.
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Identify areas for further training. There are online tutorials available for each survey
component and one specifically for new keyholders. These are free and posted on the IPEDS
website under the ‘Join In’ option, so you can view them on your schedule, when you have time.
The component tutorials are also available from the survey screens, so you can access this “justin-time” information as you’re submitting your data. There are also face-to-face workshops around the
country every year. And two online courses for keyholders are coming soon. See the Resources section
of this manual for more information about training opportunities.
You may need others on campus to provide data for IPEDS reporting, particularly for the Student
Financial Aid, Human Resources, Finance, and Academic Library components. So it’s important
that you:
Equip all of your institution’s data providers with the resources they need:
Survey materials for the appropriate survey component, including screens, instructions for
reporting, FAQs, import specifications
Instructions on how to access the IPEDS Glossary
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
Consider developing an internal reporting calendar
This can help 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, are held responsible
for locking the data. Make sure other data providers allow you the time you need to review all
survey components before you lock them.
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Key Survey Concepts, Pitfalls, and Tips
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 data, or data that fall outside expected ranges. Edits are in
place to protect the integrity of the data and are only triggered when there is something about the
reported data that requires additional attention.
There are three types of edits in the data collection. Confirmation edits require you to confirm the
reported data whereas explanation edits require you to provide an explanation for the reported data.
Edit explanations should provide adequate and reasonable information to explain anomalies in the data.
Finally, fatal edits require you to fix the data or contact the IPEDS Help Desk for help with resolution.
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.
Do not attempt to overcome edits by changing data that are correct. If the data you have
reported are correct and you need to clear an edit, please contact the Help Desk and, if it is
determined that they data are correct, they can provide an override. Remember, compliance for
IPEDS reporting is based on timely and accurate data.
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, except that Fall components open a week later. If, in the prior year,
your institution failed to respond to one or more of the 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.
Login to the Prior Year Revision System using your current year UserID and password.
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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 can be easily understood by students, parents, and the general public, and is
free of grammatical or spelling errors.
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 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 may prevent embarrassing mistakes.
REPORT MAPPING
Each August, many keyholders are asked to verify their institution’s Report Mapping. 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.
Not all PPAs 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. Contact information for each
state is available at https://eligcert.ed.gov/.
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INSTITUTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS – HEADER
Classifying institutions
The questions about institutional control (public, private not-for-profit, private for-profit) and award
levels (certificates and degrees) are used to determine which survey components and which versions of
the survey components your institution must submit. If you report control incorrectly, you could receive
the incorrect Finance form, and 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.
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.
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, you must answer Yes, even if those programs do not currently have students enrolled.
Full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students
Full-time, first-time (FTFT) students are a focus for many of the IPEDS survey components. Selection of
FTFT 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.
Open admission policy
The Open Admission question determines whether the Admissions component will be required.
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 are allowed to enroll as long as they can lift 50 lbs.
Students take the Ability to Benefit test, and 50% of students
that take the test are allowed to enroll.
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Understanding how IPEDS reporting is affected by calendar system
IC-Header (IC-H)
Institution specifies
predominant calendar
system. For institutions
NOT new to IPEDS, this
item is preloaded and
you must contact the
Help Desk to make
changes.
Institutional
Characteristics (IC)
Academic Reporter
Calendar Systems
Semester
Quarter
Trimester
4-1-4
Cost of attendance for
an academic year
Cost of attendance for
FTFT degree/certificateseeking undergraduate
students
Institutional
Characteristics (IC)
Average tuition & fees
for all undergraduates
Student Financial Aid
(SFA)
Reporting period
Student Financial Aid
(SFA)
Student cohort
Fall Enrollment (EF)
Students enrolled
Graduation Rates/
Outcome Measures
(GR & GR200/OM)
Student cohorts
Average tuition & fees
for an academic year
for full-time and per
credit for part-time
Standard academic
year
Students enrolled on
October 15, or the
institution’s official
fall reporting date
Students enrolled on
October 15, or the
institution’s official
fall reporting date
Fall cohort: Students
enrolled on October
15, or the institution’s
official fall reporting
date
Program Reporter
Calendar Systems
Continuous enrollment
Differs by program
*Hybrid Calendar
Systems
Other academic
Entire cost of the
LARGEST program
Breakdown of living
expense costs per
month, for students
in the largest
program
For 2nd – 6th largest
programs, total tuition
& fees for each
program
Cost of attendance for
an academic year
Defined by the
institution; must fall
within the period of July
1 through June 30
Students enrolled at
any time within the
institution’s academic
year
Students enrolled at
any time within the
period of August 1
through October 31
Full-year cohort:
Students enrolled at
any time within the
period of September 1
through August 31
Standard academic year
Average tuition & fees
for an academic year
for full-time and per
credit for part-time
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).
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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 &
Hybrid reporters
Program reporters
Report cost of attendance for an academic year.
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 for calculation of both
program and academic years of cost of attendance.
Difference between cost of attendance and other student charges
Cost of attendance is the total amount of how much it will cost for students to attend your college for a
year. Tuition and required fees, one component of cost of attendance, are the institutional charges for
instruction for a full year. In addition to tuition and fees, cost of attendance also includes books and
supplies, room and board/living expenses, and miscellaneous other expenses.
Full-time, first-time
cost of attendance
Undergraduate tuition
and required fees
Graduate tuition and
required fees
Doctor’s-professional
practice tuition and
required fees
Applicable to academic, program, and hybrid reporters, and
collected only for FTFT students. Costs include tuition and required
fees, books and supplies, room and board/living expenses, and
miscellaneous other expenses.
Note: Program reporters report tuition & fees, and books and
supplies for the largest 6 programs at the institution. Room and
board and other expenses are only reported for largest program,
allowing for calculation of cost of attendance for that program.
Applicable only to academic and hybrid reporters, collected for both
full-time and part-time students. Average of tuition and required
fees charged to all levels (e.g., freshman-senior) of students.
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.
Collected for 9 selected Doctor’s degree – professional practice
programs.
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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 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 HEA, as amended,
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 high cost or high net price
watch list, which can accidentally provide poor consumer information to students.
On campus housing requirement
Institutions are asked whether all full-time, first-time degree/certificate seeking undergraduate students
must live on campus.
Do not indicate that all students must live on campus when exceptions are made. Even if 1 in
10,000 students is allowed to live off campus means not all students are required to live on
campus and this question should be answered No. Answering incorrectly causes problems
between the IC and Student Financial Aid components and the calculation of the institution’s
average net price, which are posted on College Navigator and used in the calculations for the
College Affordability and Transparency Center (CATC) lists.
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 increase that any tuition increase cannot exceed.
Reporting the non-guaranteed rate and checking tuition guarantees (for institutions with
different rates). This impacts the multi-year tuition calculation, providing bad estimates for
students.
Some institutions incorrectly report large numbers (e.g., 100%, 97%) when they should be
reporting smaller numbers (e.g., 0%, 3%, 5%; thus, the institution promises its students that
tuition will not go up more than 0%, 3%, or 5%)
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STUDENT FINANCIAL AID
While much of the Student Financial Aid component focuses on undergraduate (sometimes specifically
full-time, first-time students), the Veteran/Military Benefits questions are collected at both the
undergraduate and graduate levels.
Work closely with your financial aid office to ensure accurate information for the financial aid
data for full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduates.
Work closely with your campus representative who certifies veteran and military benefits
(Department of Veteran Affairs’ Post-9/11 Veterans benefits and Department of Defense’s
Tuition Assistance Program).
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
Program 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
To be defined by the institution, so long as the period falls within
the full aid year period of July 1–June 30
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
Program reporters
Hybrid reporters
Undergraduate students enrolled as of October 15 or as of the
institution’s official fall reporting date
Undergraduate students enrolled anytime during the academic
year, as defined by the institution
Undergraduate students enrolled at any time within the period
of August 1 through October 31
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Student groups
The HEA, as amended, 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
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.
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.
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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. However, the institutional aid used in matching for Post 9/11 Yellow Ribbon
program can be included.
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
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 actually disbursed to students. For example, a student may be awarded grant
or scholarship aid at the beginning of the academic year but leave the institution before the
entire amount is disbursed. In this case, you would report the original and most current 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
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
Tuition/fees and net price amounts calculated from IC and SFA will be used to populate the lists posted
on the Department’s College Affordability and Transparency Center.
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ADMISSIONS
Reporting Period
Report for first-time, degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students who applied, who were
admitted, and who enrolled (full-or part-time) for fall 2015.
Who to report
Report for first-time, degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students who applied, who were
admitted, and who enrolled (full-or part-time) for fall 2015.
Only include information for all first-time students for whom admissions criteria (other than a
school diploma) were required. This may not be all students admitted to your institution, if you
have a mix of programs where some are open admission and others have admission
requirements.
Do not report non-first-time, degree-certificate seeking undergraduate students. For example,
transfer students should not be included.
You should not report enrolled students data for any level that you did not report as an offering
on the Enrollment levels question in IC-Header. For example, if you indicated that you do not
enroll part-time, first-time students leave those boxes blank. If you made an error on IC-Header,
it may be too late to make changes, but make sure to fix during the next data collection.
Admissions considerations
Select the option that best describes how your institution uses different admissions considerations as
part of the selection process for entering first-time, degree/certificate-seeking students.
If you have only selected secondary school record or secondary school record and other test,
there is a good chance that your institution is open admission and does not need to complete
the Admissions component. Please contact the Help Desk to determine whether your institution
should be completing the Admissions component.
Number of applicants/admitted/enrolled students
Report the total number of applicants, admitted students, and enrolled students (disaggregated by fulland part-time) by gender. Because you may not know the gender of all students, you will also report the
total but the total male and female may not equal the total.
Applicants should include any student considered for admission by the institution. If the
institution made a decision about a student and notified them of that decision (e.g., admitted,
not admitted, wait-listed, application withdrawn by the institution), they should be included as
an applicant.
When reporting admitted students, be sure to include early decision students and early action
students. When reporting admitted and enrolled students, include those students who began
the summer prior to the fall reporting period.
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Test scores
Report ACT and/or SAT test scores if they are required for admission for first-time, degree/certificateseeking undergraduate students. Provide the number and percentage of enrolled students submitting
SAT and/or ACT scores, as well as the 25th and 75th percentile scores for each test.
Include information for ALL enrolled, degree/certificate-seeking, first-time students for whom test
scores were required. Include new students admitted the summer prior to fall 2015. Do not include
scores for students that were not admitted, or for transfer students.
Since students may submit test scores for both tests, and/or multiple scores for each test,
institutions may use different combinations of scores for admissions.
If students submitted both SAT and ACT scores, but only SAT scores were considered for
admission, only report the SAT scores (and vice versa).
If students submitted both SAT and ACT scores, and both SAT and ACT scores were
considered for admission, report both scores.
If a student submitted two sets of scores for a single test, report this information according
to how you use the data.
o If you consider the highest scores from either submission, use the highest combination
of scores (e.g., verbal from one submission, math from the other).
o If you average the scores, use the average to report the scores.
Do not convert test scores (e.g., do NOT convert an ACT score into an SAT score); scores must be
reported separately. As there is no standard conversion for test scores, converting scores
renders the data unusable and confusing to students.
Do not include partial test scores (e.g., mathematics scores but not verbal scores for a category
of students) or combine other standardized test results (such as TOEFL) in this item.
Writing test scores should only be reported if used for admission. Be sure to use the appropriate
scale for each writing test.
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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.
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., it has at least one Title IV program participation agreement with the
Department of Education), then that institution 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.
Academic reporters
Fall Enrollment
Students enrolled as of October 15 or as of the institution’s official fall
reporting date
Program and hybrid reporters
Students enrolled anytime between August 1 – October 31
12-Month Enrollment
All institutions
Students enrolled anytime during July 1 – June 30
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.
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If the unduplicated count reported in the current year’s 12-month Enrollment survey
component is not greater than or equal to the 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.
FTE student enrollment on the E12 survey component is calculated directly from the credit and
contact hour data reported. In order for the FTE calculated for your institution to be accurate,
the instructional activity data (credit/contact hour data) must be reported correctly.
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 is clearly described in the explanation for the edit.
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 intent to earn 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 high school graduation) are also considered first time for IPEDS reporting.
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.
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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.
The entering class data are particularly useful for institutions that enroll a large number of parttime 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 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.
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 1year 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
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For primarily associate’s institutions that grant bachelor’s degrees (and thus are classified as 4year institutions in IPEDS), the fact that their retention data is based on bachelor’s-seeking
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.
Students enrolled in distance education
Distance education is education that uses one or more technologies to deliver instruction to students
who are separated from the instructor and to support regular and substantive interaction between the
students and the instructor synchronously or asynchronously. Institutions reporting that they offer
distance education courses and/or programs on the Institutional Characteristics component in the fall
will be asked to report the number of graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in distance
education courses in Part A of the Fall Enrollment component.
Institutions should only report students enrolled in distance education courses at THEIR
institution. For example, Institution A does not offer distance education courses but students
enrolled at Institution A can take distance education courses offered by Institution B (a
consortium member). Institution A should not report that they offer distance education courses,
if that is the only distance education option available.
Many users forget to allocate students that are NOT enrolled in any distance education courses
into the correct cells when reporting undergraduate or graduate level students enrolled in
distance education.
Students enrolled exclusively in distance education
Courses in which students take the instructional portions of their programs entirely online are
considered exclusive distance education courses.
Institutions are often confused on how to report enrollment in courses where the majority of
the instructional portions are taken online, yet there are a few times out of the year when
students are required to come to campus. In such cases, if the students come to campus to
complete a practicum, residency, or internship, then they are still considered enrolled in
exclusively distance education courses. However, if the student comes to campus to meet for
instructional purposes, they are not considered enrolled in exclusively distance education
courses.
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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 2015 reporting period, then, the IPEDS Completions component will collect data on all
degrees and certificates awarded between July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015.
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.
Report data for all programs that are offered. If there are no completions for a year, just enter 0.
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
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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.
Reporting completions for an award level that was NOT specified as offered on the previous
year’s last Institutional Characteristics component.
Distance Education
For each CIP code, the Completions component asks “Is this program offered as a distance education
program?”
If more than one program is reported under a CIP code by award level, respond "YES" to the
distance education question if ANY of the programs are offered as a distance education program
Some respondents thought this checkbox should be marked as YES if a program could ONLY be
completed completely via distance education. However, this checkbox should be answered YES
even if it the program could also be completed through a traditional offering.
Completions vs. completers
The Completions 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.
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
The Completions 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.
The Graduation Rates component identifies a cohort of full-time, first-time degree/certificateseeking 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.
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GRADUATION RATES
Definition of Graduation Rates, as per the Student Right-to-Know Act (SRK)
Under the provisions of the SRK, institutions must prepare annually the completion or graduation rate of
its cohort of full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students. The calculation of
this rate is based on the number of these students who complete their program of study within 150% of
the normal time for completion of that program, divided by the total number of students in the cohort.
Types of reporters and cohorts
Institutions report using either a fall cohort or a full-year cohort depending on the institution’s
predominant calendar system and reporting type. For additional details, please refer to the chart on this
provided earlier in this section).
Academic reporters
Program reporters and
Hybrid reporters
Report on a fall cohort—students enrolled on October 15, or
the institution’s official fall reporting date
Report on a full-year cohort—students enrolled at any time
within the period of September 1 through August 31
Who is included in the cohort
The cohort for GR reporting includes all full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate
students entering the institution either during the fall term or 12-month period as described above.
For 4-year institutions, the cohort is divided into two subcohorts: 1) students who upon entry are
seeking a bachelor’s or equivalent degree, and 2) those students who upon entry are seeking an
undergraduate award other than a bachelor’s degree. This is done so that 4-year institutions can be
more easily compared using the bachelor’s subcohort.
A student remains in the cohort even if their status changes after they enter (e.g., if a student
becomes part-time after the first semester, they are still considered part of the original cohort).
Cohort Revisions
Institutions have the option of revising their preloaded cohort if:
o there are eligible students who were omitted in the past;
o students who were originally included were included erroneously (e.g., they were not actually
first-time, or full-time);
o better information regarding race/ethnicity or gender is available for eligible students.
The cohort should not be revised for students who have dropped out or transferred out.
If the initial cohort changes by more than 20%, please be prepared to provide a good edit
explanation for the large change.
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Completers within 150%
Institutions must report the status of the cohort as of 150% of normal time to completion; and for the
bachelor’s or equivalent degree-seeking subcohort, the length of time it took students to complete their
program of study—4 years, 5 years, or 6 years.
When reporting the status of the bachelor’s degree-seeking subcohort of students, report only
for full-time, first-time students who were seeking a bachelor’s or equivalent degree upon
entry. Do not include students who transferred into your institution; or who changed their
program of study to a bachelor’s level degree after their first semester. Similarly, when
reporting the status of the other degree/certificate-seeking subcohort, report only for full-time,
first-time students who were seeking an undergraduate award other than a bachelor’s degree
upon entry. Do not include students who transferred into your institution; or who changed
their program of study from a bachelor’s or equivalent degree after their first semester.
Non-completers
Institutions must also report the status of non-completers as of 150% of normal time to complete their
program. This includes transfers-out, allowable exclusions from the cohort, and students still enrolled at
the institution. The number of students who are no longer enrolled is calculated for you by subtracting
the sum of the reported completers, transfers-out, exclusions, and students still enrolled from the
revised cohort.
Allowable exclusions from the cohort include those students who left the institution within 150% of
normal time to completion for their program (and have neither graduated nor transferred to another
institution) due to one of the following documented reasons:
a. The student is deceased or is totally and permanently disabled and thus unable to return to
school.
b. The student left school to serve in the armed forces or was called up to active duty.
c. The student left school to serve with a foreign aid service of the federal government, such as the
Peace Corps.
d. The student left school to serve on an official church mission.
Students who leave the institution within 150% of normal time to completion for one of the reasons
noted in b, c, or d above may be permanently excluded from the GR cohort; including those who return
to the institution prior to the status date of August 31, 2015.
Some institutions try to distribute all of the students in the 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 are actually eligible to be reported there.
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200% GRADUATION RATES
The primary purpose of the IPEDS GR200 survey component is to collect more extensive data on
graduation rates as required by the HEA, as amended. Data are collected to calculate graduation rates
at 200% of normal time to completion for the cohort of full-time, first-time bachelor’s degree-seeking
students at 4-year institutions; and for all full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate
students at less than 4-year institutions.
Cohorts
There are two types of cohorts tracked for the GR200. Institutions report data using either a fall or a fullyear cohort depending on their predominant calendar system and reporting type for the purposes of the
GR component.
4-year and
above
institutions
Less than 4year
institutions
Report data only for those students in the bachelor’s or
equivalent degree-seeking subcohort
Report data for all students in the cohort
If a 4-year institution does not have a bachelor’s or equivalent degree-seeking cohort in the
cohort year, this component will be not applicable for them.
Reporting completers within 151-200% of normal time
The number of completers within both 100% and 150% of normal time to completion will be preloaded
into the GR200 questionnaire based on data previously reported for the cohort in the GR component.
The GR200 component collects data for completers within 151-200% of normal time.
While the data reported in the GR component at 150% of normal time are cumulative (in that it
includes those who completed within 100%), the data reported in the GR200 component should
include only those additional students who completed between 151 and 200%.
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OUTCOME MEASURES
Purpose
The Outcomes Measures component is to track the award status of students at degree-granting
students. Student completion and enrollment status are collected six and eight years after they entered
an institution.
Cohorts
Institutions will report on four cohorts of degree/certificate undergraduate students:
Full-time, first-time
Part-time, first-time
Full-time, non-first-time
Part-time, non-first-time
For the 2015-16 collection year, the cohort year is 2007.
Academic reporters
Program reporters and
Hybrid reporters
Report on a fall cohort—students enrolled on October 15,
2007, or the institution’s official fall reporting date
Report on a full-year cohort—students enrolled at any time
within the period of September 1, 2007 through August 31,
2008
Who to Include and Exclude
Inclusions and exclusions are similar to GR and GR200.
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HUMAN RESOURCES
Reporting Employees
The HR component is intended to provide a snapshot of your institution’s human resources/payroll data
at a specific point in the fall. As such:
o Report employees on the payroll of the institution as of November 1, 2015
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 the 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 2010 Standard
Occupational Classification (SOC) codes. More information can be found at the HR/SOC
Resources page: http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/resource/soc.asp.
Report data in order of displayed screens.
Provide additional information on any employees who are difficult to categorize in the context
boxes provided, including the “Human Resources Survey Evaluation” screen presented at the
end of the survey.
You must enter data on each displayed screen. If a screen is not applicable to your institution,
enter at least one zero in a field on the screen and save the screen before continuing.
Reporting Instructional Staff
Degree-granting institutions
Non-degree-granting institutions
Instructional Staff by Function
Instructional Staff
Instruction
Instruction/research/public service
Research
Public service
Instructional
staff
Reporting by Faculty Status
Refer to your institution’s policies to determine whether staff members have the designation of
“faculty”. This is not limited to instructional staff, but may also include such positions as president,
provost, or librarians. Any staff without faculty designation should be reported in the Without Faculty
Status column.
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Reporting by contract length
Data on full-time instructional staff with faculty status, who are not on tenure track (or where the
institution does not have a tenure system), are collected for three categories of employment
agreements or contracts:
Multi-year or Continuing or At-will Contract: An employment agreement or contract that is in
effect for more than one year or that has an indefinite duration (e.g., continuing, at-will). The
renewal period of a multi-year contract is not on an annual basis (e.g., a 5-year contract is
renewed every 5 years; not annually).
Annual: An employment agreement or contract that is in effect for a stated annual period
within one year of execution, and may be equal to a period of 365 days, a standard academic
year, or the equivalent.
Less-than-annual: An employment agreement or contract that is in effect for a partial year
period of less than 365 days, or less than a standard academic year or the equivalent. This
includes contracts for partial year periods such as a single semester, quarter, term, block, or
course.
Reporting Salaries
Salary outlays are collected for full-time, non-medical school, instructional and non-instructional staff.
o When reporting salary data, full-time instructional staff should be reported based on the
number of months they work during the year, NOT the number of months during which they are
paid. Once the number of 12-, 11-, 10-, and 9-month instructional staff are reported, any
remaining instructional staff will be calculated in the “balance” column (these are the
instructional staff who are full-time but whose contracts/employment agreements are for lessthan-9 months during the year.
o Include all full-time, non-medical school, instructional staff—both with and without faculty
status.
o Salary outlays should include base salaries only – no supplements, overloads, or bonuses.
Report total annual salary outlays for staff, not average salary outlays. The weighted average
monthly salaries by academic rank and gender will be calculated for you based on the data
provided.
Report total annual salary outlays for full-time staff only. Do not include part-time staff in salary
outlay amounts.
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FINANCE
Finding Your Institution’s Finance Contact
Often, the Institutional Research office will not have the necessary data to complete the IPEDS Finance
Survey. In these cases, the keyholder is encouraged to reach out to their institution’s finance contact,
which can found in “Registration” under the “Tools” menu in the Data Collection System.
Reporting Period and Data Source
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. 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.
The fiscal year reported for IPEDS in 2015-16 should be the most recent fiscal year ending
before October 1, 2015.
Institutions should not manipulate their current fiscal year data to make corrections to their
prior year data. Corrections to prior year data should be made in the Prior Year Revision
System.
Allocations to Functional Expense Categories The reporting of expenditures for all institutions requires
allocating operations and maintenance (O&M), interest, and depreciation amounts across the functional
expense categories.
NACUBO has provided a resource document to help GASB-reporting institutions with these
allocations: http://www.nacubo.org/Documents/BusinessPolicyAreas/AR_2010_1.pdf
Not allocating these expenses or allocating O&M, interest, and/or depreciation into only one or
two categories.
Negative Values
There are only a few cases (such as investment income/returns and changes to net assets) where it is
acceptable to report negative amounts. The vast majority of finance data reported should be positive
amounts. Unacceptable negative amounts most commonly appear in the “Other” cells for both revenues
and expenses because they are calculated values that institutions do not directly report.
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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.”
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.”
Trying to make revisions to prior year data by reporting a negative amount for current year data.
If you have a negative value for an “Other” cell, 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).
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.
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
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.
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.
Most loans, including Federal Direct Student Loans, 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.
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.
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Endowment Assets
For FASB- and GASB-reporters, endowment assets at the beginning of the year should be the same as
the end of the prior year.
The value of endowment assets does not change overnight. If an institution made an error in the
prior year reporting or realized that they controlled other entities that hold endowments assets,
those assets should be reflected in the current year reporting and the corresponding correction
should be made to the prior year data using the Prior Year revision system. The IPEDS Help Desk
is available to assist.
Revenues by Source
Changes have been made to the Finance form for private for-profit institutions to increase comparability
with public and private not-for-profit institutions. For-profits will be asked to separately report revenues
from federal, state, and local appropriations, grants, and contracts.
Institutions often question the definition of “local,” especially if their online institution’s
registered address or corporate office is located in a different state than the student’s residence
and the student receives grant from the local government.
Revenue should be reported by the source of the funding. Grants awarded by any state are
reported as state grants, regardless of whether the institution is located in the state that
provided the grant. Similarly, any grant monies provided from a local government (non-federal
and non-state) should be reported as a local grant, regardless of location.
ACADEMIC LIBRARIES
Beginning with the 2014-15 collection cycle, institutions reported data about their academic libraries
(AL) in IPEDS. Eligibility for the AL this collection cycle is determined by the institution’s library expenses
in the most recent fiscal year ending before October 1, 2015. This expense will be reported in the IC
Header in the Fall collection period, while the AL component will not open until the Spring collection
period.
Finding Your Institution’s AL Contact
Similar to the Finance Survey, the AL Survey also relies heavily on data that might not be available
through the Institutional Research office. NCES recommends that the institution reach out to their AL
contact (found in “Registration” under the “Tools” menu in the Data Collection System) to determine
how they can assist in the data reporting process. If an AL contact does not exist, try contacting the
Library Director at your institution. A Question-and-Answer document for library contacts new to the
IPEDS collection can be found at
http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/resource/download/QandAforLibrarians.docx.
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Parent/Child Reporting
For institutions sharing ALL their library resources, a parent/child relationship can be established if: (1)
the child institution is in the same institutional sector as the parent, and (2) the child institution is not
set up to report its own academic libraries expenditures or collections data. Once a parent/child
relationship has been established, the parent institution will report combined data for itself and the
child institutions. Contact the Help Desk to establish the relationship.
Reporting Shared Electronic Resources
Institutions often pool resources together to purchase access to electronic documents via electronic
databases or e-book services. Two issues will arise. First, institutions will find it difficult determining
whether they should report electronic/digital books or media in databases.
Report titles owned or leased by the library if individual titles are catalogued and/or searchable
through the library catalog or discovery system. Include titles in aggregated sets (in databases)
in which the library selected the aggregator even if not each individual title.
For more information about reporting library materials that are shared, visit the resource page
http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/resource/download/AL_Reporting_Relationships.pdf.
Second, institutions may also find difficulty in reporting the most accurate count of circulation or usage
for digital/electronic material if it is shared. For digital/electronic items, IPEDS instructs institutions to
report usage of titles whether viewed, downloaded, or streamed.
If an institution is part of a consortium of libraries that share access to an online vendor and the
usage statistics through that vendor is only available for the consortium as a whole, then the
institution can use whichever methods they use locally to monitor usage for their individual
library. For example, a library may count a percentage of the consortium circulation as its own
depending on the percentage of the consortia fee that it pays to access the online service.
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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 16
additional
UserIDs and
passwords
for others on
your campus
(through the
Tools menu).
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.
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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 righthand corner.
The Message Center will tell you if you
have new, unread messages.
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 FAQs and/or links to online 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 time-saver in the long run.
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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
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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. Bad 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.
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.
Examples of Flawed Explanations:
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.
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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 firsttime/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 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
communication 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 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
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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.
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 be displayed 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 enough time to gather the data and complete the surveys.
At the end of collection, we followup with keyholders regarding data quality issues. At this point, we
typically have either a request for clarification of an explanation or we have identified 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 continue
calling until the matter is resolved.
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Tips from Veteran Keyholders and the
IPEDS Help Desk
GETTING READY
Start early, allowing yourself sufficient time to address and issues or questions you encounter
Develop and communicate a strategy and timeline with all of the departments that will be
providing data, and follow up periodically to make sure that all data will be available on that
timeline
Make sure that other offices understand the data collection system interface, as well as the data
requirements and definitions
Read all of the IPEDS training materials and watch the IPEDS tutorials, and share them with
others providing data
Create your own set of audits for each survey to allow a quick check before locking the survey
Read the instructions and FAQs for each survey component; don’t assume you know what is
required if you haven’t fully read this information
The Overview screen shows any major changes for the year, and the summary screen gives you
a chance to look at much of the data one last time to make sure it looks right – use them both to
your advantage
Look at all the reporting dates for the various surveys before the reporting year even starts; in
some cases one survey may collect data on different years depending on the section of the
survey (e.g, Fall Enrollment collects data on the most recent fall cohort and some data on the
student cohort you reported on last year)
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ENLISTING THE HELP OF OTHERS
When communicating with other offices, highlight any changes to the survey that have been
made since the last submission
As needed, add additional users/passwords so that other offices can better assist you with
entering data into the system (you will still need to lock)
Provide other offices a deadline that is at least one week prior to the IPEDS deadline, since you
will need to verify all their data, run error reports, and lock the survey
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, and respect the timing of other projects your colleagues may be working on and
schedule things accordingly
VERIFYING YOUR DATA
Remember that these data will show up in a lot of public places – and you want your institution
to be represented honestly
Compare each year's new data with as many prior years as possible; this provides a trend and
enables you to look at the items in summary form to be sure the data are correct and in line
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
Although adjustments and corrections can be made to data for internal reporting, beyond the
Prior Year Revision System, there is no good way to correct inaccurate data that have been
previously reported – take the time and make the effort to report data that is clean, complete
and accurate
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KEEPING RECORDS
Document the files you used, queries, and any recoding of data to match IPEDS, as well as
questions or issues you ran into and how/why you resolved them the way you did
Keep notes on where you pull data from and on what information is duplicated for state and
federal reporting
Keep both an electronic filing system and hard copies of the IPEDS survey reports in binders –
include hard copies of the completed surveys, procedures manual, worksheets, programming
scripts, and communication pieces pertaining to the survey
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
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
GETTING HELP
If you need any help or even have a small question about what you are reporting, call or email
the IPEDS Help Desk – preferably early on in the collection cycle
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IPEDS Resources – Where to Get Help
IPEDS TRAINING
IPEDS training, in the form of web tutorials and face-to-face workshops, is available to IPEDS keyholders
and other data providers as well as IPEDS data users.
ONLINE TUTORIALS
Professionally produced online tutorials covering IPEDS data submission and data use are available from
the IPEDS website (http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/InsidePages/JoinIn?pageid=37). These are free, and are
available 24 hours a day, so you can use them on your schedule. There are four types of video tutorials
available:
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 IPEDS Annual Update Tutorial provides an overview of the 2015-16 data collection schedule, as
well as changes to the 2015-16 data collection.
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
tutorials can be accessed from the survey screen, through the Training and Outreach menu on the
IPEDS website at http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/InsidePages/JoinIn?pageid=37, the Data Collection
System Help menu, and from the log in page of the Data Collection System. The survey component
web tutorials are posted by the opening of each data collection period. You will be alerted through a
training email.
Finally data tools and related tutorials explain how to utilize the IPEDS data tools (College
Navigator, Data Center, Trend Generator, and College & Career Tables Library), as well as other
IPEDS related educational topics, such as the Net Price Calculator and IPEDS Data Release Stages, for
example.
FACE-TO-FACE WORKSHOPS
IPEDS workshops are held in various locations across the country and there is no charge to attend any of
these workshops. Attendance preference is given to keyholders. Two workshops of particular interest to
keyholders and others who report IPEDS data are the New Keyholder Training and the Best Practices
for Reporting and Using IPEDS Data workshops:
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The New Keyholder Workshop is designed as base level training that provides participants 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 participants an opportunity to create an IPEDS planning calendar for the
upcoming data collection cycle. Because this workshop is designed for newer keyholders, it also
serves as a valuable professional networking opportunity for institutional researchers in their new
roles.
The Best Practices for Reporting and Using IPEDS Data to Improve Office Efficiencies workshop
is intermediate level keyholder training that is designed for individuals who lead the IPEDS data
submission cycle on their campus and have done so for at least one full reporting cycle. Using IPEDS
as a focus, participants will: Learn IR best practices and technical efficiencies in data management
through Excel (e.g., pivot tables, merging data, custom formulas, and filters); examine multiple
options for IPEDS submission (manual entry, .csv file upload, and XML); and learn how to use
benchmarking data to address key institutional questions and needs.
Other workshops are also available that focus on data use, benchmarking, and IPEDS finance data.
Training emails sent to keyholders will alert you to these workshops. You can learn more about these
opportunities at http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/InsidePages/JoinIn?pageid=37.
ONLINE KEYHOLDER COURSES
Two online IPEDS keyholder courses provide self-paced, on-demand training for data providers. Courses
are mentor supported by national IPEDS Trainers, include papers, videos, and exercises, and take around
10-12 hours to complete. The first course, focusing on keyholders with 0-9 months of experience,
focuses on an overview of IPEDS, accessing IPEDS data, keyholder responsibilities, important IPEDS
concepts and definitions, working with cohort data, managing a data collection cycle, and ensuring
quality data. The second course, focusing on keyholders with 10-24 months of experience, takes a more
in-depth and application based approach to working with IPEDS by discussing nuances of IPEDS data,
how IPEDS compares and connects with other institutional and national datasets, improving office
efficiencies in project management and data submission, and using IPEDS data to increase institutional
effectiveness. The first course will be available in late 2015. The second course will be available in 2016.
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IPEDS LISTSERV
Become a member of the IPEDS Listserv through the Links to Tools tab on the Login Page of the Data
Collection System 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 a lot of good
information.
Find Your College: The student track leads to College Navigator, Scorecard, and the College
Affordability and Transparency Center
Use the Data: The research track allows you to access IPEDS data in different formats, and
includes the IPEDS glossary.
Report Your Data: The data provider track provides you with many resources, including access
to the data collection, survey materials and calendars, the prior year revision system, updates to
the data collection, reporting guides and reporting tools.
Join In: The track to take to get more involved! This track includes information about training,
IPEDS trainings and outreach, IPEDS technical review panel meetings, and IPEDS social media.
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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.
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
Collection Level
Release
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
IPEDS 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
Preliminary First Look publication is released, and Preliminary (unimputed)
data are made publicly available through the Data Center.
Approximately 2 months after that, the First Look publication is reissued,
and Provisional (imputed) data are made publicly available through the Data Center.
Approximately 1 year later, the Final data are made public through the Data Center.
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USE THE DATA
‘Use the Data’ is the place to go to get IPEDS data. An extensive user manual is available on the main
screen.
Please note that the IPEDS Tools Help Desk phone number is on every screen in the data tools.
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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 emailed to Chief Executive Officers and IPEDS
keyholders and coordinators each fall. PDF versions of the reports are available to institutions and the
public from the Data Center.
Data Feedback Report tool on the ‘Use the Data’ page 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 DFR variables for the
focus and comparison group institutions. This tool has an extensive User Manual, so it’s really easy to
use.
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FIND YOUR COLLEGE
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 of study, 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. 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.
The College Affordability and
Transparency Center, available at
http://collegecost.ed.gov/, includes the
College Scorecards and other 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 HEA, as amended, 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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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
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
HR – Human Resources survey component
IC – Institutional Characteristics survey component
NCES – National Center for Education Statistics
OM – Outcome Measures survey component
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
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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, ethnicity, ... and other population characteristics...; 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 $35,000 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.
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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
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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. State spending charts and a link to Bureau of Labor Statistics information on
starting salaries are also required.
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| File Type | application/pdf |
| File Title | IPEDS New Keyholder Handbook |
| Subject | 2011-12 |
| File Modified | 2015-08-19 |
| File Created | 2015-08-19 |