Overview of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)

1. Overview of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Elise S. Miller Elise.Miller@ed.gov Program Director Postsecondary Institutional Studies

2. About IPEDS • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) is a system of surveys designed to collect data from all primary providers of postsecondary education • Established as the core postsecondary education data collection program for NCES; started in 1987; web-based in 1999-2000

3. Data Collection Principles • Data elements identify characteristics common to all providers of postsecondary education. Within these data elements, specific values define characteristics of different types of providers of postsecondary education. • The data elements -- and the components within IPEDS through which they are collected -- are interrelated to avoid duplicative reporting and to enhance the analytic potential of the database.

4. Data Collection Principles -continued • The components are compatible, but are adapted to meet the needs and characteristics of different sectors of postsecondary education providers. This feature accommodates the diverse operating characteristics, program offerings, and reporting capabilities of postsecondary institutions, while yielding comparable statistics for all institutions.

5. Pre-IPEDS • IPEDS supersedes the Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS), a similar set of surveys that collected data from 1965-1986 from a more limited universe of institutions of higher education. • The transition to the IPEDS system expanded the survey universe to include many additional providers of postsecondary education and training. • In addition to the approximately 3,600 HEGIS institutions, IPEDS includes institutions providing postsecondary training in occupational and vocational programs, including proprietary schools and institutions. • This expanded universe consists of some 6,800 postsecondary education providers.

6. Which Institutions Submit Data to IPEDS? • Institutions that have a Program Participation Agreement (PPA) with the US Dept of Ed to participate in federal student financial aid programs (aka, “Title IV institutions”) • Section 487(a)(17) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 as amended (HEA), 20 USC 1094(a)(17) • “… institutions will complete surveys conducted as part of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) … in a timely manner and to the satisfaction of the Secretary.”

7. Additional Statutory Authority • 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 —mandatory for all institutions which receive, are applicants for, or expect to be applicants for Federal financial assistance as defined in 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 —mandatory for all institutions which receive, are applicants for, or expect to be applicants for Federal financial assistance as defined in 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. • Consumer Information — Section 101 of the Higher Education Act, as amended, (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 of 2008 (P.L. 110-315) requires that NCES make the following consumer information about postsecondary institutions available on the College Navigator college search web site: the institution’s mission statement; a link to the institution’s website that provides, in an easily accessible manner, information on student activities, services for individuals with disabilities, career and placement services, and policies on transfer of credit; admissions rates and test scores; enrollment by race and ethnicity, gender, enrollment status, and residency; number of transfer students; students registered with the disability office; retention rates; graduation rates within normal time of program completion and 150% and 200% of normal time; number of certificates and degrees awarded, and programs with the highest number of awards; student-to-faculty ratio and number of faculty and graduate assistants; cost of attendance and availability of alternative tuition plans; average grant aid and loans, and number of students receiving such aid, by type; total grant aid to undergraduates; number of students receiving Pell Grants; three years of tuition and fees and average net price data; three years of average net price disaggregated by income; a multi-year tuition calculator; College Affordability Lists and reports; Title IV cohort default rate; and campus safety information. Some of these items will be phased in over a 5-year period from passage of the bill. State spending charts and a link to Bureau of Labor Statistics information on starting salaries are also required.

8. Compliance: It’s Mandatory • Each year, NCES is required to provide a list to the Office of Federal Student Aid of institutions that do not submit IPEDS reports • FSA sends out fine letters and warnings to noncompliant institutions • Penalty for not submitting IPEDS can be as high as $27,500 per occurrence, or loss of Title IV eligibility

9. Compliance: Up to $27,500 fine per violation

10. IPEDS Components Student Financial Aid Graduation Rates Surveys Enrollment SFA GR200 GRS EF E12 IC C F Completions Finance Institutional Characteristics S EAP SA Human Resources

11. What kind of data? When released?

12. What kind of data? When released?

13. IC Institutional Characteristics • Directory information • Name & address information • Institutional control, levels of awards • Title IV status, Carnegie classification • HBCU, tribal, % minority enrollment • Data • Admissions • Price / student charges

14. EF E12 Enrollment – Fall • Fall Enrollment • As of Oct 15 or official fall reporting date • Summary by level of enrollment • by race/ethnicity and gender • for selected programs (even years) • Summary of students by age (odd years) • by full-time/part-time, by gender • Residence of first-time freshmen (even years) • by state • Retention rates • Fall-to-fall for FT, PT first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students

15. EF E12 Enrollment – 12 Month • Full-Year Instructional Activity • For previous year • Unduplicated headcounts by level • by race/ethnicity and gender • Credit and contact hour activity • Total entering class

16. C Completions • Awards/degrees conferred between July 1 and June 30 • Completers by program (CIP code) and award level • by race/ethnicity and gender • number of students with second majors

17. GRS Graduation Rates • Status of cohort students by race/ethnicity and gender • Cohort of full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduates • Completed program within 150% of normal time to completion (for example, 3 years for a 2-year program) • Four year programs: 4-, 5-, and 6-year rates • Transfers out • Exclusions

18. GR200 Graduation Rates 200 • New in 2008-09 • Required by HEOA to be published on College Navigator • 100%, 150%, and 200% of normal times graduate rates

19. SFA Student Financial Aid • New in 2009-10: Data to calculate net price (sticker price minus all grant aid) and net price by income categories • Current data mostly apply to full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking students • Includes: • Number of students receiving aid • Percentage of student receiving aid (calculated) • Total amount of aid received • Average amount of aid received (calculated) By type: • Federal grants (Pell and other) • State/local grants • Institutional grants • Loans (Federal and non-Federal)

20. F Finance • 3 versions: • GASB (typically public institutions) • FASB (typically private not-for-profit) • Private for-profit • Prior fiscal year • For discussion of comparability across versions, see http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/web2000/gasbfasb.asp

21. S EAP SA Human Resources Employees by Assigned Position • Number of employees at the institution by • Primary occupational activity • Faculty status • Tenure status • Full and part time • Separately for medical schools

22. S EAP SA Human Resources Salaries • As of Nov 1 • Number of full-time instructional faculty and total salary outlay by contract length, gender, academic rank • Fringe benefits by contract length

23. S EAP SA Human Resources Fall Staff • Collected in odd years • As of November 1 • Most parts by race/ethnicity, gender • FT Faculty • by tenure, academic rank • by contract length, salary class interval • All other FT employees by primary occupational activity, salary class interval • PT employees by primary occupational activity • New hires by primary occupational activity

24. Public Availability of Data • Students and parents have access to the IPEDS data an institution reports through the College Navigator – consumer college search site • IPEDS Data Feedback Report -- mailed to CEO/President annually comparing institution to peer group (report also available to general public via the web) • IPEDS Data Center – users can view data, download data files, build customer data set, make trend reports, do peer group comparisons, and more • For FREE assistance with any IPEDS data use tool, contact the new IPEDS Tools Help Desk:1-866-558-0658

25. IPEDS Online Tools http://www.nces.ed.gov/ipeds

26. Users of IPEDS Data: Examples • State Agencies — In many states, IPEDS institutional data are provided by the state higher education agency from data collected on state surveys. Alternatively, state agencies may extract data from IPEDS surveys rather than conduct their own surveys. • Office for Civil Rights — Racial/ethnic degree and enrollment compliance data are incorporated into IPEDS surveys and are provided annually to OCR. • Equal Employment Opportunity Commission — In 1993, NCES began collecting fall staff data for EEOC in much the same way that data are collected for OCR. • Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce — Incorporates much of the finance data and information from other surveys to estimate the education-related consumer and state and local government spending components of the gross domestic product, as well as other indicators. • Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce — Develops estimates of state and local governments’ finances to provide to the Bureau of Economic Analysis for calculation of the gross national product, and supplements their Census of Governments data with IPEDS finance data.

27. Users of IPEDS Data: Examples

28. Questions? • IPEDS Homepage: http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds • Elise Miller Elise.Miller@ed.gov 202-502-7318