Integrated Postsecondary Education Data

System

Are you Aware of….???

NC CCPRO Winter ConferenceFebruary 21, 2007

Purpose of this Session

• Brief overview of IPEDS• Let’s take a COOL look• Race/Ethnicity…where are we

going?• Unit Record Collection

System• What is Big IPEDS?• IPEDS and Accountability

What is IPEDS?

• The core postsecondary education data collection program for NCES

• Designed to collect data from ALL institutions whose primary purpose is to provide postsecondary education

• Is a comprehensive system of interrelated surveys that collects institution-level data

Who has to submit IPEDS?

• Institutions that have a Program Participation Agreement (PPA) with the US Dept of Ed to participate in federal student financial aid programs

• 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.”

IPEDS Surveys

•9 7 Components– General Information

• Institutional Characteristics

– Student Surveys• Enrollment• Completions• Graduation Rates• Student Financial Aid

– Resource Surveys• Finance • Human Resources

X

Reporting Compliance

• Each year, NCES is required to provide a list to the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) 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

How Are IPEDS Data Used?

• National Research/Reporting

• COOL• Higher Education

Reauthorization Act• Postsecondary Education

Commission

IPEDS COOL

• Is a direct link to information on nearly 9,000 postsecondary institutions in the United States.

• COOL includes colleges, universities, and community colleges, as well as trade and technical schools.

• College Opportunities On-Line was authorized by Congress in 1998 to help college students, future students, and their parents understand the differences between colleges and how much it costs to attend college.

• Significantly revised in 2006 – now includes ability to make institutional comparisons

IPEDS COOL

• Designed to help college students, future students, and their families understand the differences between colleges and the price of attendance.

• Can be used by decision-makers to access data on comparison institutions.

Institution Search

• Enables a user to search for a particular school by name or for a group of schools using shared characteristics.

– Primary search:

• by Institution name; • by geographic location (multiple states or

region)• by instructional program (major)

– More options include:

• Characteristics• Enrollment levels• Religious affiliation• Distance from zip code

Available Information• Once selected, the data available on the institution is

divided into ten distinct categories.

– General Information

– Estimate Student Expenses

– Financial Aid

– Admission

– Enrollment

– Retention / Graduation Rates

– Awards / Degrees

– Accreditation

– Campus Security

– Federal Student Loan Default Rates.

Comparing Institutions

• Comparing institutions is a new feature added into the 2006 revised COOL site.

• You can select up to 4 institutions for side by side comparisons.

What Lies Ahead for COOL

• Greater public visibility

• More choices for students/parents to use for ranking institutions

• Additional consumer information– College affordability index– Accountability data– Transfer information

Demonstration

http://collegesearch.nces.ed.gov

Race/Ethniciy

• Brief History– 1997 OMB action– Why has this taken so long?

• November 2006 TRP• Latest information

– How is race/ethnicity defined?– Two questions vs one question– How things will be reported?– Timeline???

Race/Ethnicity

• What should be done now?– Raise awareness at college level– Inventory all methods currently

used to collect race/ethnicity data– Mapping old codes or

resurveying?– Trumping rules

•For college•For system•Across education sectors

Federal Unit Record Data Collection

• What is this all about?• Higher Education

Reauthorization Act– House action– Senate action

• Spellings Commission Report– http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/hiedfuture/reports/final

-report.pdf

• AACC Task Force

Big IPEDS

• What is this??– Collecting more consumer

information– Collecting information in “smaller

chunks”

• What is the purpose??– Substitute for Unit Record System– Provide students/parents with more

data on which to base decisions

• How do I stay informed??– http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/

whatsnew.asp

IPEDS & Accountability

• Proposed changes to IPEDS data collection, 2007-08– Approval process– Timeline for implementation

• New Accountability section– Link to Fact Book– Link to Performance Measures– Matrix to collect performance

measures information