This Week In IPEDS (TWII)

As a result of conversations with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) will implement the following minor modifications to the 2005-06 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) web-based data collection. Any other modifications will be included in the next request for OMB approval:

• Deletions
  Institutional Characteristics –
  1. The collection of accreditation information will be removed in 2005-06 because the Office of Postsecondary Education has implemented their Accreditation website. The collection of these data are no longer needed; IPEDS now links to the OPE website for accreditation information.
  2. Collection of information on student services will be reduced in scope based on an analysis of responses to these items. In addition, we will make the data available on IPEDS College Opportunities On-Line (IPEDS COOL) in order to satisfy the need for better consumer information on topics of importance to entering students (e.g., the availability of on-campus day care).
• Modifications to Existing Collection
  1. Employees by Assigned Position (EAP); Salaries (SA); Fall Staff (S)- The three survey components will be merged into one data collection instrument. This will reduce collection burden AND increase the integrity of the data. The combined survey will be reorganized and instructions and definitions will be improved.
  2. Finance – NCES will allow institutions to report finance data during the winter collection cycle. Currently finance data are collected in the spring cycle, but this will allow some flexibility for the institutions. This same option is available to schools when reporting enrollment data.
• Additional Clarification Items Requested
  1. Institutional Characteristics – NCES will add a total column for reporting data on applicants, admissions and enrolled students. Many institutions do not collect gender data early in the application/admission process and thus are unable to furnish these data. By adding a total column, institutions can respond without having to provide data by gender. This will improve the data quality without an increase in burden.
  2. Finance – In order to clarify the accounting practices used by the institutions and to make the data more useful for peer analysis, NCES will add two questions to the General Information page of the Finance component.
     • Question: If your institution participates in intercollegiate athletics, are the revenues and expenses accounted for as auxiliary enterprises or treated as student services?
       • Auxiliary enterprises
       • Student services
       • Does not participate in intercollegiate athletics
       For both FASB and GASB institutions, athletics may be treated as either student services or auxiliary enterprises, depending on whether they are considered self-sustaining. This question will provide clarification for peer analysis for those institutions that participate in intercollegiate athletics.
     • Question: Does your institution account for Pell grants as pass through (or agency) transactions or as federal grant revenues to the institution?
       • Pass through (agency)
       • Federal grants
       • Does not award Pell grants
       FASB institutions have the option of accounting for Pell grants as either: (1) pass through transactions, which appear as a simple payment on the student's account; or (2) federal grants when received and allowances or scholarships when expended. The difference in how these are treated has a great effect on tuition and federal grant revenues, again clarifying issues for peer comparison.

All 2005-06 survey forms and instructions will be posted on July 27, 2005, on the NCES website: http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/webbase.asp

IPEDS Help Desk
ipedshelp@rti.org