Data

The data used in this report are from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and, prior to 1986, its predecessor survey, the Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS). The trend tables draw on HEGIS and IPEDS surveys that collected information concerning enrollment, institutional finances, student financial aid, salaries, tenure and fringe benefits, staff, and degree completions. According to section 490 of the Higher Education Amendments of 1992 (P.L. 102-325), IPEDS is mandatory for any 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, as amended [20 USC 1094 (a)(17)]. For the spring 2002 data collection, the overall response rate was 98.6 percent for degree-granting institutions (including those eligible for Title IV federal financial aid programs and that grant an associate's or higher degree) and 98.6 percent for non-degree-granting institutions. In addition, other postsecondary institutions that do not participate in Title IV programs are invited to participate. Of the approximately 10,000 postsecondary institutions surveyed in 2002, some 6,696 institutions were Title IV programs and are the basis for comparison in the analysis.

IPEDS is a universe survey with missing data subject to imputation for nonresponse in the enrollment, degree, staff, and finance data. Because IPEDS is a census of the population of Title IV schools, the data presented here are not subject to sampling error. However, they are subject to nonsampling error, the sources of which vary with the survey instrument. A technical appendix is included that explains the data sources in more detail.