This Week In IPEDS (TWII)

IPEDS Data - Rules for Sharing

You may have noticed a new message on the printable data forms and downloadable data files available from the IPEDS data collection system that says:

"Warning: These are restricted data and are not to be shared with anyone, under penalty of law."

NCES is required by law to protect against the disclosure of individually identifiable information collected by IPEDS. Four IPEDS data files contain individually identifiable information: Salaries, Fall Staff, Graduation Rates, and Student Financial Aid. Data available through the IPEDS Peer Analysis System are not restricted and may be shared because data perturbation procedures have been applied. The files are perturbed by randomly altering the data in cells with a small number of observations; however, these procedures have NOT been applied to the data in the IPEDS data collection system. The data that come out of the IPEDS data collection system as printed forms or downloaded files may not be shared as they may reveal individually identifiable information.

You may share the data that you put INTO the IPEDS data collection system - those are your data and may be shared (but may be subject to FERPA). You may also share the data that come OUT of the IPEDS Peer Analysis System - those data protect individually identifiable information because they have been perturbed. You may NOT share the data that are in the IPEDS data collection system; technically, these data belong to NCES and therefore are subject to NCES confidentiality requirements.

For further information, please see http://nces.ed.gov/statprog/2002/std4_2.asp

Forms Facsimile

Also see the new Forms Facsimile feature in the Peer Analysis System (under Reports and Stats) that allows institutions to produce printed forms with survey data.