This Week In IPEDS (TWII)

The 2018 Data Feedback Report (DFR) is scheduled to be emailed to Keyholders and Coordinators on December 6, 2018, and subsequently emailed to Chief Executive Officers on December 18, 2018. The 2018 DFRs are based on the data collected during the 2017-18 IPEDS collection cycle and are the most recent data available.

As a reminder, the DFR provides institutions a context for examining the data they submitted to IPEDS. The purpose of this report is to provide institutional executives a useful resource and to help improve the quality and comparability of IPEDS data.

Also on December 6, the DFR tool will be available within the IPEDS Use the Data portal (https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/use-the-data), enabling the downloading, printing, and customization of the Data Feedback Reports. As a new feature for this year's DFR release, NCES created a resource page (https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/Help/View/2) for the Data Feedback Reports, which includes a new set of FAQs, a manual for the DFR tool, and AIR-created DFR video tutorials.

NCES recommends reviewing the data file documentation report, posted in the "Technical/Methodological" section of the IPEDS Publication & Products website (https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/getpubcats.asp?sid=010) when using the 2015-16 OM and GR/GR200 final data, which are available on the 'Use the Data' portal of the IPEDS website.

For any additional questions, please contact the IPEDS Data Feedback Report team at ipedsdatafeedback@ed.gov or the IPEDS Help Desk.

NCES has added a new feature to help data users navigate and utilize the various tools on the IPEDS Use the Data page (https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/use-the-data). The new Help feature can provide a refresher for the more underutilized data tools or an introduction into tools that have never been accessed. Users can access the feature by clicking on the "?" icon next to each data tool or shortcut. Upon clicking on the icon, users would have access to:

- Step-by-step instructions for retrieving data using each tool
- Screenshots within the instructions for improved clarity
- Menus at the top and on the left for quicker navigation between data tools, shortcuts, and steps
- Links to additional resources, including FAQs and videos
- Features to download and/or print the guides