Memorandum for the NCES Review Tracking System (RTS) - IPEDS Data Collection Cycle

2019-20 IPEDS Data Collection: Fall Data Release – Provisional Level

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2019-20 Memo

• 2023-24 Memo
• 2022-23 Memo
• 2021-22 Memo
• 2020-21 Memo
• 2018-19 Memo

The provisional level data release of the components collected during the fall collection period of the 2019-20 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) does not contain substantive changes in file structure or file documentation compared to the previous year. The data are released to the public through the “Use the Data” portal (https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/use-the-data) on the IPEDS website. The IPEDS Methodology has been reviewed and approved by the NCES Review Staff and is currently posted on the IPEDS website as a resource for data users.

IPEDS is an annual, large-scale, web-based survey that collects institution-level data from postsecondary institutions in the United States (50 states and the District of Columbia) and other U.S. jurisdictions ¹. For more information about the IPEDS Survey, its 12 components, and data release procedures visit https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/use-the-data/survey-components. This memorandum documents the IPEDS universe of reporting institutions and response to the fall collection period of the 2019-20 IPEDS, which was open from September 4, 2019 to October 16, 2019. Note that while the Institutional Characteristics component response status is known for all institutions and is included in this memo, the associated data will not be released until the further changes to the cost of attendance, distance education, and library information is updated via submissions during the winter and spring collection periods of IPEDS.

2019-20 IPEDS Universe of Institutions

The IPEDS universe is established during the fall collection period. During the 2019-20 collection year, there were 6,216 Title IV institutions and administrative offices ² in the United States and other jurisdictions of the United States, such as Puerto Rico. For 2019-20, a total of 509 postsecondary institutions were reported exclusively by a parent institution and are not included in the universe counts. The four U.S. service academies that are not Title IV eligible are included in the IPEDS universe because they are federally funded and open to the public. ³

NCES statistical standards require that the potential for nonresponse bias for all institutions be analyzed for sectors for which the response rate is less than 85 percent. Because response rates were nearly 100 percent for each survey component, no such analysis was necessary.

Table 1 provides an overview of the number of institutions responding to the components that comprise the fall collection period. This table is updated after each collection period's data release. Appendix A provides a summary of responses for the previous collection year for comparison purposes. Appendix B shows a table of institutions with Title IV status change ⁴. Of the 241 institutions that changed Title IV status in 2019-20, 189 were for-profit institutions. Download the memo for further details including Table 1 as well as Appendices A and B.

Table 1. Summary of Response by IPEDS Survey Component, 2019-20 Data Collection

Notes:

For any questions related to this data product release, please contact Tara Lawley, IPEDS Program Director, (tara.lawley@ed.gov).