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

2020–21 IPEDS Data Collection: Fall Data Release – Provisional Level

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2020-21 Memo

• 2023-24 Memo
• 2022-23 Memo
• 2021-22 Memo
• 2019-20 Memo
• 2018-19 Memo

The provisional level data release of the components collected during the fall collection period of the 2020–21 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) contains substantive changes in file structure or file documentation for two components of IPEDS compared to the previous year. Within the Completions component there were 3 notable changes. First, the less-than-1-year certificate award level was divided into two award level categories. Second, the 2020 version of the Classification of Instructional Programs was required when reporting the program of study associated with an award. Finally, the distance education classification for each program was expanded to collect more detail. Within the 12-Month Enrollment component, institutions were required to disaggregate undergraduate students by enrollment and degree-seeking status, similar to the Fall Enrollment component, and were also required to report distance education data for both undergraduate and graduate students enrolled. Details regarding these changes can be found under “Updates to the Data Collection” on the IPEDS Report Your Data website (https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/report-your-data), as pictured below.

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 2020–21 IPEDS, which was open from September 2, 2020 to October 14, 2020.

2020–21 IPEDS Universe of Institutions

The IPEDS universe is established during the fall collection period. During the 2020–21 collection year, there were 6,133 Title IV institutions and administrative offices² in the United States and other jurisdictions of the United States, such as Puerto Rico. For 2020–21, a total of 558 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 a Title IV status change⁴. Of the 182 institutions that changed Title IV status in 2020–21, 103 were for-profit institutions.

Table 1. Summary of Response by IPEDS Survey Component, 2020-21 Data Collection

Notes:

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