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

2020–21 IPEDS Data Collection: Spring 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 spring 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 Academic Libraries component, new data were collected that specify the number of full-time equivalent staff employed by the library. In the Finance component, there were 3 notable changes. First, a new part was added to collect financial health measures from degree-granting institutions. Second, the Scholarships and Fellowships part of the component was expanded to collect the amount of discounts and allowances attributed to several detail categories. Finally, some new measures were added to the part of the component focused on endowments to further detail the changes to endowment value. 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 spring collection period of the 2020–21 IPEDS, which was open from December 9, 2020 to April 7, 2021.

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, winter, and spring collection periods. 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 change ⁴. 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).