This report, prepared for the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative (NPEC) by members of its Better Coordination of Data Working Group, addresses how to better coordinate data definitions and surveys on a national basis in order to achieve greater comparability and relieve institutional data burden. The best practices in this report have been endorsed by the board of directors of the Association for Institutional Research.

The report is divided into two sections. Section I, Best Practices for Data Collectors, covers the following topics: responsibilities of data collectors, designing and distributing data collection instruments, explanatory information, survey followup, and reporting and publication. In Section II, Best Practices for Data Providers, these topics are addressed: responsibilities of data providers, tips for providing consistent data, filling out the survey, and submitting and checking the survey. Appendices provide information about the NCES Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), selected sources of postsecondary data definitions, a number of major higher education data sources, and selected references for designing and implementing surveys.