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Overview

Policy analysts, program planners, and decision makers in postsecondary education frequently need data on emerging issues quickly. It is not always feasible for NCES to use its large, recurring surveys to provide such data quickly due to the length of time required to implement large-scale data collection efforts. NCES has established PEQIS to collect timely data on focused issues needed for program planning and policy development with a minimum burden on respondents. In addition to obtaining information on emerging issues quickly, PEQIS surveys are also used to assess the feasibility of developing large-scale data collection efforts on a given topic or to supplement other NCES postsecondary surveys.

Design

PEQIS employs a standing sample (panel) of approximately 1,600 postsecondary education institutions at the 2-year and 4-year level. The nationally representative panel includes public and private colleges and universities that award associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. PEQIS can also conduct surveys of state higher education agencies.

If you have questions about the PEQIS program, please see our Frequently Asked Questions page. If your questions are not addressed by the information on the website, please send an email to PEQIS@ed.gov.