#16

Title: Changes in IPEDS for Institutions with Multiple Campuses

Summary

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the U.S. Department of Education (ED) is proposing a change in policy regarding how institutions with multiple campuses report data for the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) surveys. Every campus that has a separate Program Participation Agreement (PPA) for federal student financial aid programs under title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA) currently must report all of its data separately. For institutions that have a single PPA for multiple campuses, beginning in fall 2004, ED will require every campus that has a unique IPEDS ID number to report all IPEDS data separately (except finance). As an interim step, beginning in fall 2003, ED is proposing that every campus that has a unique IPEDS ID number report data consistently "either separately or combined" across campuses -- within each type of survey (e.g., student data, faculty data).

Current Status

The NCES has allowed institutions with multiple campuses to follow a variety of patterns in reporting data in IPEDS. When a main campus has submitted data for the main campus and one or more branches, it has been referred to as a "parent/child" relationship. These relationships have varied across surveys and across IPEDS years, leading to a great deal of difficulty for NCES in managing the system and difficulties in using the data.

Inconsistent reporting makes it particularly difficult for NCES to determine which campuses have responded to each survey. The NCES is required to provide a list of nonrespondents for each of the IPEDS components to the U.S. Department of Education Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA). The FSA has stepped up enforcement of the title IV HEA requirement that participating institutions must submit all IPEDS data. They are now issuing warnings, levying fines, and even recommending loss of title IV eligibility.

Under title IV HEA requirements, each campus that has a separate PPA must report all IPEDS data separately. The NCES is proposing that, beginning in the fall of 2004, branch campuses that share a PPA and have separate IPEDS Unit IDs must report all data separately (except Finance survey data). If it is not feasible for all the campuses to report all but the finance data separately, the institution will report as a single IPEDS entity.

As an interim step, beginning in fall 2003, IPEDS will require campuses that share a PPA to report consistently "either combined or separately" for each survey of the same type. For example, salary, EAP, and staff data, all would be reported "either separately or combined" across campuses; all student-related data would be reported in a similar manner.

Implications for Institutions

Institutions with multiple campuses should review the PPA status and IPEDS Unit ID status of each campus and determine if they can meet the proposed requirement.

Comments may be submitted to NCES concerning this proposal. Send any comments by e-mail to Susan.Broyles@ed.gov by August 1, 2003. The subject line should read: TRP#1 - Proposal comments.

Institutions may wish to request appropriate changes in either the PPA or the IPEDS status of their campuses.

Institutions may find separate reporting for every survey by each campus infeasible or unduly burdensome.

Separate reporting, however, may provide more accurate depictions of branch campuses with distinct missions on the NCES College Opportunities On-Line (COOL) Web-site, may more appropriately provide information necessary for campuses in determining eligibility for grant programs, and may provide a more useful basis for analyses of IPEDS data (with the exception of finance data).

Timeline

July 11 - 12, 2002 - Meeting of IPEDS Technical Review Panel #1 to consider issues raised by data reporting structures.

March 13, 2003 - NCES posts proposal for changes in IPEDS reporting structures

August 1, 2003 - Deadline for comments on proposal for changes in reporting structures.

Fall, 2003 - Interim requirements for consistent reporting for surveys of same type.

Fall, 2004 - New requirement for separate reporting by each campus.

Additional Resources

SEVIS/ISEAS

A copy of the proposal can be obtained at: http://www.nces.ed.gov/ipeds/trp1.asp

Additional information about IPEDS can be obtained at: http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds

Authors: Carol Fuller and Marsha Hirano-Nakanishi

Coordinated by the Higher Education Data Policy Committee. All opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Association for Institutional Research.