#23-1

Title: The NCES Seeks Comments on NPEC IPEDS Data Feedback Report and Executive Peer Tool

Type: Comments Requested by March 18, 2005

Summary

In October 2004, the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative (NPEC) released the first annual IPEDS Data Feedback Report to each postsecondary institution nationwide. The report, customized for each institution, contains analyses of the 2003-04 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) data submitted by the institution and a set of comparison institutions. The IPEDS Keyholder received an advance electronic copy of the report approximately one week before the formal release of the printed report. The reports were then mailed to the institutional CEOs.

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) will oversee future IPEDS Data Feedback Reports and is planning to hold a Technical Review Panel (TRP) meeting in March, 2005, to discuss plans for the upcoming Data Feedback Reports. Comments received by March 18 will be summarized for the TRP participants. To provide comments on the IPEDS Data Feedback Report, send an e-mail to: Datafeedback@ed.gov.

The purpose of the NPEC IPEDS Data Feedback Report is to demonstrate to institutions the utility of IPEDS data for institutional trend and comparative analyses and to improve the quality of the IPEDS data. In conjunction with the release of the Data Feedback Reports, the NCES launched the Executive Peer Tool, which provides a simple 5-step approach to replicate the IPEDS Data Feedback Report or to view the same data for a different comparison group (http://nces.ed.gov/ipedspas/expt). It is intended to encourage use of the Peer Analysis System for a more in-depth analysis (http://nces.ed.gov/ipedspas).

The Association for Institutional Research (AIR) offered two Web Seminars featuring a presentation on the NPEC Data Feedback Reports and a demonstration of the Executive Peer Tool. The Web Seminars were offered at no charge through support from the NCES. An audio/video recording of the Web Seminar, the presentation slides, and the questions and answers from each Seminar are available on the AIR Web site at http://www.airweb.org/page.asp?page=685.

Current Status

The NCES is planning to hold a TRP meeting in March, 2005, to discuss plans for the upcoming Data Feedback Reports.

To provide comments on the IPEDS Data Feedback Report, send an e-mail to: Datafeedback@ed.gov. To provide feedback on the Executive Peer Tool contact: John Milam, HigherEd.org, Inc. at jmilam@highered.org.

Implications for Institutions

While the IPEDS Data Feedback Report and the Executive Peer Tool are intended to encourage institutions to use IPEDS data for their internal decision-making, the selected calculations and comparison groups may not be appropriate for all institutions. For example, several institutions that measure instructional activity internally using a course unit basis (1 course = 1 unit) instead of by credit or contact hours (as requested in IPEDS) were surprised to find that IPEDS-calculated per FTE expenditures and revenues were dramatically off-target. Others discovered that the way they reported certain off-campus study or transfer credits led to distorted FTE calculations.

Timeline

October 13, 2004 - Advance release by e-mail to IPEDS Keyholders

October 21, 2004 - Print version of the NPEC IPEDS Data Feedback Report mailed to institutional CEOs

October 25, 2004 - First AIR Web Seminar on the NPEC IPEDS Data Feedback Report and the Executive Peer Tool

December 15, 2004 - Repeat of AIR Web Seminar

March 18, 2005 - Deadline for submission of comments for consideration by TRP in March, 2005

March 23-24, 2005 - Technical Review Panel will discuss plans for upcoming Data Feedback Reports

Additional Resources

Additional information about the IPEDS Data Feedback Report is available at: http://nces.ed.gov/npec/datafeedback.asp

Complete information about IPEDS is available at: http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds

The Web site for the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative is http://www.nces.ed.gov/npec

Author:
Carol Fuller

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.