As we begin a new year, I want to thank you for the many ways you continue to support and strengthen our community. A new year offers a natural moment to reflect on where we have been—and to look ahead to the leade...

On January 26, 2026, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) updated ACTS data templates, moving from version 1.0 to version 1.1. The revised templates are now available at https://acts.rti.org/templates,&nbs...

My current title is Coordinator of Online Education Analytics. My primary role involves researching our online students, but I also help with automating and streamlining IPEDS, PDP, Common Data Set, and all the other typ...

The National Association of College Auxiliary Services (NACAS) has announced the launch of Auxiliary Performance & Experience (APEX), a new benchmarking survey designed to help institutions assess and compa...

The year 2025 was a year of rapid changes. As we begin a new year, colleges and universities are confronting a convergence of pressures unlike any in recent history: declining enrollments driven by demographic change, es...

AIR Associate Deputy Director Leah Ewing Ross was recently featured as the inaugural guest on the Data Stakes: Giving Data a Voice podcast. In this first episode, Ross and host Deb...

Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t a future disruption in higher education, it’s already embedded in everyday work across roles, functions, and institutional types. Higher e...

The Association for Institutional Research (AIR) has established the AIR Data Policy Advisory Panel, designed to strengthen AIR’s ability to engage in—and help shape—higher educ...

When I started overseeing the Office of Institutional Research, it was a one-person shop with support from Information Technology (IT) and the Registrar. The teams were steady but shared cross-campus priorities, so every...

In higher education, assessment is too often used as a mechanism for compliance rather than a catalyst for change (Miller & Felix, 2025). Data is gathered within institutions, analyzed and disseminated for accreditor...

AIR is pleased to announce the release of the Fall 2025 issue of the AIR Professional File, AIR’s peer-reviewed publication supporting institutional research and analytics practice. This volume features two forward...

I hope everyone is having a happy holiday season as we wind down the semester. I want to begin this Board Corner by recognizing the amazing leadership we benefit from in AIR. In case you did not see it, our Executive Dir...

My current role in institutional research focuses on cyclical internal reporting, ad-hoc research, state/federal reporting, and components of effectiveness. One of the mission pillars at Florida SouthWestern State Colleg...

The Association for Institutional Research (AIR) has joined a coalition of 34 organizations in signing a formal letter submitted to the U.S. Department of Education regarding the proposed Admissions and Consumer Transpar...

On December 15, 2025, the Association for Institutional Research (AIR) submitted additional written comments to the U.S. Department of Education in response to new documentation released for the proposed Admissions and C...

The Association for Institutional Research (AIR) is pleased to announce the publication of the 2024 AIR National Survey brief reports, offering insights into the structures, roles, and activities of institutional researc...

The Association for Institutional Research (AIR) is pleased to share that Executive Director and CEO Christine M. Keller, Ph.D., has been named one of U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 Best Leaders.The U.S. News ...

Across higher education, institutions are wrestling with a familiar challenge: how to translate the promise of data into the practice of meaningful change. Turning analytics into action requires more than dashboards or r...

The Association for Institutional Research (AIR) submitted formal comments to the U.S. Department of Education in response to its Request for Information on Redesigning the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) (Docket I...

On October 14, 2025, AIR submitted formal comments to National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) regarding the proposed ACTS expansion to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). The letter expres...