As higher education institutions continue to recover from challenges presented by the pandemic, they are forced to grapple with persistent nationwide enrollment declines as well as student perceptions regarding the value...

The leaders I admire most are the ones who are authentic in their values and show us the very best of humanity. Some leaders are elected, appointed, promoted, or even accidently anointed. But the leaders who seem to be c...

Abundant evidence documents that a college degree confers significant economic and non-economic value for individuals and society. Even so, there is a need to continue to improve methods and data sources to deepen analys...

Institutional researchers are experts at examining analytical patterns related to preparedness for college, access to admissions, enrollment, progress and retention, the learning experience, financial aid, gr...

Data literacy is the ability to read, work with, analyze, and communicate with data*. As data and analytics professionals, we depend on our stakeholders to have the necessary data literacy skills to consume and use the ...

A new version of DataLab, including an updated and improved PowerStats, is now available. The new DataLab improves the ease-of-use and performance of PowerStats; incorporates the charting functions of QuickStats into Pow...

U.S. News is again providing, free of charge to any institutional researcher, Excel spreadsheets with ranking data that appear in the main rankings tables in the Best Colleges 2022 Edition guide book. These spreadsheets ...

Suggestions from IPEDS Technical Review Panel #64, Meeting the Moment: Modernizing the IPEDS Admissions Survey Component” are currently open for comment. This TRP meeting was held on June 22 and 23, 2021, via video...

With increasing pressure on colleges and universities to raise completion rates, predictive analytics is being used to identify at-risk students. The authors of this article put six models to the test to find out if &ld...

In this article we will be discussing the key aspects of creating effective dashboards that convey useful information and visualizing survey results.  Communicating quantitative and qualitative data in an easily dig...

The Data Visualization Challenge at Small Institutions Higher education institutions are seeing the value more and more in their data assets. Small universities need to make data informed decisions but face the challeng...

Introduction An effective visualization of data should be relevant to its intended audience and convey meaning. Readers make choices about what they spend time viewing and they won’t spend time reviewing a graphic...

AIR is pleased to provide scholarships that facilitate the professional growth and development of institutional research professionals. The Community College Scholarship supports early-career institutional res...

Higher education changes quickly so professional development is critical to remain current and relevant. In the 2018 AIR National Survey of IR Offices, we asked Office Leaders to identify the types of professional develo...

Introduction This eAIR Tech Tip provides advice for institutional researchers who utilize Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) data for benchmarking, look-back, market, and similar landscape analyses. W...

Many of my career positions have required a set amount of professional development each year. However, I have generally received few guidelines on which topics or activities to prioritize. I grew tired of putting off req...

As institutional researchers, we hold a plethora of knowledge that would be helpful for our institutions, yet we often find ourselves in positions where we have little authority to actually make change. There are histori...

NCES has released provisional data from the Fall 2020 collection. The Fall 2020 collection includes the following survey component data: Institutional Characteristics and Cost of Attendance for the 2020-21 Academic...

The registration period for the 2021-22 IPEDS data collection is now open. Existing (primary) Keyholders and Coordinators should have received a registration email on August 4, 2021. For additional information on the dat...

The COVID-19 pandemic led to an even greater increase in interest for nondegree and skills training options, but the Center for Education Consumer Insights notes their quality and value has often been debatable. In this ...