On February 17, 2026, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) issued an update to the Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement (ACTS) collection affecting how institutions report the sex vari...

In January 2026, the U.S. Department of Education’s negotiated rulemaking committee on Accountability in Higher Education and Access Through Demand-driven Workforce Pell (AHEAD) reached consensus on a new federal f...

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...

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...

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) 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...

The Association for Institutional Research (AIR) has joined the PostsecData coalition and other higher education organizations in signing a letter responding to the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed Admission...

The Association for Institutional Research (AIR) joined a coalition of higher education associations that submitted a letter to the U.S. Department of Education expressing concerns about the proposed Admissions and Consu...

As data professionals, we find ourselves in one of the most unsettling reporting environments higher education has faced. The uncertainty is real; shifting federal priorities, new requirements, and unclear guidance makes...

AIR joined 44 other higher education associations this week in submitting comments on the Department of Education’s proposed changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. The proposal would revise ...

When the U.S. Department of Education proposed adding an Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement (ACTS) to IPEDS beginning in 2025–26, AIR recognized the importance of elevating institutional voices in that...

The Association for Institutional Research (AIR) has joined more than 160 higher education and research organizations in signing a letter to House and Senate appropriators urging support for the Financial Accountability ...

In an Inside Higher Ed opinion piece published September 15, 2025, Bryan Cook, vice president of data and policy analysis at the American Council on Education, and Christine M. Keller, executive director and CEO of the A...

On July 9, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) issued Electronic Announcement GE-25-03, reminding institutions that the 2025 Financial Value Transparency (FVT) and Gainful Employment (GE) reporting cycle opened J...

The Association for Institutional Research (AIR) joins more than 50 national higher education organizations in a unified call to renew and strengthen the long-standing partnership between the federal government and colle...

In January 2025, the Association for Institutional Research (AIR) joined a coalition of higher education associations in signing a letter led by the American Council on Education (ACE) to the U.S. Department of Education...

On December 13, 2024, several higher education associations sent a letter urging U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to extend the January 15, 2025, deadline for financial value transparency (FVT) and gainful empl...

In November, AIR was accepted into the Washington Higher Education Secretariat (WHES), a group of more than 50 national associations and organizations that represent a broad spectrum of higher education interests in the ...