AIR Requests Extension of ACTS Reporting Deadline
On February 25, 2026, AIR sent a formal letter to Dr. Matthew Soldner, Acting Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and Acting Director of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), requesting that the deadline for the Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement (ACTS) be extended from March 18 to June 18, 2026.
This request reflects feedback gathered directly from the higher education data community.
What Informed AIR’s Request
In early February, AIR surveyed Institutional Research and data professionals about their experiences implementing ACTS. Nearly 400 professionals responded. Approximately 90 percent identified at least one significant barrier affecting timely and accurate submission, including:
- Staffing capacity
- Data availability or quality
- Interpretation of definitions or requirements
- Timing and uncertainty related to evolving guidance
In addition, 87 percent of respondents indicated that a deadline extension would provide the greatest benefit to data quality and integrity. Read the full survey results for details.
Feedback from AIR’s Data Policy Advisory Panel reinforced these findings. Institutions described substantial effort reconciling decentralized admissions and financial aid data, reconstructing historical records following system transitions, coordinating multi-campus submissions, and preparing for validation errors as submission volume increases.
Implementation Stability and Evolving Guidance
AIR’s letter also acknowledged that the ACTS collection environment has continued to evolve during the reporting window. Templates have been updated, definitions clarified, and technical tools revised. While these changes have strengthened the collection—including the recent update allowing a blank value for the sex variable—each revision requires institutions to revisit files and reassess validation processes.
In a first-cycle collection of this complexity, compressed timelines combined with evolving systems increase the risk of inconsistent interpretation and avoidable validation errors. AIR’s request emphasizes that additional time would support accuracy, documentation, and long-term data usability.
Competing Reporting and Campus Demands
Institutions are simultaneously managing other federal reporting cycles and high-demand campus periods, including the close of the IPEDS spring collection and end-of-term operations. Extending the deadline to June 18 would allow institutions to navigate these competing responsibilities while maintaining appropriate attention to validation and reconciliation.
Protecting Accuracy and Usability
AIR’s request for a modest extension is grounded in a shared goal: ensuring that ACTS data are accurate, consistent, and reliable for students, institutions, and policymakers.
For ongoing updates and resources, visit the ACTS Resource Center at airweb.org/ACTS.
