IPEDS Surveys
IPEDS is a system of interrelated surveys conducted annually, which gathers information from every college, university, and technical and vocational institution in the United States and other jurisdictions (such as Puerto Rico) that participates in the federal student financial aid programs.
The Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, requires that institutions that participate in federal student aid programs report data on enrollments, program completions, graduation rates, faculty and staff, finances, institutional prices, and student financial aid. These data are made available to students and parents through the College Navigator and College Affordability and Transparency Center websites, and to researchers and others through the IPEDS Data Center.
Institutional Characteristics
This survey component includes general information about the institution including identification information, educational offerings, award levels, student charges, and athletic conference information.
Admissions
This survey component includes basic information about the undergraduate selection process for entering first-time, degree-seeking students. This includes information about admissions considerations, admissions yields, and SAT and ACT test scores (this survey component was implemented in 2014-15).
Fall Enrollment
This survey component includes the fall semester headcount enrollment of students enrolled in courses creditable toward a diploma, certificate, degree, or other formal award. The information is organized by full- or part-time status, level, race/ethnicity, and gender.
Student Financial Aid
Beginning with 2009, the Student Financial Aid (SFA) survey changed and expanded to reflect the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) regulations. This survey reports the aid "awarded" during the previous academic year to various groups of undergraduate students enrolled in the fall. Data are provided for costs of attendance (i.e. tuition and required fees, books and supplies, living arrangements) and by type of aid, residency, and source.
Graduation Rates
This survey component collects graduation rates for first-time, full-time degree and certificate-seeking undergraduate students through 150% of the normal time of their program length. This survey was developed in part to help institutions comply with requirements of the Student Right-to-Know Act.
Graduation Rates 200%
This survey component extends the time to completion from six years (150% of program length) to eight years for bachelor's seeking students. This is an addendum report piece to the standard graduation rates required by IPEDS. This survey was developed to fulfill requirements in the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008.
Finance
This survey includes information pertaining to the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) standards on the finances of each campus, including the assets, liabilities, plant resources, revenues (operating and non-operating), expenses by function, scholarships and fellowships, and endowment.
Human Resources
This survey includes basic descriptive information (number by full-/part-time status, race/ethnicity and gender) about all employees by type of position (instructional, executive managerial, professional, clerical, etc.), as well as faculty salary averages by rank.
Academic Libraries
This survey includes basic information on library collections, expenditures, and services. Data collected include: counts of books, media, and database collections held in physical and digital/electronic form, and library expenditures on salaries/wages, materials/services, and operations/maintenance. This survey component was implemented in 2014-15.
Completions
This survey includes number of degrees and certificates awarded by field of study, level of award, race/ethnicity, and gender from July 1 of one calendar year through June 30 of the following year.
12-Month Enrollment
This survey includes unduplicated headcount for the total number of students by gender, race/ethnicity, and level enrolled throughout the reporting period (July 1-June 30).
Outcome Measures
This survey includes award and enrollment data on four undergraduate cohorts (first-time, full-time; first-time, part-time; non-first-time, full-time; and non-first-time, part-time) and on eight subcohorts (based on Pell Grant recipient status) of degree seeking students at three points of time (four-, six-, and eight-years after entering the institution).
Cost I
This survey includes information on the student charges for Cost of Attendance estimates and calculates an Average Net Price (ANP) for first-time, full-time undergraduate students. New in 2024-25.
Cost II
This survey includes information on the student charges for Cost of Attendance estimates and calculates an Average Net Price (ANP) for first-time, full-time undergraduate students. New in 2024-25.