Appendix F Noncredit Education

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) 2022-23 through 2024-25

Appendix F: Potential Voluntary Noncredit Data Collection Elements (based on earlier proposed changes by NCES that have been removed)

OMB No. 1850-0582 v.30

Submitted by:

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)

Institute of Education Sciences

U.S. Department of Education

July 2022

The following collection on noncredit education is being considered by NCES as a voluntary supplement to the IPEDS data collection. There may be changes or additions to this collection. NCES will continue to develop instructions, definitions, and FAQs related to noncredit education. In addition, NCES will be holding Technical Review Panel (TRP) meetings to help determine other elements that should be included as part of this optional collection and how to best implement the voluntary collection.

In 2022-23, NCES is also adding a checkbox question about noncredit education; the results of responses to that question will help NCES to better understand the impact of noncredit education on Human Resources and Finance calculations such as student-to-faculty ratio and revenues/expenditures per FTE by allowing NCES to identify institutions that offer noncredit education. However, some institutions may want to provide more information on the noncredit education offered by their institution.

A wide range of education and training activities at postsecondary institutions occur outside of traditional credit-bearing coursework and reflect a range of educational, career, and personal offerings that can play an important role in supporting local workforce needs, preparing students for higher level coursework, and providing additional enrichment to the broader community. Noncredit activity is offered by all types of institutions but is more prevalent across some sectors or types of institutions. These institutions may view noncredit activity as an important function and part of their institutional missions. A recent study¹ by Opportunity America estimated that 3.7 million students are enrolled in noncredit programs at community colleges (the study only included community colleges). Those students, and their outcomes, are not included in any publicly available national data collection, resulting in significant gaps in what is known about the scope or scale of noncredit activity.

This also leads to some limitations in other parts of the IPEDS where noncredit activity is included to ease burden on institutions. In the Finance survey component, the lack of information on noncredit enrollment can lead to incorrect estimates for revenues per FTE and expenses per FTE since revenues and expenses for noncredit activities are included in the numerator, but noncredit enrollments are not included in the denominator. For example, some institutions have indicated to NCES that they have large numbers of noncredit students, which makes it appear that the institution has low per FTE spending. In Human resources, the student-to-faculty ratio includes only students enrolled for credit and instructional staff teaching credit courses, however, the survey component also instructional staff teaching exclusively noncredit courses.

Noncredit education constitutes a growing part of postsecondary and adult education. The general duties for the National Center for Education Statistics in The Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (20 USC 9543 (a)(1)(E)) include that The Statistics Center shall collect, report, analyze, and disseminate statistical data related to education in the United States and in other nations, including collecting, acquiring, compiling (where appropriate, on a State-by-State basis), and disseminating full and complete statistics (disaggregated by the population characteristics described in paragraph (3)) on the condition and progress of education, at the preschool, elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and adult levels in the United States, including data on access to, and opportunity for, postsecondary education, including data on financial aid to postsecondary students.

Screening Question

1. Can your institution report an unduplicated count of students enrolled in noncredit education?

 Yes

 No

2. If you responded ‘No’ to question 1, can your institution report a duplicated count of students enrolled in noncredit education?

 Yes

 No

3. If you responded ‘Yes’ to question 1, can your institution report the unduplicated count of students enrolled in noncredit education by race/ethnicity?

 Yes

 No

4. If you responded ‘Yes’ to question 1, can your institution report the unduplicated count of students enrolled in noncredit education by gender?

 Yes

 No

Can your institution report the total number of instructional activity hours for noncredit education?

 Yes, in clock hours

 Yes, in a measurement other than clock hours

Please indicate measurement type

 No

NONCREDIT EDUCATION SCREENS FOR INSTITUTIONS THAT CAN REPORT AN UNDUPLICATED COUNT

12-month unduplicated count of students in noncredit education (For institutions that can report unduplicated counts. Race/ethnicity and Gender would populate based on response to the screening questions).

July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024

Reporting Reminders:

• Students may be enrolled in both for-credit courses and noncredit education. In these cases, students should be reported in the relevant sections of the required E12 survey component.

• Please review the definition of noncredit education, the inclusion / exclusion criteria for reporting noncredit enrollment counts, and related noncredit instructions and FAQs to ensure accurate reporting.

• Noncredit activity includes: Workforce education, Contract training/Customized training, Remedial education, Recreational/Avocational/Leisure/Personal Enrichment, Adult Basic Education (ABE), Adult High School diploma or equivalent, English as a Second Language (ESL), and Continuing Professional Education, among others.

Unduplicated count of students enrolled in noncredit education
	Men	Women	Total (can be greater than the total of men + women)
U.S. Nonresident
Hispanic/Latino
American Indian or Alaska Native
Asian
Black or African American
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
White
Two or More Races
Race and Ethnicity Unknown

12-month noncredit instructional activity (Note: Screen would populate based on response to the screening questions).

	2023-24 total activity	Prior year data (if available)
Clock hour activity

NONCREDIT EDUCATION SCREENS FOR INSTITUTIONS THAT CAN REPORT A DUPLICATED COUNT

12-month unduplicated count of students in noncredit education (For institutions that can report duplicated counts).

July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024

Reporting Reminders:

• Students may be enrolled in both for-credit courses and noncredit education. In these cases, students should be reported in the relevant sections of the required E12 survey component.

• Please review the definition of noncredit education, the inclusion / exclusion criteria for reporting noncredit enrollment counts, and related noncredit instructions and FAQs to ensure accurate reporting.

• Noncredit activity includes: Workforce education, Contract training/Customized training, Remedial education, Recreational/Avocational/Leisure/Personal Enrichment, Adult Basic Education (ABE), Adult High School diploma or equivalent, English as a Second Language (ESL), and Continuing Professional Education, among others.

	Duplicated count of students enrolled in noncredit education
Total

12-month noncredit instructional activity (Note: Screen would populate based on response to the screening questions).

	2023-24 total activity	Prior year data (if available)
Clock hour activity

INSTRUCTIONS

Coverage

Noncredit enrollment to include:

• Include students engaged in any structured noncredit educational activity formally recognized, administered, or sponsored by the institution (e.g., institution provides resources including classroom space, technology, or instructional staff).

• Students must be engaged with an identified instructional leader, which may occur either synchronously or asynchronously. The instructor does not need to be employed by the institution but recognized by the institution as the leader or facilitator of the instructional activity.

• Students enrolled in noncredit continuing professional education.

• Students only auditing courses (i.e., no for-credit enrollment).

• Cooperative extension education

Noncredit enrollment to exclude:

• Community events open to the public such as guest lectures, sporting events, or music performances

• Summer camps / enrichment experiences for minors

• Noncredit activities for which there is no formalized enrollment process, administrative oversight, or instructor

• Student-led informal learning experiences or gatherings

• Required professional development and training for current employees of the institution

Additional guidance

• If a student is currently enrolled in noncredit education but has the potential to receive credit in the future (e.g., if the student later enrolls in a for-credit program and receives credit retroactively), the student should still be currently reported as enrolled in noncredit.

Screening questions

Please respond to the screening questions to determine your institution’s reporting.

Unduplicated count of students enrolled in noncredit education (if applicable)

For institutions that can report unduplicated counts of students enrolled in noncredit education.

Provide an unduplicated total count of all students enrolled in noncredit education. Noncredit education is defined as “Courses or activities carrying no academic credit applicable toward a degree, diploma, certificate, or other recognized postsecondary credential at the institution or within the postsecondary educational system.”

Institutions that indicated that they could report by race/ethnicity and/or gender will be able to disaggregate the data into the relevant categories. Note that for gender, the total may be greater than the sum of men and women. The difference will include students for whom gender was either unknown or who reported another gender other than the binary men/women categories.

The following list provides descriptions and key components of noncredit education for IPEDS reporting purposes. Note that noncredit education at your institution may not meet all specified criteria listed below, but should generally follow these guidelines:

• Noncredit education should consist of formalized instructional activity, typically packaged as a course or sequence of educational activities. Noncredit education typically has an identified time period for instructional activity (i.e., start and end dates), documented learning objectives (e.g., skills, competencies, or proficiencies to be learned or developed), and a planned curriculum (e.g., course units, modules).

• Students go through a formalized enrollment process (e.g., application, sign-up, rostered course) even if the process is different than for-credit enrollment.

• There are institutional administrative elements that establish and manage noncredit education (e.g., division, dean, program manager).

Students may be enrolled in both credit-bearing courses and noncredit education within the same 12-month reporting period. In these cases, report students in the relevant sections of the required E12 survey component. Because students may be reported in both for-credit and noncredit sections of the E12 survey component, headcount enrollment reporting may be “duplicated” between for-credit and noncredit. For this reason, the sum of for-credit and noncredit total enrollment counts may be greater than the unique number of enrolled students.

Duplicated count of students enrolled in noncredit education (if applicable)

For institutions that can report duplicated counts of students enrolled in noncredit education.

Provide an unduplicated total count of all students enrolled in noncredit education. Noncredit education is defined as “Courses or activities carrying no academic credit applicable toward a degree, diploma, certificate, or other recognized postsecondary credential at the institution or within the postsecondary educational system.”

The following list provides descriptions and key components of noncredit education for IPEDS reporting purposes. Note that noncredit education at your institution may not meet all specified criteria listed below, but should generally follow these guidelines:

• Noncredit education should consist of formalized instructional activity, typically packaged as a course or sequence of educational activities. Noncredit education typically has an identified time period for instructional activity (i.e., start and end dates), documented learning objectives (e.g., skills, competencies, or proficiencies to be learned or developed), and a planned curriculum (e.g., course units, modules).

• Students go through a formalized enrollment process (e.g., application, sign-up, rostered course) even if the process is different than for-credit enrollment.

• There are institutional administrative elements that establish and manage noncredit education (e.g., division, dean, program manager).

Students may be enrolled in both credit-bearing courses and noncredit education within the same 12-month reporting period. In these cases, report students in the relevant sections of the required E12 survey component. Because students may be reported in both for-credit and noncredit sections of the E12 survey component, headcount enrollment reporting may be “duplicated” between for-credit and noncredit. For this reason, the sum of for-credit and noncredit total enrollment counts may be greater than the unique number of enrolled students.

Instructional activity for noncredit students

Only institutions that can report clock hours of instructional activity will respond to this question.

Report the total number of noncredit clock hours attempted during the 12-month period of July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024. Clock hours are a unit of measure that represent an hour of scheduled instruction given to students.

To determine the clock hour activity for a course, multiply the clock hour value of the course by the number of students.

Clock Hour Activity = Clock Hour Value * Number of Students Enrolled

Example Calculation: Total clock hour activity for Institution ABC.

Institution ABC offers 3 noncredit activities during the July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024 reporting period:

• Activity 1 is 50-weeks with 30 clock hours per week and 10 students.

• Activity 2 is 20-weeks with 35 clock hours per week and 5 students.

• Activity 3 is 15-weeks with 20 clock hours per week and 10 students.

Compute the clock hour activity for each activity:

• Activity 1: 50 * 30 * 10 = 15,000 hours

• Activity 2: 20 * 35 * 5 = 3,500 hours

• Activity 3: 15 * 20 * 10 = 3,000 hours

Compute the total noncredit clock hour activity for the institution by summing the clock hour activity for all activities:

• 15,000 hours + 3,500 hours + 3,000 hours = 21,500 hours

FAQS

1. Who should I include in noncredit education enrollment reporting?

Include students enrolled in noncredit education. Noncredit education is defined as “Courses or activities carrying no academic credit applicable toward a degree, diploma, certificate, or other recognized postsecondary credential at the institution or within the postsecondary educational system.”

2. What noncredit education should be included?

The following list provides descriptions and key components of noncredit education for IPEDS reporting purposes. Note that noncredit education at your institution may not meet all specified criteria listed below, but should generally follow these guidelines:

• Noncredit education should consist of formalized instructional activity, typically packaged as a course or sequence of educational activities. Noncredit education typically has an identified time period (i.e., start and end dates) for instructional activity, documented learning objectives (e.g., skills, competencies, or proficiencies to be learned or developed), and a planned curriculum (e.g., course units, modules).

• Students go through a formalized enrollment process (e.g., application, sign-up, rostered course) even if the process is different than for-credit enrollment.

• There are institutional administrative elements that establish and manage noncredit education (e.g., division, dean, program manager).

• Types of noncredit education may include: workforce education, contract training/customized training, remedial education, recreational/avocational/leisure/personal enrichment, Adult Basic Education (ABE), adult high school diploma or equivalent, English as a Second Language (ESL), and continuing professional education.

3. How do I report students enrolled in both for-credit courses and noncredit education?

Students may be enrolled in both credit-bearing courses and noncredit education within the same 12-month reporting period. In these cases, report students in the relevant sections of the E12 survey component, which may include both for-credit and noncredit sections. Because students may be reported in both for-credit and noncredit sections of the E12 component, headcount enrollment reporting may be “duplicated” between for-credit and noncredit sections. For this reason, the sum of for-credit and noncredit total enrollment counts may be greater than the unique number of enrolled students. However, within the for-credit enrollment sections of the E12 survey component, student enrollment counts are to remain “unduplicated” (i.e., count students enrolled for-credit only one time during the 12-month reporting period). Within the noncredit education enrollment reporting (Part D), you should make every attempt to also report an “unduplicated” headcount enrollment.

1 Jacoby, T. (2021). The Indispensable Institution: Taking the Measure of Community College Workforce Education. Opportunity America. (https://opportunityamericaonline.org/ccstudy/)