Change Memo

MEMORANDUM OMB # 1850-0582 v. 32

DATE: September 14, 2023

TO: Bev M. Pratt

Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget

FROM: Tara Lawley

Chief, Postsecondary Branch, Administrative Data Division, National Center for Education Statistics

Aida Ali Akreyi

Operations Lead, Postsecondary Branch, Administrative Data Division, National Center for Education Statistics

THROUGH: Carrie Clarady, OMB Liaison, NCES

SUBJECT: Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) 2023-24 FAQ, Instruction, and Communications Package Fall 2023 Change Request (OMB# 1850-0582 v.32)

The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) is a web-based data collection system designed to collect basic data from all postsecondary institutions in the United States and the other jurisdictions. IPEDS enables the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to report on key dimensions of postsecondary education such as student enrollment, degrees and other awards earned, tuition and fees, average net price, student financial aid, graduation rates, revenues and expenditures, faculty salaries, staff employed, and information on academic libraries. The IPEDS web-based data collection system was implemented in 2000-01 and collects basic data from approximately 6,600 postsecondary institutions in the United States and the other jurisdictions that are eligible to participate in Title IV Federal financial aid programs. All Title IV institutions are required to respond to IPEDS (Section 490 of the Higher Education Amendments of 1992 (HEA, P.L. 102-325)). IPEDS allows other (non-title IV) institutions to participate on a voluntary basis. Approximately 200 institutions elect to respond. IPEDS data are available to the public through the IPEDS website.

IPEDS 2022-23 through 2024-25 annual data collection was approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in August 2022 (OMB# 1850-0582 v.30). Changes were approved in August 2023 for the 2023-24 data collection (OMB# 1850-0582 v.31).

This request is to revise IPEDS data collection materials to revert some of the changes made to the directions for the 2023-24 data collection. NCES regularly receives feedback from the IPEDS reporting community on areas that require clarification. The Summer 2023 Change request made changes to the following IPEDS survey components: Completions, 12-month Enrollment, Admissions, Outcome Measures, Fall Enrollment, Finance, Human Resources, Graduation Rates, Institutional Characteristics, and Student Financial Aid. While most clarifications provided greater detail to help institutions better understand what needed to be reported, some changes based on the FAFSA Simplification Act to the instructions for the Institutional Characteristics survey component, as well as some changes made to the Student Financial Aid survey component related to cross-over periods and award years, created confusion for data providers. NCES would like to roll back those changes to the directions to those two survey components, and to notify the reporting community of these changes through an additional communication, now added to Appendix B.

The changes made to the IPEDS collection documents are listed in the table on the following pages. These changes do not affect burden for respondents, nor does it change the cost to the federal government.

	Changed instruction/FAQ/screen (where applicable; additions in red, deletions with red strikethrough)	Change type
Institutional Characteristics
1	CoA FAQ #1 – added transportation expenses back to other expenses (p.35) How do I know what amounts to report for food and housing and other expenses for institutionally-controlled housing both on and off campus? Report the food and housing amounts used by your financial aid office for determining student budgets. The other expenses are the amount of money estimated by the financial aid office needed by a student to cover expenses such as laundry, transportation, entertainment, and furnishings. Do not include tuition, required fees, books, course materials, supplies, or equipment required for a program of study, or transportation expenses with other expenses.	Addition and Deletion
Student Financial Aid
2	Removed references that were added about award years and cross-over periods, reverting to the instructions on the reporting period from the previous years. While meant to be clarifying, data providers reached out to us to let us know they were confused. (pp. 7, 8, 12, 13, 20, 21, 25, 27, 36, 39, 42, 44, 52, 55, 57, 59, 61, 67, 70) Any time during academic year 2022-23, including cross-over financial aid award periods assigned to the 2022-23 academic year.  Any time during academic year 2022-23    The financial aid award year from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023), including cross-over financial aid award periods assigned to the 2022-23 academic year.  Reporting Period The financial aid data reported for this component should be for the prior academic year as defined by the institution., including cross-over financial aid award periods assigned to the prior academic year. Reporting Period The data reported for this component should be for the prior academic year and includes crossover award periods assigned to the prior academic year. For program reporters this typically coincides with the financial aid award year, which runs from July 1 through June 30. Detailed Instruction This section provides line-by-line instructions for the Military Servicemember and Veteran Benefits questions. For the Post-9/11 GI Bill benefit, please provide in the first column the number of students receiving the benefit during for the July 1-June 30 reporting period award year (see coverage above). In the second column, provide the total dollar amount for each benefit during the same reporting period. For the Department of Defense Tuition Assistance Program benefit, please provide in the first column the number of students receiving the benefit during for the October 1-September 30 reporting period award year (see coverage above). In the second column, provide the total dollar amount for each benefit during the same reporting period. If no student(s) received benefits at your institution for one of the benefit programs the award year, enter a zero (0) in the cell. In other words, do NOT leave the cell blank for a program that did not have any beneficiaries. What is the time period for which I should report financial aid amounts? Institutions should report aid that was awarded any time during the academic year., including cross-over financial aid award periods assigned to the academic year.	Addition and Deletion
3	Revised General FAQ #2 to remove addition guidance that caused confusion. (p. 68) What is the reporting period covered by SFA for the 2023-24 collection year?    For the 2023-24 data collection, institutions should report award or disbursement data for students enrolled during academic year 2022-23.    For Title IV participating institutions that enroll undergraduate students, report financial aid for the 2022-23 award year, including cross-over award periods assigned to the 2022-23 award year.    To determine the financial aid amounts to report for a given group of students, first identify the student category (e.g., full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduates). Second, determine the student count for that category for the 2022-23 academic year. Third, determine the financial aid awarded to these students for the 2022-23 award year. Do not forget to include cross-over award periods assigned to the 2022-23 award year.  Important Note: If the financial aid student counts do not match student counts reported in another IPEDS survey component, please work with the data reporter for the survey component at your institution to determine why the numbers are different. Contact the IPEDS Help Desk if you need assistance revising or correcting data.    For institutions that enroll undergraduate and graduate students who received military or veteran benefits:  Report for aid awarded any time during the 2022-23 financial aid award year (July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023), including aid disbursed late (after June 30, 2023) for the 2022-23 award year known to the institution).  The data reported for the Post-9/11 GI Bill benefit questions should be for the prior academic year, from July 1 to June 30.  The data reported for the Department of Defense Tuition Assistance Program questions should be for the prior academic year, from October 1 to September 30.	Deletion
4	Added instruction ‘enrolled in the institution’s largest program’ back to Part A. This was never supposed to be removed (p. 19). Of those on Line 05, those enrolled in the institution’s largest program paying the lower of in-state or in-district tuition rate for public institutions awarded grant or scholarship aid from the federal government, state/local government, or the institution Of those on Line 05, those enrolled in the institution’s largest program paying the lower of in-state or in-district tuition rate for public institutions awarded any Title IV federal student aid	Addition
Appendix B – Communication Materials
5	Added a letter/email to data providers to inform them of the rollback of these changes. Please see p. 82 of Appendix B for the full text of this letter.	Addition

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