IPEDS 2023-24 Post-Collection Opening Communication Plan 2023-224 v31

The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) is a series of annual surveys that collect a variety of data from postsecondary institutions in the United States and U.S. territories. RTI International is under contract to conduct the data collection and provide data collection support to IPEDS data providers and users.

The purpose of this Post-Collection Opening Communication Package is to provide NCES with draft templates of all post-collection opening mailings and emailings. Exhibit 1 outlines the overall schedule of our planned coordination and collection communications throughout the collection cycle, and was also included in Deliverable 11a. Exhibits 2 through 39 include the draft text for (a) collection opening announcements, (b) reminder emails and letters to keyholders of non-registered users, (c) reminder emails to keyholders of non-respondent institutions, (d) thank-you emails to CEOS of early-completing institutions, and (e) phone scripts to be used when calling CEOs and keyholders of non-respondent institutions and (f) email communication regarding changes in the Prior Year Revision (PYR) system.

Exhibit 1. IPEDS 2023-24 Data Collection Communications and Follow-Up Schedule

Collection	Date	Correspondence Type	Scheduled Time	Recipient(s)	Communication Criteria
Pre-registration	Prior to 8/9/23	Coordination tree update email	May 2023	Coordinators	All
Registration Period	8/9/23	Letter w/keyholder registration letter and registration certificate	Registration opening	CEO	No previous keyholder
	8/9/23	Registration email w/User ID	Registration opening	Keyholders/Coordinators	All
	8/9/23	Password email	Registration opening	Keyholders/Coordinators	All
	8/9/23	Notification of survey materials update	Registration opening	Software vendors	All registered
	Ongoing	New Keyholder Welcome Package	At time of registration	New Keyholders	All registered
	8/23/23	Prompting registration email	2 weeks following registration opening	Keyholders	Not registered
	8/30/23	Prompting registration letter	3 weeks following registration opening	CEOs	No keyholder registered
	~~9/13/23~~	~~Annual update email~~	~~3 weeks following registration opening~~	~~CEOs/coordinators~~	~~All CEOs, all coordinators~~

Collection	Date	Correspondence Type	Scheduled Time	Recipient(s)	Communication Criteria
Fall 2023	9/6/23	Opening announcement	Collection opening	Keyholders/Coordinators	All
	Ongoing	Thank you email	At time of survey locking	Keyholders/Coordinators	All locked surveys
	9/13/23	Annual update email	3 weeks following registration opening	CEOs/coordinators	All CEOs, all coordinators
	9/13/23	Email regarding changes in the PYR	PYR collection opening	Keyholders/Coordinators	Identified during previous year QC process
	9/13/23	One Last Chance Reminder	1 week following collection opening	CEOs/Keyholders	CEOs of schools having already used OLC
	~~9/20/23~~	~~Prompting registration letter~~	~~4 weeks prior to collection closing~~	~~CEOs~~	~~No keyholder registered~~
	9/20/23	Prompting email	4 weeks prior to collection closing	Keyholders	No data entered
	9/20/23	Prompting email	4 weeks prior to collection closing	New Keyholders	All required surveys not locked
	9/27/23	Thank You email	3 weeks prior to collection closing	CEOs/Keyholders	All surveys completed
	9/27/23	Prompting phone call	4 weeks prior to collection closing	CEOs	No keyholder registered
	10/04/23	Prompting phone call	2 weeks prior to collection closing	Keyholders/CEOs	No data entered
	10/04/23	Prompting email	2 weeks prior to collection closing	Keyholders	No data entered
	10/04/23	Prompting email	2 weeks prior to collection closing	Keyholders	All required surveys not locked
	10/04/23	Prompting phone call	2 weeks prior to collection closing	New Keyholders	All required surveys not locked
	10/11/23	Prompting email	1 week prior to collection closing	Keyholders	No data entered
	10/11/23	Prompting email	1 week prior to collection closing	Keyholders	All required surveys not locked

Exhibit 1. IPEDS 2023-24 Data Collection Communications and Follow-Up Schedule (cont.)

Winter 2023-24	12/6/23	Opening announcement	Collection opening	Keyholders/Coordinators	All
	12/6/23	Email regarding changes in the PYR	PYR collection opening	Keyholders/Coordinators	Identified during previous year QC process
	1/10/24	Prompting registration letter	4 weeks prior to collection closing	CEOs	No keyholder registered
	1/10/24	Prompting email	4 weeks prior to collection closing	Keyholders	No data entered
	1/10/24	Prompting email	4 weeks prior to collection closing	New Keyholders	All required surveys not locked
	1/17/24	Thank You email	3 weeks prior to collection closing	CEOs/Keyholders	All surveys completed
	1/17/24	Prompting phone call	3 weeks prior to collection closing	CEOs	No Keyholder registered
	1/24/24	Prompting phone call	2 weeks prior to collection closing	Keyholders/CEOs	No data entered
	1/24/24	Prompting email	2 weeks prior to collection closing	Keyholders	No data entered
	1/24/24	Prompting email	2 weeks prior to collection closing	Keyholders	All required surveys not locked
	1/24/24	Prompting phone call	2 weeks prior to collection closing	New Keyholders	All required surveys not locked
	1/31/24	Prompting email	1 week prior to collection closing	Keyholders	No data entered
	1/31/24	Prompting email	1 week prior to collection closing	Keyholders	All required surveys not locked
Spring 2024	12/6/23	Opening announcement	Collection opening	Keyholders/Coordinators	All
	12/6/23	Email regarding changes in the PYR	PYR collection opening	Keyholders/Coordinators	Identified during previous year QC process
	2/7/24	Prompting emails (included in TWII)	8 weeks prior to collection closing	Keyholders	No data entered
	2/21/24	Prompting emails (included in TWII)	6 weeks prior to collection closing	Keyholders	No data entered
	3/6/24	Prompting registration letter	4 weeks prior to collection closing	CEOs	No keyholder registered
	3/6/24	Prompting email	4 weeks prior to collection closing	Keyholders	No data entered
	3/6/24	Prompting email	4 weeks prior to collection closing	New Keyholders	All required surveys not locked
	3/13/24	Thank You email	3 weeks prior to collection closing	CEOs/Keyholders	All surveys completed
	3/13/24	Prompting phone call	3 weeks prior to collection closing	CEOs	No Keyholder registered
	3/13/24	Prompting email	3 weeks prior to collection closing	Keyholders	No data entered since Winter
	3/20/24	Prompting phone call	2 weeks prior to collection closing	Keyholders/CEOs	No data entered since Winter
	3/20/24	Prompting phone call	2 weeks prior to collection closing	Keyholders/CEOs	No data entered
	3/20/24	Prompting email	2 weeks prior to collection closing	Keyholders	No data entered
	3/20/24	Prompting email	2 weeks prior to collection closing	Keyholders	All required surveys not locked
	3/20/24	Prompting phone call	2 weeks prior to collection closing	New Keyholders	All required surveys not locked
	3/27/24	Email to keyholder	1 week prior to collection closing	Keyholders	No data entered
	3/27/24	Prompting email	1 week prior to collection closing	Keyholders	All required surveys not locked

Exhibit 2. Fall Opening Announcement Email

Subject: IPEDS Fall Data Collection Now Open

September 6, 2023

The Fall 2023 IPEDS web-based data collection is now open, and will remain open to Keyholders through October 18, 2023.

You can access the collection site at: http://surveys.nces.ed.gov/ipeds OR you may use the main IPEDS website at http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds and follow the links to “Report Your Data.”

Use your 2023-24 UserID and password (emailed to you, or mailed to your institution's CEO, in early August). Keyholder UserIDs begin with “P” or “88G.”
If you have a keyholder change, be sure to change the contact information in the registration screen, which can be found under the Tools menu.
All institutions MUST complete and lock the Institutional Characteristics (IC) component, the Completions (C) component, and 12-month Enrollment (E12) component. The IC Header component must be locked before you can begin submitting data for the Fall components.

Note that the collection will close on October 18, 2023. You will not be able to submit, edit, or lock data after those dates and NO extensions can be granted.

The following assistance is available to you as you prepare your institution’s data submissions:

The IPEDS Help Desk is available to assist you at any time during the collection cycle. Please contact the Help Desk at 1-877-225-2568 or [email protected] if you have any questions about the IPEDS system.
Copies of the survey forms, instructions, file upload specifications, and frequently asked questions are available in the collection system under the Help menu, click on Survey Materials.
The Association for Institutional Research (AIR) has free IPEDS training tutorials available. Follow the link from http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/InsidePages/JoinIn?pageid=37, then click on “AIR's Online Video Tutorials.”

Remember that the completion of all IPEDS surveys, in a timely and accurate manner, is mandatory for all institutions that participate in or are applicants for participation in any Federal financial assistance program authorized by Title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, as amended. IPEDS surveys are mandated by 20 U.S.C. 1094(a)(17). Institutions have been fined for failing to submit complete surveys on time. Title IV, HEA program regulations 34 CFR 668.84, 668.85, and 668.86 permit a fine of up to $67,544 for each violation.

To assist you in meeting this requirement, NCES has established a rigorous follow-up schedule. PLEASE DO NOT IGNORE EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE. You will be prompted ONLY IF YOUR SURVEY SUBMISSIONS ARE NOT COMPLETE.

In order to complete all requirements for data submission, keyholders must LOCK each survey.

Under "Steps to Locking," be sure to run "Perform Edits" and resolve any errors.
When activated (underlined), click "Lock" and follow the instructions.
Please be sure to check your Survey status to make sure that it reads Locked or Complete after you have locked your data.
Use the "Am I Done" feature to ensure that you have completed all required surveys.

Please be sure to provide a current email address for your institution’s Chief Executive (CEO) on your Institution Identification page, as it may be necessary to send IPEDS-related information to your CEO. Keyholders will always be copied on any such email correspondence. For example, NCES will send an email acknowledgement to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of those institutions that lock all of their required survey components prior to the final three weeks of the collection. Although we realize that it is not always possible for the IPEDS data to be submitted this early, we do appreciate the efforts of those individuals who can, and do, complete their data entry early in the collection. As such, we want to recognize the efforts of those individuals.

You can also correct or update any data that were submitted during last year’s collection using the IPEDS Prior Year Data Revision (PYR) system at http://surveys.nces.ed.gov/ipeds_py/. Use your current UserID and password for access. The PYR will open on September 13, 2023.

Finally, please note that Keyholders may “opt out” of receiving some of the scheduled IPEDS reminders during the collection. To participate in the “opt out” opportunity, login to the collection system, go to the Tools menu and select “Follow-up Opt Out”. After reading the instructions, choose the radio button as appropriate. This action must be repeated for EACH collection period, if you choose to continue opting out. Note that new Keyholders cannot opt out, and all IPEDS compliance requirements still apply (e.g., institutions will not be granted extensions for failure to meet the reporting deadline).

Remember, if you have any questions or need help at any time during the collection cycle, you can contact the Help Desk at 1-877-225-2568, or send them an email at [email protected].

Best regards,

Tara Lawley

Program Director

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System

National Center for Education Statistics

Exhibit 3. One Last Chance Reminder Email to CEOs

Subject: IPEDS Notification Regarding Late Submission of Data - [unitid]

September 13, 2023

RE: <institution_name> - <UnitID>

Dear Chief Executive Officer:

As you know, completion of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) survey components is a requirement of your institution’s continued participation in Title IV Federal student financial aid programs. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is charged with conducting the IPEDS data collection, and provides support to participating institutions in this effort. Toward this end, NCES grants every institution ONE (and only one) opportunity to submit survey data beyond the specified deadline for any of the three annual IPEDS data collection periods.

Your institution, <institution_name>, benefitted from this “one opportunity” during the <period_year> data collection. During that collection period, the IPEDS Help Desk accepted post-deadline data and entered it into the IPEDS data collection system on behalf of your institution. This letter serves as a reminder that NCES will not again accept late data during this, the 2023-24 data collection year, or future data collection years. We are copying your institution’s IPEDS keyholder, <KH_name>, on this letter so that he or she is also aware of this notification.

The importance of your institution’s compliance with this reporting responsibility cannot be overstated. Please be aware that responses to the IPEDS surveys are mandated for those institutions that participate or expect to participate in Title IV federal financial aid programs under Section 487(a)(17) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), 20 U.S.C. §1094(a)(17) and the Department of Education’s regulations at 34 C.F.R. §668.14(b)(19). As a condition of continued participation in the federal student aid programs, all institutions must complete, in a timely manner and to the satisfaction of the Secretary, all surveys conducted as a part of the IPEDS. Title IV, HEA program regulations 34 CFR 668.84, 668.85, and 668.86 permit a fine of up to $67,544 for each violation. According to the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA), an institution’s failure to complete and submit these surveys is a serious violation of its obligations under the HEA and the regulations, and appropriate action will be taken by FSA.

If you have any questions about this issue, please feel free to contact the IPEDS Help Desk at 1-877-225-2568 or [email protected] for further information or clarification.

Sincerely,

Ross C. Santy

Associate Commissioner

Administrative Data Division

National Center for Education Statistics

CC: Keyholder_Name

Exhibit 4. Fall Registration Close -4 Weeks Reminder Letter to CEOs

~~<NCES Letterhead>~~

~~September 20, 2023~~

~~ceo_name~~

~~ceo_title~~

~~institution_name~~

~~addr1_txt~~

~~city_txt~~, ~~state_cd~~ ~~zip_text~~

~~Dear Chief Executive Officer:~~

Your institution currently does not have a designated keyholder for the 2023-24 IPEDS data collection cycle; please appoint one at this time, and forward the enclosed materials to that individual. The success of the IPEDS data collection and quality of the IPEDS data depend, in large part, on the efforts of your institution’s keyholder.

The keyholder is responsible for your institution’s data submission and should be someone who is familiar with the IPEDS data collection. This person is responsible for all three collections— Fall 2023, Winter 2023-24, and Spring 2024. The enclosed materials provide the information ~~your~~ ~~appointed keyholder will need to register prior to entering data into the system. Once your keyholder registers, all future correspondence will go directly to him or her.~~

The importance of your institution’s compliance with this reporting responsibility cannot be overstated. Please be aware that responses to the IPEDS surveys are mandated for those institutions that participate or expect to participate in Title IV federal financial aid programs under Section 487(a)(17) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), 20 U.S.C. §1094(a)(17) and the Department of Education’s regulations at 34 C.F.R. §668.14(b)(19). As a condition of continued participation in the federal student aid programs, all institutions must complete, in a timely manner and to the satisfaction of the Secretary, ~~all~~ surveys conducted as a part of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. According to the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA), an institution’s failure to complete and submit these surveys is a serious violation of its obligations under the HEA and the regulations, and appropriate action will be taken by FSA.

~~Registration is currently open, and the data collection periods are scheduled as follows:~~

~~Fall 2023: September 6, 2023 – October 18, 2023~~

~~Winter 2023-24: December 6, 2023 – February 7, 2024~~

~~Spring 2024: December 6, 2023 – April 3, 2024~~

The results of the 2022-23 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) web-based data collections are currently available through the IPEDS Use the Data tools (at the collection level) and the College Navigator website. Links to all of these data tools are on the IPEDS web site at http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds.

There is no need for you to respond to this letter. However, if you need any additional information or have any questions, please contact the IPEDS Help Desk toll free at 1-877-225-2568 (or send an email to [email protected]). Thank you in advance for your assistance in this important project.

~~Sincerely,~~

~~Ross C. Santy~~

~~Associate Commissioner~~

~~Administrative Data Division~~

~~National Center for Education Statistics~~

~~Attachments~~

~~unitid~~

*Includes Keyholder Letter and Registration Certificate

Exhibit 5. Fall Close -4 Weeks Reminder Email to Keyholders

Subject: IPEDS Reminder – Fall Collection Closes in Four Weeks

September 20, 2023

Dear IPEDS Keyholder:

Although there are four weeks remaining in the Fall 2023 IPEDS data collection, please be aware that we are scheduled to close promptly on October 18, 2023. Currently, our records indicate that you have not begun to enter information for the Fall surveys that are required of your institution (excluding IC Header). All institutions are required to complete the IC Header, Institutional Characteristics, Completions, and 12-Month Enrollment survey components.

While we understand that you are busy with many other responsibilities, we would strongly encourage you to enter and lock your data as soon as possible. As you know, under Section 487(a)(17) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, completion of the IPEDS surveys is an integral part of your institution's Program Participation Agreement (PPA) with the Department of Education.

We will be sending additional email reminders on October 4 and October 11. Also on October 4, we will begin calling the CEOs of institutions where keyholders have not begun entering data.

The IPEDS web-based collection system is located at: http://surveys.nces.ed.gov/ipeds and if you have questions concerning accessing the system, or entering, editing, or locking your data, please contact the Help Desk at 1-877-225-2568, or [email protected].

Please do not disregard this email! If you believe that you have received this message in error, please contact the Help Desk. Thank you in advance for your assistance in this important project.

Best regards,

Tara Lawley

Program Director

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System

National Center for Education Statistics

Exhibit 6. Fall Close -4 Weeks Reminder Email to NEW Keyholders

Subject: IPEDS Reminder – Fall Collection Closes in Four Weeks

September 20, 2023

Dear New IPEDS Keyholder:

Although there are four weeks remaining in the Fall 2023 IPEDS data collection, please be aware that we are scheduled to close promptly on October 18, 2023. Currently, our records indicate that you have not completed and locked all surveys that are required of your institution for this Fall collection. While you still have 4 weeks to complete them, we know you are busy with many other responsibilities, and we wanted to contact you so this important task doesn’t slip your mind. All institutions are required to complete the Institutional Characteristics, the Completions, and the 12-Month Enrollment survey components.

When you registered in the IPEDS Data Collection System (DCS), you identified yourself as a new keyholder. As such, we wanted to be sure to highlight a few things:

If you have not yet located and reviewed the blank forms and instructions for completing the surveys, please do so as soon as possible. They are available at https://surveys.nces.ed.gov/ipeds/VisIndex.aspx, Contact the IPEDS Help Desk if you need assistance with finding the correct forms.
If you will have assistance from others at your institution in completing the Fall surveys, please contact those individuals and provide them with the blank forms, instructions, and due date. Also, consider generating and assigning additional UserID and passwords so that these individuals can access the Data Collection System directly. The Help Desk can assist you with this.
We strongly encourage you to enter and lock your data as soon as possible. The Help Desk gets very busy toward the end of the collection, especially during the last few days, and it is harder to reach them. In order that they can answer any questions that you have, please do not wait until the last minute.

As you know, under Section 487(a)(17) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, completion of the IPEDS surveys is an integral part of your institution's Program Participation Agreement (PPA) with the Department of Education.

We will be sending additional email reminders on October 4 and October 11. Also on October 4, we will begin calling the CEOs of institutions where keyholders have not begun entering data.

Please do not disregard this email! If you believe that you have received this message in error, please contact the Help Desk. Thank you in advance for your assistance in this important project.

Best regards,

Tara Lawley

Program Director

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System

National Center for Education Statistics

Exhibit 7. Fall CEO Close -3 Weeks Early-Completer Thank-You Email

Subject: IPEDS Thanks You for Early Response - <UnitID>

September 27, 2023

RE: <institution_name> - <UnitID>

Dear Chief Executive:

The National Center of Education Statistics, part of the U.S. Department of Education, would like to extend its appreciation to your institution, and especially to your IPEDS Keyholder, <keyholder_name>. As of today (three weeks prior to the close of the Fall data collection), all of the required IPEDS surveys for your institution, <institution name>, have been entered, edited, and locked.

Because IPEDS is a very large data collection involving a large number of institutions, completing the surveys and locking them early during the collection period is extremely helpful. Providing IPEDS data is a major undertaking, and we want you to know that we truly appreciate the timely response. We hope that you will pass along our word of gratitude to your Keyholder, as he or she is the one who is typically charged with overseeing the successful data entry and completion of the mandatory IPEDS surveys.

Again, please accept our thanks to you and your staff for your important contributions to the success of IPEDS.

Sincerely,

Tara Lawley

Program Director

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System

National Center for Education Statistics

CC: Keyholder

Exhibit 8. Fall CEO Call Script for No Registered Keyholder

CEO Calls to Title IV Institutions - No Registered Keyholder

Guidelines and Script

Fall 2023

In an effort to get the remaining Title IV schools to register for IPEDS, beginning September 20th, we will be making calls to those schools who have not registered. We have outlined some guidelines to follow when making these calls. Each of you will be getting a list of schools to work sorted by sector.

Goals of these calls:

Get the school to register for IPEDS as soon as possible and remind them of the deadline for IPEDS submission of October 18th; or
Get a good reason for why the school should not be included in IPEDS

List of Sectors:

Central Office Administrative Unit
4-year public
4-year private, not-for-profit
4-year private, for-profit
2-year public
2-year private, not-for-profit
2-year private, for-profit
Less than 2-year public
Less than 2- year private, not-for-profit
Less than 2-year private, for-profit

(99) New Institution

Guidelines to follow for contacting CEOs:

Check Status of the school to see if it is still showing up as not registered. If they have registered since the list was generated, you do not need to call, but be sure to document why the call was NOT made.
CHECK COMMENTS THOROUGHLY to see if there is any reason for the school not being registered. If a reason is given, you may not need to call them. For example, if they called us and said that they are no longer Title-IV, and the incident is pending review by project staff, you do not need to make the call.
When you call the school, you will first ask to speak with the CEO (get his/her name from the Institution Identification page). If you cannot reach the CEO, please leave him/her a message but ALSO try to reach the Keyholder from last year (if there was one). Be sure to introduce yourself as being from the IPEDS help desk and state that you are following up regarding registration for the IPEDS data collection. An example script is shown below.
In rare cases, the CEO may give you a reason why they do not think they need to register or participate in IPEDS. Keep good notes and document them in the Help Desk Application (HDA) thoroughly, then contact a project staff person.
You MAY also get some schools that submit combined data. All schools need to submit their own IC, but other surveys can be combined, in specific situations. If the school is part of a parent-child relationship, but does not appear that way in the system, get the details of the arrangement so that we can set them up properly in the system.

Example script for contacting CEOs:

Hello, my name is ________, calling on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education concerning the IPEDS Fall Data Collection. May I speak with Dr./Mr./Ms. (CEO NAME)?

IF CEO IS UNAVAILABLE:

May I leave a message for Dr./Mr./Ms. (CEO NAME), or can you suggest a time at which I should call back?

LEAVE A MESSAGE THAT YOU CALLED AND ASK THAT THE CEO CALL THE IPEDS HOTLINE (877-225-2568) OR SET AN APPOINTMENT TO CALL BACK.

IF CEO IS AVAILABLE:

Hello Dr./Mr./Ms. (CEO NAME), I am calling concerning the IPEDS Fall Data Collection. In August and September, we sent letters to you requesting that you appoint a keyholder for IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System). Your keyholder has not registered for the Fall data collection which opened on September 7th . IF there is an unregistered keyholder in the system, tell the CEO who that person is. If not, ask: Have you appointed a keyholder?

IF YES:

We need for the keyholder to register and begin data collection immediately in order to meet the October 18th deadline for the data collection. Would you be able to follow-up with the keyholder? Or if you prefer, you can give me the name and phone number of the keyholder and I will be happy to call them.

IF NO:

We need for you to appoint a keyholder immediately so they can register and begin data collection. The deadline for the collection is October 18th. If you could give me the name and phone number of that person now, I will be happy to call them and provide them with the ID and password necessary for them to register and begin data collection.

OBTAIN KEYHOLDER NAME AND PHONE NUMBER IF POSSIBLE AND FOLLOWUP WITH THAT PERSON.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IF NECESSARY:

According to Section 490 of the Higher Education Amendments of 1992, completion of the IPEDS surveys is an important part of your institution’s Program Participation Agreement (PPA) with the Department of Education and is mandatory for participation in federal student financial assistance programs.

Thank you very much for your time and cooperation.

Exhibit 9. Fall Keyholder/CEO Call Script for No Data Entered

“NO DATA” Script: Keyholder/CEO Calls to Registered

Title IV Institutions with no survey data entered

Fall 2023 Collection

Guidelines and Script

In an effort to get the remaining Title IV schools to enter their IPEDS data, beginning October 4th, we will be making calls to those schools that have not entered any survey data for their required surveys. I have outlined some guidelines to follow when making these calls. Each of you will be getting a list of schools assigned to you in the Help Desk Application (HDA).

Goals of these calls:

Get the school to begin data entry as soon as possible and remind them of the deadline for Fall IPEDS submission of October 18th; or
Get a good reason for why the school should not be included in IPEDS.

ALL calls must be thoroughly documented in the call log in the HDA.

Guidelines to follow for contacting keyholder and/or CEOs:

Check Status of the school in the Data Collection System (DCS) to determine if the school is still showing up as not having data entered (i.e. status of “NO DATA”) for the Institutional Characteristics (IC), 12-Month Enrollment (E12), and Completions (C) surveys.
There is a feature in HDA which automatically takes schools off your list as the schools start entering data, but you should still check the status in the DCS before making the call.
If they have begun entering data (i.e. “No Data,” “has data,” “edited,” “clean,” “locked,” or “complete” as the status of ANY of the surveys) since the time that list was generated they do NOT need to be called (but document this reason in the call log when resolving the incident).

CHECK HDA COMMENTS THOROUGHLY to see if there is any reason for the school not making progress. If a valid reason is given, you do not need to call them (e.g. we are determining if they are still Title-IV eligible). However, enter a comment explaining that you reviewed the comments and explaining WHY you are not calling.

When you call the school, you will ask to speak FIRST with the keyholder (KH). If the keyholder is no longer employed there, or is unavailable, then you will ask to speak with the CEO.
The Keyholder name and phone number can be located in the HDA (contacts screen) or in the collection system (DCS) in the “user” screen,
The CEO name and phone number is located in the DCS in the “Institution Identification” screen.

Be sure to introduce yourself as being from the IPEDS helpdesk and state that you are following up regarding data entry for the IPEDS Fall data collection. An example script is shown below.

The keyholder or CEO may give you a reason why they do not think they need to participate in IPEDS. There should, however, be VERY few acceptable reasons. If they try to give you such a reason, please keep good notes and CONTACT Project Staff.

If the KH or CEO says that the data are being combined with another school, or that the school has closed, seek help from supervisor or Project Staff to determine how to handle the specific situation.

Although you will only be calling schools with Keyholders, you should note that there are also users called “coordinators” and they have a later deadline of November 1st. If someone tells you that their deadline is November1st, seek help from a colleague to determine if the user is actually a coordinator.
Keyholder UserIDs start with “P” or “88G.” Any other IDs (starting with a 2-digit number) are “coordinator” users.

Example script for contacting Keyholders and CEOs:

First, try to contact the Keyholder:

Hello, my name is ________, calling on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education concerning the IPEDS Fall Data Collection. May I speak with Dr./Mr./Ms. (Keyholder NAME)?

IF keyholder IS UNAVAILABLE:

May I leave a message for Dr./Mr./Ms. (NAME), or can you suggest a time at which I should call back? (Or if you have already made 2-3 call attempts:) Is there someone else I can talk to about the IPEDS Fall data collection?

LEAVE A MESSAGE THAT YOU CALLED AND ASK THAT THE Keyholder/CEO CALL THE IPEDS Help Desk (877-225-2568) OR SET AN APPOINTMENT TO CALL BACK.

IF Keyholder is available:

Hello Dr./Mr./Ms. (KH NAME), I am calling concerning the IPEDS Fall Data Collection. ***Please note that all calls from the Help Desk may be monitored for quality control purposes*** As of today, we see that you have not yet begun entering data. We wanted to make sure you were aware of the October 18th deadline. Is there anything I can help you with to assure that you are able to meet this deadline?

(If “NO”): Please remember that the deadline for the study is October 18th and that participation is mandatory for schools that participate in Title IV student financial aid programs. The IPEDS Help Desk will be open Oct. 9^th - Oct. 18^th from 8:30am-8pm weekdays, 9:30am-6pm Saturday Oct. 7^th & 1:30pm-6pm Sunday Oct. 8^th. Thank you very much and have a nice day.

(If “YES”) Answer any questions they may have.

If keyholder is unavailable, try to contact the CEO.

Hello, my name is ________, calling for the U.S. Department of Education concerning the IPEDS Fall Data Collection. May I speak with Dr./Mr./Ms. (CEO NAME)?

IF CEO IS UNAVAILABLE:

May I leave a message for Dr./Mr./Ms. (NAME), or can you suggest a time at which I should call back? Or is there someone else I can talk to about the Fall data collection?

LEAVE A MESSAGE THAT YOU CALLED AND ASK THAT THE CEO CALL THE IPEDS HOTLINE (877-225-2568) OR SET AN APPOINTMENT TO CALL BACK.

IF CEO IS AVAILABLE:

Hello Dr./Mr./Ms. (CEO NAME), I am calling concerning the IPEDS Fall Data Collection. ****Please note that all calls from the Help Desk may be monitored for quality control purposes.****As of today, your school has not yet begun entering data. We wanted to make sure you are aware of the October 18th deadline. I tried contacting your keyholder, Dr/Mr./Ms. (KH Name), but was unable to reach him/her.

We would very much appreciate your help because the surveys must be completed by October 18th and they are mandatory for schools that participate in Title IV student financial aid programs.

Is there anything I can help you with to assure that you are able to meet the October 18th deadline?

(If “NO”): Then thank you very much for reminding your keyholder, and have a nice day.

(If “YES”) Answer any questions they may have.

*** A checkbox has been added in HDA. Once the script has been read, indicating that the call may be monitored for quality control purposes, the box should be checked, and this part of the script does not need to be read during future calls to the school.

IF CEO THINKS SCHOOL IS OUT OF SCOPE FOR IPEDS, OBTAIN REASON AND RECORD DETAILS. Contact Project Staff with this information.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IF NECESSARY:

Thank you very much for your time and cooperation.

Exhibit 10. Fall Close -2 Weeks Reminder Email to Keyholder for “No Data Entered” or “All Required Surveys Not Locked”

Subject: IPEDS Reminder – Fall Collection Closes in Two Weeks

October 4, 2023

Dear IPEDS Keyholder:

The Fall 2023 IPEDS data collection is scheduled to close in just two weeks, on October 18th. Currently, our records indicate that you have not yet locked the required surveys that are being conducted this Fall.

All institutions are required to complete the IC Header, Institutional Characteristics (IC), Completions (C), and 12-Month Enrollment (E12) components.

Please remember that you must lock each survey for it to be considered a response. Use the "Am I Done?" feature to confirm that all of your required surveys are locked.

While we understand that you are busy with many other responsibilities, we would strongly encourage you to enter and lock your data as soon as possible. Section 487(a)(17) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, requires that, as a condition of continued participation in the federal student aid programs, all institutions must complete the IPEDS surveys.

At this time, the Help Desk is beginning to call the CEOs of Title IV institutions that have not yet begun entering any data. In order to avoid receiving such a call, please begin entering your data as soon as possible. Following today's email reminder, we will send one additional email reminder, on October 11^th, to ensure your compliance with the collection deadline date of October 18th, 2023.

The data collection website is located at http://surveys.nces.ed.gov/ipeds. If you have questions concerning accessing the system, or entering, editing, or locking your data, please contact the Help Desk at 1-877-225-2568, or [email protected]. The help desk will operate extended hours starting October 9th and continuing through the end of the collection on October 18th: Weekdays 8:30am to 8:00pm, Saturday (October 149:30am to 6:00pm, and Sunday (October 15) 1:00pm to 6:00pm, all times are Eastern.

Thank you in advance for your assistance in this important project.

Sincerely,

Tara Lawley

Program Director

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System

National Center for Education Statistics

Exhibit 11. Fall Keyholder Call Script for Institutions with NEW Keyholder and All Required Surveys Not Yet Locked

New Keyholder Script: Keyholder Calls to Registered

Title IV Institutions with a new Keyholder and all surveys not locked

Fall 2023 Collection

Guidelines and Script

In recent years, new keyholders have been most at risk for failing to complete all required surveys by the collection deadline. To better target these less experienced keyholders, we will be contacting them if all required surveys are not locked as of two weeks remaining in the collection.

Note: New keyholders are self-identified by selecting the “New Keyholder” radio button at the time of their registration in the IPEDS collection system.

Beginning October 4th, we will be making calls to new keyholders if they haven’t yet locked all surveys. Guidelines for conducting these calls are outlined below. Call assignments will be made within the Help Desk Application (HDA).

Goals of these calls:

Confirm that the new keyholder is aware of the Fall IPEDS submission of October 18th
Confirm that the new keyholder is aware of all surveys required during the fall collection;
Offer assistance, if needed, to assist the keyholder in completing and locking the surveys.

ALL calls must be thoroughly documented in the call log in the HDA.

Guidelines to follow for contacting the keyholder:

Check Status of the school in the Data Collection System (DCS) to determine if the school is still not yet complete (i.e. status other than “locked” or “complete” for the Institutional Characteristics (IC), 12-Month Enrollment (E12), and Completions (C) surveys).
If they have completed entering data (i.e. “locked,” or “complete” as the status for ALL of the above surveys) since the time that list was generated they do NOT need to be called, but document this reason in the call log when resolving the incident.

CHECK HDA COMMENTS THOROUGHLY to see if there is any reason for the school not making progress, or if the Keyholder has already been in contact with the help desk to seek assistance.
When you call the school, you will ask to speak with the keyholder (KH). If the keyholder is no longer employed there, or is unavailable, then you will ask to speak with the CEO.
The Keyholder name and phone number can be located in the HDA (contacts screen) or in the collection system (DCS) on the “user” screen,
Be sure to introduce yourself as being from the IPEDS helpdesk and state that you are following up regarding data entry for the IPEDS Fall data collection. An example script is included below.
Although you will only be calling schools with Keyholders, you should note that there are also users called “coordinators” and they have a later deadline of November 1st. If someone tells you that their deadline is November 1stseek help from a colleague to determine if the user is actually a coordinator. Keyholder UserIDs start with “P” or “88G.” Any other IDs (starting with a 2-digit number) are “coordinator” users.

Example script for contacting Keyholders:

Hello, my name is ________, calling on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education concerning the IPEDS Fall Data Collection. May I speak with Dr./Mr./Ms. (Keyholder NAME)?

IF keyholder IS UNAVAILABLE:

May I leave a message for Dr./Mr./Ms. (NAME), or can you suggest a time at which I should call back?

LEAVE A MESSAGE THAT YOU CALLED AND ASK THAT THE KEYHOLDER CALL THE IPEDS Help Desk (877-225-2568) OR SET AN APPOINTMENT TO CALL BACK.

IF Keyholder is available:

Hello Dr./Mr./Ms. (KH NAME), I am calling concerning the IPEDS Fall Data Collection. ***Please note that all calls from the Help Desk may be monitored for quality control purposes*** Because you have identified yourself as a new keyholder, we are contacting you as a courtesy to make sure you are aware of the October 18th deadline for submitting Fall data.

Are you aware that your institution has surveys due by October 13th, which includes Institutional Characteristics, Completions, and 12-Month Enrollment?

Are you the individual who will be completing the Fall surveys?

(If NO: Have you contacted the individuals responsible for those surveys and provided the blank forms, instructions, and due dates?)

(If YES: Have you located the blank forms and instructions for completing the surveys?)

Is there anything I can help you with to assure that you are able to meet this deadline? (If “YES”) Answer any questions they may have.

Please keep the Help Desk phone number handy in case you have questions that we can assist you with. Do you need the phone number?

(If “YES”) Provide phone number and email address.

We also wanted to encourage you to complete the surveys as soon as possible. Just to let you know, the Help Desk tends to get very busy toward the end of the collection, especially the last few days, and it is harder to reach us. In order that we can answer any questions that you have, please do not wait until the last minute.

Thank you for your time, and have a nice day.

Exhibit 12. Fall Close -1 Week Reminder Email to Keyholder for “No Data Entered” or “All Required Surveys are Not Locked”

**Note: The CEO will be copied on this email IF the institution is on the “special call” list having missed a collection deadline during the prior 2 collection years.

Subject: IPEDS Reminder – Fall Collection Closes in One Week

October 11, 2023

Dear IPEDS Keyholder:

As of today, your institution had not completed its required IPEDS Fall 2023 survey components. The IC Header, Institutional Characteristics (IC), Completions (C) and 12-Month Enrollment (E12) components are required for all institutions.

You can access the data collection site at: http://surveys.nces.ed.gov/ipeds. Log into the system and click on the "Am I Done?" link at the top of your institution's survey list to see which surveys you need to complete.

Please do NOT ignore this email but if you feel you have received it in error, call the Help Desk at 1-877-225-2568.

The Fall 2023 data collection will close to keyholders on Wednesday, October 18, 2023, at midnight Pacific Time. You will not be able to submit, edit, or lock data after that date and NO extensions can be granted. Please remember that each survey component must be locked to be considered a response. If you have not locked the required IPEDS survey components by October 18, your institution will be referred to the office of Federal Student Aid for appropriate action.

Section 487(a)(17) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, requires that, as a condition of continued participation in the federal student aid programs, all institutions must complete the IPEDS surveys. Title IV, HEA program regulations 34 CFR 668.84, 668.85, and 668.86 permit a fine of up to $67,544 for each violation.

If you have questions concerning accessing the system, or entering, editing, or locking your data, please contact the Help Desk at 1-877-225-2568, or [email protected]. The help desk will be operating extended hours through the end of the collection on October 18 as follows: Weekdays 8:30am to 8:00pm, Saturday (October 14) 9:30am to 6:00pm and Sunday (October 15) 1:00pm to 6:00pm, all times are Eastern.

Thank you in advance for your assistance in this important project.

Sincerely,

Ross C. Santy

Associate Commissioner

Administrative Data Division

National Center for Education Statistics

Exhibit 13. Winter/Spring Opening Announcement Email

Subject: IPEDS Winter AND Spring Data Collections Now Open

December 6, 2023

Dear IPEDS Keyholder:

Both the Winter 2023-24 and Spring 2024 web-based data collections are now open. The Winter collection will remain open through February 7, 2024, and the Spring collection will remain open through April 3, 2024.

You can access the collection site at: http://surveys.nces.ed.gov/IPEDS

IMPORTANT NOTE: When you log in, you will need to choose a new password, because your current password has expired.

For the Winter collection:

All institutions MUST complete the Student Financial Aid (SFA) component and most institutions must complete the Graduation Rates (GR), Graduation Rates 200 (GR200), Admissions (ADM) and Outcome Measures (OM) components. These survey components must be completed by February 7, 2024.

For the Spring collection:

All institutions MUST complete the Human Resources (HR), Finance (F), Fall Enrollment (EF), and Academic Libraries (AL) components by April 3, 2024.

Please make a note of the reporting deadlines for these survey components. You will not be able to submit, edit, or lock data after those dates and NO extensions can be granted.

The following assistance is available to you as you prepare your institution’s data submissions:

The IPEDS Help Desk is available to assist you at any time during the collection cycle. Please contact the Help Desk at 1-877-225-2568 or [email protected] if you have any questions about the IPEDS system.
Copies of the survey forms, instructions, file upload specifications, and frequently asked questions are available in the collection system under the Help menu.
The Association for Institutional Research (AIR) has free IPEDS online tutorials available at https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/join-in/training-and-outreach, click on AIR's Online Video Tutorials. Select Online Tutorials from the left menu to access overviews and key reporting concepts and tips for completing IPEDS surveys.

Remember that the completion of all IPEDS surveys, in a timely and accurate manner, is mandatory for all institutions that participate or are applicants for participation in any Federal financial assistance program authorized by Title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, as amended. IPEDS surveys are mandated by 20 U.S.C. 1094(a)(17). Institutions have been fined for failing to submit complete surveys on time.

In order to complete all requirements for data submission, keyholders must LOCK each survey.

Under "Steps to Locking," be sure to run "Perform Edits" and resolve any errors.
When activated (underlined), click "Lock" and follow the instructions.
Please be sure to check your Survey status to make sure that it reads Locked or Complete after you have locked your data.
Use the "Am I Done" feature to ensure that you have completed all required surveys.

NCES will send an email acknowledgement to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of those institutions that lock all of their required survey components prior to the final three weeks of the collection. Although we realize that it is not always possible for the IPEDS data to be submitted this early, we do appreciate the efforts of those individuals who can, and do, complete their data entry early in the collection. As such, we want to recognize the efforts of those individuals. If your institution changes keyholders at any time during the year, be sure to change the contact information on the registration screen, which can be found under "Tools."

You can correct or update any data that were submitted during last year’s collection using the IPEDS Prior Year Data Revision system at http://surveys.nces.ed.gov/ipeds_py/. Survey components will be open for revision during their regular data collection period. For example, revisions to the Completions component can be made during the Fall data collection period. Use your current UserID and password for access.

Finally, please note that Keyholders may “opt-out” of receiving some of the scheduled IPEDS reminders during the collection. To participate in the “opt-out” opportunity, login to the collection system, go to the Tools menu and select “Follow-up Opt Out”. After reading the instructions, choose the radio button as appropriate. This action must be repeated for EACH collection period, if you choose to continue opting-out. Note that new Keyholders cannot opt-out, and all IPEDS compliance requirements still apply (e.g. institutions will not be granted extensions for failure to meet the reporting deadline).

Best regards,

Tara Lawley

Program Director

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System

National Center for Education Statistics

Exhibit 14. Winter Registration Close -4 Weeks Reminder Letter to CEOs

January 10, 2024

ceo_name

ceo_title

institution_name

addr1_txt

city_txt, state_cd zip_text

Dear Chief Executive Officer:

Your institution currently does not have a designated keyholder for the 2023-24 collection cycle. So that your institution does not miss any additional reporting deadlines, it is essential that you appoint one at this time, and forward the enclosed materials to that individual. The success of the IPEDS data collection and quality of the IPEDS data depend, in large part, on the efforts of your institution’s keyholder.

The keyholder is responsible for your institution’s data submission and should be someone who is familiar with the IPEDS data collection. This person is responsible for all three collections— Fall 2023, Winter 2023-24, and Spring 2024. The enclosed materials provide the information your appointed keyholder will need to register prior to entering data into the system. Once your keyholder registers, all future correspondence will go directly to him or her.

The importance of your institution’s compliance with this reporting responsibility cannot be overstated. Please be aware that responses to the IPEDS surveys are mandated for those institutions that participate or expect to participate in Title IV federal financial aid programs under Section 487(a)(17) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), 20 U.S.C. §1094(a)(17) and the Department of Education’s regulations at 34 C.F.R. §668.14(b)(19). As a condition of continued participation in the federal student aid programs, all institutions must complete, in a timely manner and to the satisfaction of the Secretary, all surveys conducted as a part of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. According to the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA), an institution’s failure to complete and submit these surveys is a serious violation of its obligations under the HEA and the regulations, and appropriate action will be taken by FSA. Title IV, HEA program regulations 34 CFR 668.84, 668.85, and 668.86 permit a fine of up to $67,544 for each violation.

The data collection periods for the 2023-24 IPEDS collection year are scheduled as follows:

Fall 2023: September 6, 2023 – October 18, 2023

Winter 2023-24: December 6, 2023 – February 7, 2024

Spring 2024: December 6, 2023 – April 3, 2024

The results of the 2022-23 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) web-based data collections are currently available through the IPEDS Use the Data tools and the College Navigator website. Links to all of these data tools are on the IPEDS web site at http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds.

Sincerely,

Ross C. Santy

Associate Commissioner

Administrative Data Division

National Center for Education Statistics

Attachments

unitid

Exhibit 15. Winter Close -4 Weeks Reminder Email to Keyholders

Subject: IPEDS Reminder – Winter Collection Closes in Four Weeks

January 10, 2024

Dear IPEDS Keyholder:

There are four weeks remaining in the Winter 2023-24 IPEDS data collection, and we are scheduled to close promptly on February 7, 2024. Currently, our records indicate that you have not begun to enter information for the survey components which are required of your institution. All institutions are required to complete the Student Financial Aid (SFA) survey component, while most institutions are also required to complete the Graduation Rates (GR) Graduation Rates 200 (GR200), Admissions (ADM) and Outcome Measures (OM) components. You will not be able to submit, edit, or lock data after the due date and NO extensions can be granted.

We will be sending additional email reminders on January 24th and January 31st. Also on January 24th, we will begin calling the CEOs of institutions where keyholders have not begun entering data.

The IPEDS web-based collection system is located at: http://surveys.nces.ed.gov/ipeds. If you have questions concerning accessing the system, or entering, editing, or locking your data, please contact the Help Desk at 1-877-225-2568, or [email protected].

Please do not disregard this email! If you believe that you have received this message in error, please contact the Help Desk. Thank you in advance for your assistance in this important project.

Best regards,

Tara Lawley

Program Director

Postsecondary Institutional Studies Program

National Center for Education Statistics

Exhibit 16. Winter Close -4 Weeks Reminder Email to NEW Keyholders

Subject: IPEDS Reminder – Winter Collection Closes in Four Weeks

January 10, 2024

Dear IPEDS Keyholder:

Although there are four weeks remaining in the Winter 2023-24 IPEDS data collection, please be aware that we are scheduled to close promptly on February 7, 2024. Currently, our records indicate that you have not completed and locked all surveys that are required of your institution for this Winter collection. All institutions are required to complete the Student Financial Aid (SFA), Graduation Rates (GR), Graduation Rates 200 (GR200), Admissions (ADM) and Outcome Measures (OM) survey components, if applicable to the institution.

When you registered in the IPEDS Data Collection System (DCS), you identified yourself as a new keyholder. As such, we wanted to be sure to highlight a few things:

If you have not yet located and reviewed the blank forms and instructions for completing the survey components, please do so as soon as possible. Contact the IPEDS Help Desk if you need assistance with finding the correct forms.
If you are not the individual who will be completing the Winter surveys, please contact the individuals responsible for those surveys and provide them with the blank forms, instructions, and due date. Also, consider generating and assigning “proxy UserIDs” so that these individuals can access the DCS directly.
While we understand that you are busy with many other responsibilities, we would strongly encourage you to enter and lock your data as soon as possible. Just to let you know, the Help Desk tends to get very busy toward the end of the collection, especially the last few days, and it is harder to reach them. In order that they can answer any questions that you have, please do not wait until the last minute.

We will be sending additional email reminders on January 24th and January 31st. Also on January 24th, we will begin calling the CEOs of institutions where keyholders have not begun entering data.

Please do not disregard this email! If you believe that you have received this message in error, please contact the Help Desk. Thank you in advance for your assistance in this important project.

Best regards,

Tara Lawley

Program Director

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System

National Center for Education Statistics

Exhibit 17. Winter CEO Close -3 Weeks Early-Completer Thank-You Email

Subject: IPEDS Thanks You for Early Response - <UnitID>

RE: <institution_name> - <UnitID>

January 17, 20234

Dear Chief Executive:

The National Center of Education Statistics, part of the U.S. Department of Education, would like to extend its appreciation to your institution, and especially to your IPEDS Keyholder, <keyholder name>. As of today (three weeks prior to the close of the Winter data collection), the required IPEDS survey components for your institution, <institution name>, have been entered, edited, and locked.

Again, please accept our thanks to you and your staff for your important contributions to the success of IPEDS.

Sincerely,

Tara Lawley

Program Director

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System

National Center for Education Statistics

CC: Keyholder

Exhibit 18. Winter CEO Call Script for No Registered Keyholder

CEO Calls to Title IV Institutions - No Registered Keyholder

Guidelines and Script

Winter 2023-24

In an effort to get the remaining Title IV schools to register for IPEDS, beginning on January 17th, we will be making calls to those schools who have not registered. We have outlined some guidelines to follow when making these calls. Each of you will be getting a list of schools to work sorted by sector.

Goals of these calls:

Get the school to register for IPEDS as soon as possible and remind them of the deadline for IPEDS submission of February 7th or
Get a good reason for why the school should not be included in IPEDS

List of Sectors:

Central Office Administrative Unit
4-year public
4-year private, not-for-profit
4-year private, for-profit
2-year public
2-year private, not-for-profit
2-year private, for-profit
Less than 2-year public
Less than 2- year private, not-for-profit
Less than 2-year private, for-profit

(99) New Institution

Guidelines to follow for contacting CEOs:

Check Status of the school to see if it is still showing up as not registered. If they have registered since the list was generated, you do not need to call, but be sure to document why the call was NOT made.
CHECK COMMENTS THOROUGHLY to see if there is any reason for the school not being registered. If a reason is given, you may not need to call them. For example, if they called us and said that they are no longer Title-IV, and the incident is pending review by project staff, you do not need to make the call.
When you call the school, you will first ask to speak with the CEO (get his/her name from the Institution Identification page). If you cannot reach the CEO, please leave him/her a message but ALSO try to reach the Keyholder from last year (if there was one). Be sure to introduce yourself as being from the IPEDS help desk and state that you are following up regarding registration for the IPEDS data collection. An example script is shown below.
In rare cases, the CEO may give you a reason why they do not think they need to register or participate in IPEDS. Keep good notes and document them in the Help Desk Application (HDA) thoroughly, then contact a project staff person.
You MAY also get some schools that submit combined data. All schools need to submit their own IC, but other surveys can be combined, in specific situations. If the school is part of a parent-child relationship, but does not appear that way in the system, get the details of the arrangement so that we can set them up properly in the system.

Example script for contacting CEOs:

Hello, my name is ________, calling on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education concerning the IPEDS Winter Data Collection. May I speak with Dr./Mr./Ms. (CEO NAME)?

IF CEO IS UNAVAILABLE:

May I leave a message for Dr./Mr./Ms. (CEO NAME), or can you suggest a time at which I should call back?

LEAVE A MESSAGE THAT YOU CALLED AND ASK THAT THE CEO CALL THE IPEDS HOTLINE (877-225-2568) OR SET APPOINTMENT TO CALL BACK.

IF CEO IS AVAILABLE:

Hello Dr./Mr./Ms. (CEO NAME), I am calling concerning the IPEDS Winter Data Collection. In August and September, we sent letters to you requesting that you appoint a keyholder for IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System). Your keyholder has not registered for the current data collection year, which opened in September. [IF there is an unregistered keyholder in the system, tell the CEO who that person is. If not, ask:] Have you appointed a keyholder?

IF YES:

We need for the keyholder to register and begin data collection immediately in order to meet the February 7th deadline for the Winter data collection. Would you be able to follow-up with the keyholder? Or if you prefer, you can give me the name and phone number of the keyholder and I will be happy to call them.

IF NO:

We need for you to appoint a keyholder immediately so they can register and begin data collection. The deadline for the collection is February 7th. If you could give me the name and phone number of that person now, I will be happy to call them and provide them with the ID and password necessary for them to register and begin data collection.

OBTAIN KEYHOLDER NAME AND PHONE NUMBER IF POSSIBLE AND FOLLOWUP WITH THAT PERSON.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IF NECESSARY:

Thank you very much for your time and cooperation.

Exhibit 19. Winter Keyholder/CEO Call Script for No Data Entered

“NO DATA” Script: Keyholder/CEO Calls to Registered

Title IV Institutions with no survey data entered

Winter 2023-24 Collection

Guidelines and Script

In an effort to get the remaining Title IV schools to enter their IPEDS data, beginning January 24th, we will be making calls to those schools that have not entered any survey data for their required surveys. Outlined below are guidelines to follow when making these calls. Each of you will be getting a list of schools assigned to you in the Help Desk Application (HDA).

Goals of these calls:

Get the school to begin data entry as soon as possible and remind them of the deadline for Winter IPEDS submission of February 7th; or
Get a good reason for why the school should not be included in IPEDS.

ALL calls must be thoroughly documented in the call log in the HDA.

Guidelines to follow for contacting keyholder and/or CEOs:

Institutions will be assigned in the HDA, thus any institution showing up in the call list currently has not begun entering data for their SFA, GR, GR200, ADM or OM surveys (i.e. status of “NO DATA” or “No-Data”). Schools will automatically be removed from the list once they have started entering SFA, GR, GR200, ADM and/or OM data. These reminder calls apply ONLY to schools that have not started the Winter surveys. For the purpose of these calls, we do NOT consider the status of any other surveys, thus you may be told that the institution HAS started, but in those cases they have likely started on the HR, EF, F, and/or AL surveys, but NOT the SFA, GR, GR200, ADM or OM surveys.

CHECK HDA COMMENTS THOROUGHLY to see if there is any reason for the school not making progress. If a valid reason is given, you do not need to call them (e.g. we are determining if they are still Title-IV eligible). However, enter a comment explaining that you reviewed the comments and explaining WHY you are not calling.

When you call the school, you will ask to speak FIRST with the keyholder (KH). If the keyholder is no longer employed there, or is unavailable, then you will ask to speak with the CEO.
The Keyholder name and phone number can be located in the HDA (contacts screen) or in the collection system (DCS) on the “user” screen,
The CEO name and phone number is located in the DCS in the “Institution Identification” screen.

Be sure to introduce yourself as being from the IPEDS helpdesk and state that you are following up regarding data entry for the IPEDS Winter data collection. An example script is shown below.

The keyholder or CEO may give you a reason why they do not think they need to participate in IPEDS. There should, however, be VERY few acceptable reasons. If they try to give you such a reason, please keep good notes and CONTACT Project Staff.

If the KH or CEO says that the data are being combined with another school, or that the school has closed, seek help from a Supervisor or Project Staff to determine how to handle the specific situation.
Although you will only be calling schools with Keyholders, you should note that there are also users called “coordinators” and they have a later deadline of February 21st. If someone tells you that their deadline is February 21st, seek help from a colleague to determine if the user is actually a coordinator Keyholder UserIDs start with “P” or “88G.” Any other IDs (starting with a 2-digit number) are “coordinator” users.

Example script for contacting Keyholders and CEOs:

First, try to contact the Keyholder:

Hello, my name is ________, calling on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education concerning the IPEDS Winter Data Collection. May I speak with Dr./Mr./Ms. (Keyholder NAME)?

IF keyholder IS UNAVAILABLE:

LEAVE A MESSAGE THAT YOU CALLED AND ASK THAT THE Keyholder/CEO CALL THE IPEDS Help Desk (877-225-2568) OR SET AN APPOINTMENT TO CALL BACK.

IF Keyholder is available:

Hello Dr./Mr./Ms. (KH NAME), I am calling concerning the IPEDS Winter Data Collection. As of today, we see that you have not yet begun entering data for the required Winter surveys. We wanted to make sure you were aware of the February 7th deadline. Is there anything I can help you with to assure that you are able to meet this deadline?

(If “NO”): Please remember that the deadline for entering your data is February 7th and that participation is mandatory for schools that participate in Title IV student financial aid programs. Thank you very much and have a nice day.

(If “YES”) Answer any questions they may have.

If keyholder is unavailable, try to contact the CEO.

Hello, my name is ________, calling for the U.S. Department of Education concerning the IPEDS Winter Data Collection. May I speak with Dr./Mr./Ms. (CEO NAME)?

IF CEO IS UNAVAILABLE:

May I leave a message for Dr./Mr./Ms. (NAME), or can you suggest a time at which I should call back? Or is there someone else I can talk to about the Winter data collection?

LEAVE A MESSAGE THAT YOU CALLED AND ASK THAT THE CEO CALL THE IPEDS Help Desk (877-225-2568) OR SET AN APPOINTMENT TO CALL BACK.

IF CEO IS AVAILABLE:

Hello Dr./Mr./Ms. (CEO NAME), I am calling concerning the IPEDS Winter Data Collection. As of today, your school has not yet begun entering data for the required surveys. We wanted to make sure you are aware of the February 7th deadline. I tried contacting your keyholder, Dr/Mr./Ms. (KH Name), but was unable to reach him/her.

We would very much appreciate your help because the Winter surveys must be completed by February 7th and is mandatory for schools that participate in Title IV student financial aid programs.

Is there anything I can help you with to assure that you are able to meet the February 7th deadline?

(If “NO”): Then thank you very much for reminding your keyholder, and have a nice day.

(If “YES”) Answer any questions they may have.

IF CEO THINKS SCHOOL IS OUT OF SCOPE FOR IPEDS, OBTAIN REASON AND RECORD DETAILS. Contact Project Staff with this information.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IF NECESSARY:

Thank you very much for your time and cooperation.

Exhibit 20. Winter Close -2 Weeks Reminder Email to Keyholder for “No Data Entered” or “All Required Surveys Not Locked”

Subject: IPEDS Reminder – Winter Collection Closes in Two Weeks

January 24, 2024

Dear IPEDS Keyholder:

The Winter 2023-24 IPEDS data collection is scheduled to close to Keyholders in just two weeks, on February 7th. Currently, our records indicate that you have not yet locked the required surveys that are being conducted during the Winter collection. You will not be able to submit, edit, or lock data after the due date and NO extensions can be granted.

All institutions MUST complete the Student Financial Aid (SFA) component and most institutions must complete the Graduation Rates (GR), Graduation Rates 200 (GR200), Admissions (ADM) and Outcome Measures (OM) components. These survey components must be completed by February 7, 2024. Although the Human Resources (HR), Finance (F), Fall Enrollment (EF), and Academic Libraries (AL) components are currently available, they are not required to be locked until Spring.

Please remember that you must lock each survey for it to be considered a response. Use the "Am I Done?" feature to confirm that your required surveys are locked.

At this time, the Help Desk is beginning to call the CEOs of Title IV institutions that have not yet begun entering any data for the SFA, GR, GR200, ADM and OM survey components. In order to avoid receiving such a call, please begin entering your data as soon as possible. Following today's email reminder, we will send one additional email reminder, on January 31st, to ensure your compliance with the collection deadline date of February 7th.

The data collection website is located at http://surveys.nces.ed.gov/ipeds. If you have questions concerning accessing the system, or entering, editing, or locking your data, please contact the Help Desk at 1-877-225-2568, or [email protected]. The help desk will operate extended hours starting January 29th and continuing through the end of the collection on February 7th as follows: Weekdays 8:30am to 8:00pm, Saturday (February 3) 9:30am to 6:00pm, and Sunday (February 4) 1:00pm to 6:00pm (all times are Eastern).

Thank you in advance for your assistance in this important project.

Sincerely,

Tara Lawley

Program Director

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System

National Center for Education Statistics

Exhibit 21. Winter Keyholder Call Script for Institutions with NEW Keyholder and All Required Surveys Not Yet Locked

New Keyholder Script: Keyholder Calls to Registered

Title IV Institutions with a new Keyholder and all surveys not locked

Winter 2023-24 Collection

Guidelines and Script

In recent years, new* keyholders have been most at risk for failing to complete all required surveys by the collection deadline. To better target these less experienced keyholders, we will be contacting them if all required surveys are not locked as of two weeks remaining in the collection.

*New keyholders are self-identified by selecting the “New Keyholder” radio button at the time of their registration in the IPEDS collection system.

Beginning January 24th, we will be making calls to new keyholders if they haven’t yet locked all surveys. Guidelines for conducting these calls are outlined below. Call assignments will be made within the Help Desk Application (HDA).

Goals of these calls:

Confirm that the new keyholder is aware of the Winter IPEDS submission of February 7th;
Confirm that the new keyholder is aware of all surveys required during the Winter collection;
Offer assistance, if needed, to assist the keyholder in completing and locking the surveys.

ALL calls must be thoroughly documented in the call log in the HDA.

Guidelines to follow for contacting the keyholder:

Check Status of the school in the Data Collection System (DCS) to determine if the school is still not yet complete (i.e. status other than “locked” or “complete” for the Student Financial Aid (SFA), Graduation Rates (GR), Graduation Rates 200 (GR200), Admissions (ADM) and Outcome Measures (OM).
If they have completed entering data (i.e. “locked,” or “complete” as the status for ALL of the above surveys) since the time that list was generated they do NOT need to be called, but document this reason in the call log when resolving the incident.

CHECK HDA COMMENTS THOROUGHLY to see if there is any reason for the school not making progress, or if the Keyholder has already been in contact with the help desk to seek assistance.
When you call the school, you will ask to speak with the keyholder (KH). If the keyholder is no longer employed there, or is unavailable, then you will ask to speak with the CEO.
The Keyholder name and phone number can be located in the HDA (contacts screen) or in the collection system (DCS) in the “user” screen,
Be sure to introduce yourself as being from the IPEDS helpdesk and state that you are following up regarding data entry for the IPEDS Winter data collection. An example script is included below.
Although you will only be calling schools with Keyholders, you should note that there are also users called “coordinators” and they have a later deadline of February21st. If someone tells you that their deadline is February21st, seek help from a colleague to determine if the user is actually a coordinator. Keyholder UserIDs start with “P” or “88G.” Any other IDs (starting with a 2-digit number) are “coordinator” users.

Example script for contacting Keyholders:

Hello, my name is ________, calling on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education concerning the IPEDS Winter Data Collection. May I speak with Dr./Mr./Ms. (Keyholder NAME)?

IF keyholder IS UNAVAILABLE:

May I leave a message for Dr./Mr./Ms. (NAME), or can you suggest a time at which I should call back?

LEAVE A MESSAGE THAT YOU CALLED AND ASK THAT THE Keyholder CALL THE IPEDS Help Desk (877-225-2568) OR SET AN APPOINTMENT TO CALL BACK.

IF Keyholder is available:

Hello Dr./Mr./Ms. (KH NAME), I am calling concerning the IPEDS Winter Data Collection. ***Please note that all calls from the Help Desk may be monitored for quality control purposes*** Because you have identified yourself as a new keyholder, we are contacting you as a courtesy to make sure you are aware of the February 7th deadline for submitting Winter data.

Are you aware that your institution’s Student Financial Aid, Graduation Rates, Graduation Rates 200, Admissions and Outcome Measures surveys must be completed by February 7th?

Are you the individual who will be completing the surveys?

(If NO: Have you contacted the individuals responsible for the surveys and provided the blank forms, instructions, and due dates?)

(If YES: Have you located the blank forms and instructions for completing the surveys?)

Is there anything I can help you with to assure that you are able to meet this deadline? (If “YES”) Answer any questions they may have.

Please keep the Help Desk phone number handy in case you have questions that we can assist you with. Do you need the phone number?

(If “YES”) Provide phone number and email address: 1-877-225-2568, [email protected]

We also wanted to encourage you to complete the survey as soon as possible. Just to let you know, the Help Desk tends to get very busy toward the end of the collection, especially the last few days, and it is harder to reach us. In order that we can answer any questions that you have, please do not wait until the last minute.

Thank you for your time, and have a nice day.

Exhibit 22. Winter Close -1 Week Reminder Email to Keyholder for “No Data Entered” or “All Required Surveys Not Locked”

**Note: The CEO will be copied on this email IF the institution is on the “special call” list having missed a collection deadline during the prior 2 collection years.

Subject: IPEDS Reminder – Winter Collection Closes in One Week

January 31, 2024

Dear IPEDS Keyholder:

The Winter 2023-24 IPEDS data collection will close in one week, on February 7, 2024. As of today, your institution has not completed all of the surveys that are required this Winter.

Please do NOT ignore this email but if you feel you have received it in error, call the Help Desk at 1-877-225-2568.

Once the collection closes to keyholders on Wednesday, February 7, 2024, at midnight Pacific Time, you will not be able to submit, edit, or lock data and NO extensions can be granted. Please remember that each survey component must be locked to be considered a response.

If you have not locked the required IPEDS survey components by February 7, your institution will be referred to the office of Federal Student Aid for appropriate action. Section 487(a)(17) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, requires that, as a condition of continued participation in the federal student aid programs, all institutions must complete the IPEDS surveys. Title IV, HEA program regulations 34 CFR 668.84, 668.85, and 668.86 permit a fine of up to $67,544 for each violation.

The data collection website is located at: http://surveys.nces.ed.gov/ipeds. If you have questions concerning accessing the system, or entering, editing, or locking your data, please contact the Help Desk at 1-877-225-2568, or [email protected]. The help desk will be operating extended hours through the end of the collection on February 7 as follows: Weekdays 8:30am to 8:00pm, Saturday (February 3) 9:30am to 6:00pm and Sunday (February 4) 1:00pm to 6:00pm (all times are Eastern).

Thank you in advance for your assistance in this important project.

Sincerely,

Ross C. Santy

Associate Commissioner

Administrative Data Division -

National Center for Education Statistics

Exhibit 23. Spring Reminder to Include in This Week in IPEDS

**The following note will be included in regularly-scheduled “This Week in IPEDS” announcements during the Spring collection period, at approximately “Close -8” weeks and “Close -6” weeks.

Spring 2024 Data Collection Deadline Reminder

As a reminder to those institutions that did not complete them prior to the Winter collection deadline, the following survey components (if applicable) remain open, with the Keyholder deadline of April 3, 2024: Human Resources (HR), Fall Enrollment (EF), Finance (F), and Academic Libraries (AL).

Exhibit 24. Spring Close -4 Weeks Registration Reminder Letter to CEOs

March 6, 2024

ceo_name

ceo_title

institution_name

addr1_txt

city_txt, state_cd zip_text

Dear Chief Executive Officer:

The keyholder is responsible for your institution’s data submission and should be someone who is familiar with the IPEDS data collection. This person is responsible for all three collections— Fall 2023, Winter 2023-24, and Spring 2024. The enclosed materials provide the information your appointed keyholder will need to register prior to entering data into the system. Once your keyholder registers, all future correspondence will go directly to him or her.

The importance of your institution’s compliance with this reporting responsibility cannot be overstated. Please be aware that responses to the IPEDS surveys are mandated for those institutions that participate or expect to participate in Title IV federal financial aid programs under Section 487(a)(17) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), 20 U.S.C. §1094(a)(17) and the Department of Education’s regulations at 34 C.F.R. §668.14(b)(19). As a condition of continued participation in the federal student aid programs, all institutions must complete, in a timely manner and to the satisfaction of the Secretary, all surveys conducted as a part of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. According to the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA), an institution’s failure to complete and submit these surveys is a serious violation of its obligations under the HEA and the regulations, and appropriate action will be taken by FSA.

The data collection periods for the 2023-24 IPEDS collection year are scheduled as follows:

Fall 2023: September 6, 2023 – October 18, 2023

Winter 2023-24: December 6, 2023 – February 7, 2024

Spring 2024: December 6, 2023 – April 3, 2024

Sincerely,

Ross C. Santy

Associate Commissioner

Administrative Data Division

National Center for Education Statistics

Attachments

unitid

Exhibit 25. Spring Close -4 Weeks Reminder Email to Keyholders for “No Data Entered”

Subject: IPEDS Reminder – Spring Collection Closes in Four Weeks

March 6, 2024

Dear IPEDS Keyholder:

There are four weeks remaining in the Spring 2024 IPEDS data collection, and we are scheduled to close to Keyholders promptly on April 3, 2024. Currently, our records indicate that you have not begun to enter information for the survey components which are required of your institution. All institutions are required to complete the Human Resources (HR), Fall Enrollment (EF), and Finance (F) components; most institutions are required to complete the Academic Libraries (AL) component as well.

We will be sending additional email reminders on March 20th and March 27th. Also on March 20th, we will begin calling the CEOs of institutions where keyholders have not begun entering data.

Please do not disregard this email! If you believe that you have received this message in error, please contact the Help Desk. Thank you in advance for your assistance in this important project.

Best regards,

Tara Lawley

Program Director

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System

National Center for Education Statistics

Exhibit 26. Spring Close -4 Weeks Reminder Email to NEW Keyholders

Subject: IPEDS Reminder – Spring Collection Closes in Four Weeks

March 6, 2024

Dear IPEDS Keyholder:

Although there are four weeks remaining in the Spring 2024 IPEDS data collection, please be aware that we are scheduled to close to Keyholders promptly on April 3, 2024. Currently, our records indicate that you have not completed and locked all surveys that are required of your institution for this Spring collection. All institutions are required to complete the Human Resources, Fall Enrollment, and Finance survey components; most institutions are required to complete the Academic Libraries component as well.

When you registered in the IPEDS Data Collection System (DCS), you identified yourself as a new keyholder. As such, we wanted to be sure to highlight a few things:

If you have not yet located and reviewed the blank forms and instructions for completing the surveys, please do so as soon as possible. Contact the IPEDS Help Desk if you need assistance with finding the correct forms.
If you are not the individual who will be completing the Spring surveys, please contact the individuals responsible for those surveys and provide them with the blank forms, instructions, and due date. Also, consider generating and assigning “proxy UserIDs” so that these individuals can access the DCS directly.
While we understand that you are busy with many other responsibilities, we would strongly encourage you to enter and lock your data as soon as possible. Just to let you know, the Help Desk tends to get very busy toward the end of the collection, especially the last few days, and it is harder to reach them. In order that they can answer any questions that you have, please do not wait until the last minute.

We will be sending additional email reminders on March 20th and March 27th. Also on March 20th, we will begin calling the CEOs of institutions where keyholders have not begun entering data.

Please do not disregard this email! If you believe that you have received this message in error, please contact the Help Desk. Thank you in advance for your assistance in this important project.

Best regards,

Tara Lawley

Program Director

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System

National Center for Education Statistics

Exhibit 27. Spring CEO Close -3 Weeks Early-Completer Thank-You Email

Subject: IPEDS Thanks You for Early Response - <UnitID>

March 13, 2024

RE: <institution_name> - <UnitID>

Dear Chief Executive:

The National Center of Education Statistics, part of the U.S. Department of Education, would like to extend its appreciation to your institution, and especially to your IPEDS Keyholder, <Keyholder name>. As of today (three weeks prior to the close of the Spring data collection), the required survey components for your institution, <Institution Name>, have been entered, edited, and locked.

Again, please accept our thanks to you and your staff for your important contributions to the success of IPEDS.

Sincerely,

Tara Lawley

Program Director

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System

National Center for Education Statistics

CC: <Keyholder Name>

Exhibit 28. Spring CEO Call Script for No Registered Keyholder

CEO Calls to Title IV Institutions - No Registered Keyholder

Guidelines and Script

Spring 2024

In an effort to get the remaining Title IV schools to register for IPEDS, beginning March 13, we will be making calls to those schools who have not registered. We have outlined some guidelines to follow when making these calls. Each of you will be getting a list of schools to work sorted by sector.

Goals of these calls:

Get the school to register for IPEDS as soon as possible and remind them of the deadline for IPEDS submission of April 3; or
Get a good reason for why the school should not be included in IPEDS

List of Sectors:

Central Office Administrative Unit
4-year public
4-year private, not-for-profit
4-year private, for-profit
2-year public
2-year private, not-for-profit
2-year private, for-profit
Less than 2-year public
Less than 2- year private, not-for-profit
Less than 2-year private, for-profit

(99) New Institution

Guidelines to follow for contacting CEOs:

Check Status of the school to see if it is still showing up as not registered. If they have registered since the list was generated, you do not need to call, but be sure to document why the call was NOT made.
CHECK COMMENTS THOROUGHLY to see if there is any reason for the school not being registered. If a reason is given, you may not need to call them. For example, if they called us and said that they are no longer Title-IV, and the incident is pending review by project staff, you do not need to make the call.
When you call the school, you will first ask to speak with the CEO (get his/her name from the Institution Identification page). If you cannot reach the CEO, please leave him/her a message but ALSO try to reach the Keyholder from last year (if there was one). Be sure to introduce yourself as being from the IPEDS help desk and state that you are following up regarding registration for the IPEDS data collection. An example script is shown below.
In rare cases, the CEO may give you a reason why they do not think they need to register or participate in IPEDS. Keep good notes and document them in the Help Desk Application (HDA) thoroughly, then contact a project staff person.
You MAY also get some schools that submit combined data. All schools need to submit their own IC, but other surveys can be combined, in specific situations. If the school is part of a parent-child relationship, but does not appear that way in the system, get the details of the arrangement so that we can set them up properly in the system.

Example script for contacting CEOs:

Hello, my name is ________, calling on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education concerning the IPEDS Spring Data Collection. May I speak with Dr./Mr./Ms. (CEO NAME)?

IF CEO IS UNAVAILABLE:

May I leave a message for Dr./Mr./Ms. (CEO NAME), or can you suggest a time at which I should call back?

LEAVE A MESSAGE THAT YOU CALLED AND ASK THAT THE CEO CALL THE IPEDS HOTLINE (877-225-2568) OR SET AN APPOINTMENT TO CALL BACK.

IF CEO IS AVAILABLE:

Hello Dr./Mr./Ms. (CEO NAME), I am calling concerning the IPEDS Spring Data Collection. In August and September, we sent letters to you requesting that you appoint a keyholder for IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System). Your keyholder has not registered for the current data collection, which opened in December. [IF there is an unregistered keyholder in the system, tell the CEO who that person is. If not, ask: Have you appointed a keyholder?]

IF YES:

We need for the keyholder to register and begin data collection immediately in order to meet the April 3^rd deadline for the Spring data collection. Would you be able to follow-up with the keyholder? Or if you prefer, you can give me the name and phone number of the keyholder and I will be happy to call them.

IF NO:

We need for you to appoint a keyholder immediately so they can register and begin data collection. The deadline for the collection is April 3^rd. If you could give me the name and phone number of that person now, I will be happy to call them and provide them with the ID and password necessary for them to register and begin data collection.

OBTAIN KEYHOLDER NAME AND PHONE NUMBER IF POSSIBLE AND FOLLOWUP WITH THAT PERSON.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IF NECESSARY:

Thank you very much for your time and cooperation.

Exhibit 29. Spring Close -3 Weeks Reminder Email No Data Since Winter

Subject: IPEDS Reminder – Spring Collection Closes in Three Weeks

March 13, 2024

Dear IPEDS Keyholder:

There are three weeks remaining in the Spring data collection, and we are scheduled to close promptly on April 3, 2024. During the Winter collection period you began (or completed) Human Resources (HR), Fall Enrollment (EF), Finance (F), and/or Academic Libraries (AL) components. However, our records indicate that you have not entered any information recently, and that you have not locked all the required surveys that are being conducted this Spring. All four survey components, if applicable to your institution, are required to be completed and locked prior to the end of the Spring collection.

We will be sending additional email reminders on March 20th and March 27th. Also on March 20th, we will begin calling the CEOs of institutions where keyholders have not yet begun entering data.

Please do not disregard this email! If you believe that you have received this message in error, please contact the Help Desk. Thank you in advance for your assistance in this important project.

Best regards,

Tara Lawley

Program Director

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System

National Center for Education Statistics

Exhibit 30. Spring Keyholder/CEO Call Script for No Data Entered

“NO DATA” Script: Keyholder/CEO Calls to Registered

Title IV Institutions with no survey data entered

Spring 2024 Collection

Guidelines and Script

In an effort to get the remaining Title IV schools to enter their IPEDS data, beginning March 20th we will be making calls to those schools that have not entered any survey data for their required Spring surveys: Human Resources (HR), Enrollment (EF), Finance (F), and Academic Libraries (AL). Outlined below are guidelines to follow when making these calls. Each of you will be getting a list of schools assigned to you in the Help Desk Application (HDA).

Goals of these calls:

Get the school to begin data entry as soon as possible and remind them of the deadline for Spring IPEDS submission of April 3^rd; or
Get a good reason for why the school should not be included in IPEDS.

ALL calls must be thoroughly documented in the call log in the HDA.

Guidelines to follow for contacting keyholder and/or CEOs:

Institutions will be assigned in the HDA, thus any institution showing up in the call list currently has not begun entering data for their surveys (i.e. status of “NO DATA” or “No-Data”). Schools will automatically be removed from the list once they have started entering data.

The first round of reminder calls apply ONLY to schools that have not started ANY of their Spring surveys. A second round of calls will be assigned later for institutions that may have started (or completed) HR, EF, F, or AL during the Winter, but have not done any data entry during the Spring collection.

CHECK HDA COMMENTS THOROUGHLY to see if there is any reason for the school not making progress. If a valid reason is given, you do not need to call them (e.g. we are determining if they are still Title-IV eligible). However, enter a comment explaining that you reviewed the comments and explaining WHY you are not calling.

When you call the school, you will ask to speak FIRST with the keyholder (KH). If the keyholder is no longer employed there, or is unavailable, then you will ask to speak with the CEO.
The Keyholder name and phone number can be located in the HDA (contacts screen) or in the collection system (DCS) on the “user” screen,
The CEO name and phone number is located in the DCS in the “Institution Identification” screen.

Be sure to introduce yourself as being from the IPEDS helpdesk and state that you are following up regarding data entry for the IPEDS Spring data collection. An example script is included below.

The keyholder or CEO may give you a reason why they do not think they need to participate in IPEDS. There should, however, be VERY few acceptable reasons. If they try to give you such a reason, please keep good notes and CONTACT Project Staff with this information.

If the KH or CEO says that the data are being combined with another school, or that the school has closed, seek help from a Team Leader or Project Staff to determine how to handle the specific situation.

Although you will only be calling schools with Keyholders, you should note that there are also users called “coordinators” and they have a later deadline of April17th. If someone tells you that their deadline is April17th, seek help from a colleague to make sure the user is really a coordinator.
Keyholder UserIDs start with “P” or “88G.” Any other IDs (starting with a 2-digit number) are “coordinator” users.

Example script for contacting Keyholders and CEOs:

First, try to contact the Keyholder:

Hello, my name is ________, calling on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education concerning the IPEDS Spring Data Collection. May I speak with Dr./Mr./Ms. (Keyholder NAME)?

IF keyholder IS UNAVAILABLE:

LEAVE A MESSAGE THAT YOU CALLED AND ASK THAT THE Keyholder/CEO CALL THE IPEDS Help Desk (877-225-2568) OR SET AN APPOINTMENT TO CALL BACK.

IF Keyholder is available:

Hello Dr./Mr./Ms. (KH NAME), I am calling concerning the IPEDS Spring Data Collection. As of today, we see that you have not yet begun entering data for the required Spring surveys. We wanted to make sure you were aware of the April 3rd deadline. Is there anything I can help you with to assure that you are able to meet this deadline?

(If “NO”): Please remember that the deadline for entering your data is April 3rd and that participation is mandatory for schools that participate in Title IV student financial aid programs. Thank you very much and have a nice day.

(If “YES”) Answer any questions they may have.

If keyholder is unavailable, try to contact the CEO.

Hello, my name is ________, calling for the U.S. Department of Education concerning the IPEDS Spring Data Collection. May I speak with Dr./Mr./Ms. (CEO NAME)?

IF CEO IS UNAVAILABLE:

May I leave a message for Dr./Mr./Ms. (NAME), or can you suggest a time at which I should call back? (Or if you have already made 2-3 call attempts:) Or is there someone else I can talk to about the Spring data collection?

LEAVE A MESSAGE THAT YOU CALLED AND ASK THAT THE CEO CALL THE IPEDS Help Desk (877-225-2568) OR SET AN APPOINTMENT TO CALL BACK.

IF CEO IS AVAILABLE:

Hello Dr./Mr./Ms. (CEO NAME), I am calling concerning the IPEDS Spring Data Collection. As of today, your school has not yet begun entering data for the required surveys. We wanted to make sure you are aware of the April 3rd deadline. I tried contacting your keyholder, Dr/Mr./Ms. (KH Name), but was unable to reach him/her.

We would very much appreciate your help because the surveys must be completed by April 3rd and are mandatory for schools that participate in Title IV student financial aid programs.

Is there anything I can help you with to assure that you are able to meet the April 3rd deadline?

(If “NO”): Then thank you very much for reminding your keyholder, and have a nice day.

(If “YES”) Answer any questions they may have.

IF CEO THINKS SCHOOL IS OUT OF SCOPE FOR IPEDS, OBTAIN REASON AND RECORD DETAILS. Contact Project Staff with this information.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IF NECESSARY:

Thank you very much for your time and cooperation.

Exhibit 31. Spring Close -2 Weeks Reminder Email to Keyholder for “No Data Entered” or “All Required Surveys Not Locked”

Subject: IPEDS Reminder – Spring Collection Closes in Two Weeks

March 20, 2024

Dear IPEDS Keyholder:

The Spring 2024 IPEDS data collection is scheduled to close in just two weeks, on April 3. Currently, our records indicate that you have not yet locked the required surveys that are being conducted this Spring.

All institutions are required to complete the Human Resources (HR), Enrollment (EF) Finance (F), and Academic Libraries (AL) components.

Please remember that you must lock each survey component for it to be considered a response. Use the "Am I Done?" feature to confirm that your required surveys are locked.

The office of Federal Student Aid has provided the following warning to institutions that did not provide data during recent IPEDS collections: "We want to stress that compliance with these reporting requirements is an important obligation for all schools that participate in the federal student aid programs... An institution's failure to complete and submit these surveys is considered a serious violation of its obligations under the HEA and the regulations."

At this time, the Help Desk is beginning to call the CEOs of Title IV institutions that have not yet begun entering any data. In order to avoid receiving such a call, please begin entering your data as soon as possible. Following today's email reminder, we will send one additional email reminder, on March 27, to ensure your compliance with the collection deadline date of April 3, 2024.

The data collection website is located at http://surveys.nces.ed.gov/ipeds. If you have questions concerning accessing the system, or entering, editing, or locking your data, please contact the Help Desk at 1-877-225-2568, or [email protected]. The help desk will operate extended hours starting March 25 and continuing through the end of the collection on April 3 as follows: Weekdays 8:30am to 8:00pm, and Saturday (March 30) 9:30am to 6:00pm and Sunday (March 31) 1:00pm to 6:00pm, all times are Eastern.

Thank you in advance for your assistance in this important project.

Sincerely,

Tara Lawley

Program Director

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System

National Center for Education Statistics

Exhibit 32. Spring Keyholder Call Script for Institutions with NEW Keyholder and All Required Surveys Not Yet Locked

New Keyholder Script: Keyholder Calls to Registered

Title IV Institutions with a new Keyholder and all surveys not locked

Spring 2024 Collection

Guidelines and Script

*New keyholders are self-identified by selecting the “New Keyholder” radio button at the time of their registration in the IPEDS collection system.

Beginning March 20th, we will be making calls to new keyholders if they haven’t yet locked all surveys. Guidelines for conducting these calls are outlined below. Call assignments will be made within the Help Desk Application (HDA).

Goals of these calls:

Confirm that the new keyholder is aware of the Spring IPEDS submission of April 3^rd;
Confirm that the new keyholder is aware of all surveys required during the Spring collection;
Offer assistance, if needed, to assist the keyholder in completing and locking the surveys.

ALL calls must be thoroughly documented in the call log in the HDA.

Guidelines to follow for contacting the keyholder:

Check Status of the school in the Data Collection System (DCS) to determine if the school is still not yet complete (i.e. status other than “locked” or “complete” for the Human Resources (HR), Enrollment (EF), Finance (F), and Academic Libraries (AL) surveys).
If they have completed entering data (i.e. “locked,” or “complete” as the status for ALL of the above surveys) since the time that list was generated they do NOT need to be called, but document this reason in the call log when resolving the incident.

CHECK HDA COMMENTS THOROUGHLY to see if there is any reason for the school not making progress, or if the Keyholder has already been in contact with the help desk to seek assistance.
When you call the school, you will ask to speak with the keyholder (KH). If the keyholder is no longer employed there, or is unavailable, then you will ask to speak with the CEO.
The Keyholder name and phone number can be located in the HDA (contacts screen) or in the collection system (DCS) on the “user” screen,
Be sure to introduce yourself as being from the IPEDS helpdesk and state that you are following up regarding data entry for the IPEDS Spring data collection. An example script is included below.
Although you will only be calling schools with Keyholders, you should note that there are also users called “coordinators” and they have a later deadline of April17th. If someone tells you that their deadline is April17th, seek help from a colleague to determine if the user is actually a coordinator. Keyholder UserIDs start with “P” or “88G.” Any other IDs (starting with a 2-digit number) are “coordinator” users.

Example script for contacting Keyholders:

Hello, my name is ________, calling on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education concerning the IPEDS Spring Data Collection. May I speak with Dr./Mr./Ms. (Keyholder NAME)?

IF keyholder IS UNAVAILABLE:

May I leave a message for Dr./Mr./Ms. (NAME), or can you suggest a time at which I should call back?

LEAVE A MESSAGE THAT YOU CALLED AND ASK THAT THE Keyholder CALL THE IPEDS Help Desk (877-225-2568) OR SET AN APPOINTMENT TO CALL BACK.

IF Keyholder is available:

Hello Dr./Mr./Ms. (KH NAME), I am calling concerning the IPEDS Spring Data Collection. ***Please note that all calls from the Help Desk may be monitored for quality control purposes*** Because you have identified yourself as a new keyholder, we are contacting you as a courtesy to make sure you are aware of the April 3^rd deadline for submitting Spring data.

Are you aware that your institution has surveys due by April 3^rd, which includes Human Resources (HR), Enrollment (EF), Finance (F), and Academic Libraries (AL)?

Are you the individual who will be completing the Spring surveys?

(If NO: Have you contacted the individuals responsible for those surveys and provided the blank forms, instructions, and due dates?)

(If YES: Have you located the blank forms and instructions for completing the surveys?)

Is there anything I can help you with to assure that you are able to meet this deadline? (If “YES”) Answer any questions they may have.

Please keep the Help Desk phone number handy in case you have questions that we can assist you with. Do you need the phone number?

(If “YES”) Provide phone number and email address.

Thank you for your time, and have a nice day.

Exhibit 33. Spring Close -1 Week Reminder Email to Keyholder for “No Data Entered” or “All Required Surveys Not Locked”

**Note: The CEO will be copied on this email IF the institution is on the “special call” list having missed a collection deadline during the prior 2 collection years.

Subject: IPEDS Reminder – Spring Collection Closes in One Week

March 27, 2024

Dear IPEDS Keyholder:

The Spring 2024 IPEDS data collection will close in one week, on April 3, 2024. As of today, your institution has not completed all surveys that are required this Spring.

Please do NOT ignore this email but if you feel you have received it in error, call the Help Desk at 1-877-225-2568.

Once the collection closes to keyholders on Wednesday, April 3, 2024, at midnight Pacific Time, you will not be able to submit, edit, or lock data and NO extensions can be granted. Please remember that each survey component must be locked to be considered a response.

If you have not locked the required IPEDS survey components by April 3, your institution will be referred to the office of Federal Student Aid for appropriate action. Section 487(a)(17) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, requires that, as a condition of continued participation in the federal student aid programs, all institutions must complete the IPEDS surveys. Title IV, HEA program regulations 34 CFR 668.84, 668.85, and 668.86 permit a fine of up to $67,544 for each violation.

The data collection system is located at: http://surveys.nces.ed.gov/ipeds. If you have questions concerning accessing the system, or entering, editing, or locking your data, please contact the Help Desk at 1-877-225-2568, or [email protected]. The help desk will operate extended hours through the end of the collection on April 3as follows: Weekdays 8:30am to 8:00pm, and Saturday (March 30) 9:30am to 6:00pm and Sunday (March 31) 1:00pm to 6:00pm, all times are Eastern.

Thank you in advance for your assistance in this important project.

Sincerely,

Ross C. Santy

Associate Commissioner

Administrative Data Division

National Center for Education Statistics

Exhibit 34. Registration Confirmation Email

Subject: IPEDS Registration Confirmation - <UnitID>

User name: <UserName>

User ID: <UserID>

Institution name: <institution_name>

Thank you for completing the registration process for the IPEDS 2023-24 data collection.

The schedule for the 2023-24 data collection is as follows:

Fall 2023: September 6, 2023 – October 18, 2023

Winter 2023-24: December 6, 2023 – February 7, 2024

Spring 2024: December 6, 2023 – April 3, 2024

You can get more information about the data collection at http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds, including survey forms, instructions, import specifications, and more. Please call the Help Desk if you have questions or problems.

IPEDS Help Desk

Toll Free 1-877-225-2568

[email protected]

Exhibit 35. Locking Confirmation Email to Keyholders

Subject: IPEDS Locking Confirmation for <survey name> – <UnitID>

The survey component data for <survey name> for INSTITUTION: <UnitID> - <institution name> was locked on <date>. Please note that locking your data does not equal compliance. The data will be reviewed by NCES, and any inaccuracies will need to be addressed before your data are accepted.

These data are now read-only. If you need to make any changes, you can call the IPEDS Help Desk at 1-877-225-2568.

Use the Print Data/Get PDF option on the Surveys page if you wish to print out a copy of your submission.

The Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics would like to thank you for your participation in the. Please be sure that you have locked ALL applicable surveys for this collection period.

IPEDS Help Desk

Toll Free 1-877-225-2568

[email protected]

Exhibit 36. Ready-to-Lock Email to Coordinators

Subject: IPEDS Survey Ready to be Locked: <Survey_Name> - <UnitID>

Dear IPEDS Coordinator: You now have lock access to <survey_name> for the institution: <Inst_name> (<UnitID>).

IPEDS Help Desk

Toll Free 1-877-225-2568

[email protected]

Exhibit 37. UserID Confirmation Email

Subject: IPEDS UserID Reminder

Your User ID for the IPEDS Data Collection System is listed below. Please keep it in a secure place. If you also requested your password, for security purposes it will be sent in a separate email.

User ID: <UserID>

The IPEDS data collection system is located at: https://surveys.nces.ed.gov/ipeds/

IPEDS Help Desk

Toll Free 1-877-225-2568

[email protected]

Exhibit 38. Password Confirmation Email

Subject: IPEDS Password Reminder

Your Password for the IPEDS Data Collection System is listed below. Please keep it in a secure place.

If you also requested your UserID, for security purposes it will be sent in a separate email.

Password: <Password>

The IPEDS data collection system is located at: https://surveys.nces.ed.gov/ipeds/

IPEDS Help Desk

Toll Free 1-877-225-2568

[email protected]

Exhibit 39. Email Communication Regarding Changes in the Prior Year Revision (PYR) System

Subject: [Institution] – [UnitID]

Dear IPEDS Respondent:

This email is being sent to remind you that you may still need update one or more prior year IPEDS survey components using the IPEDS Prior Year Data Revision (PYR) system. The update(s) are necessary due to potential errors or oversights identified during our [2022-23] Quality Review processes.

Based on conversations with the Help Desk (or edit explanations that you provided) updates are needed in this PYR component: [survey_name]

If you have not already updated the affected component in the PYR system, we ask that you please do so.

If applicable, the following note was made by our Help Desk last year when this issue was identified: [reminder_note]

When you are ready to provide the updates, please respond to this email, or contact the Help Desk, requesting to have the survey component unlocked. Prior Year components are available for update concurrently with the current year components:

Fall components are available for revision within the PYR from September 13, 2023 through November 1, 2023.
Winter components are available for revision within the PYR from December 6, 2023 through February 21, 2024.
Spring components are available for revision within the PYR from December 6, 2023 through April 17, 2024.

If your institution has a locking coordinator (system or state agency), please be sure to seek permission, or include the coordinator in your request so that they are aware of the updates being made. When updates are completed, please re-lock the survey component.

If you have questions about the reason that the updates may be needed, please contact the IPEDS Help Desk. Thank you for your assistance.

IPEDS Help Desk

1-877-225-2568

[email protected]

File Type	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
File Title	IPEDS Data Collection
Author	isaac
File Modified	0000-00-00
File Created	2023-09-15

IPEDS 2023-24 Post-Collection Opening Communication Plan 2023-224 v31

IPEDS 2023-24 Post-Collection Opening Communication Plan 2023-2024 v31.docx

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