DESCRIPTION OF INDICATORS USED IN THE FIGURES
Admissions (only for non-open-admissions schools)
Admissions and Test Score Data
Admissions and test score data are presented only for institutions that do not have an open admission
policy, and apply to first-time,
degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students only. Applicants include only those students who
fulfilled
all requirements for consideration
for admission and who were notified of one of the following actions: admission, non-admission, placement
on
a wait list, or application
withdrawn (by applicant or institution). Admitted applicants (admissions) include wait-listed students
who
were subsequently offered
admission. Early decision, early action, and students who began studies during the summer prior to the
fall
reporting period are included. For
customized Data Feedback Reports, test scores are presented only if scores are required for admission.
Student Enrollment
Enrollment Counts
12-month Enrollment captures a cumulative unduplicated headcount of enrollment over the full 12-month
period beginning July 1 and ending
June 30. In contrast, Fall Enrollment captures number of students enrolled on a particular date in the
fall. Fall enrollment is often referred to as
a "snapshot" of an institution's enrollment at a specific time.
FTE Enrollment
The full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment used in this report is the sum of the institution’s FTE
undergraduate enrollment and FTE graduate
enrollment (as calculated from or reported on the 12-month Enrollment component). Undergraduate and
graduate FTE are estimated using
12-month instructional activity (credit and/or contact hours). See “Calculation of FTE Students (using
instructional activity)” in the IPEDS
Glossary at
https://surveys.nces.ed.gov/ipeds/VisGlossaryAll.aspx.
Completions
Completions and Completers
Completions collects data on undergraduate and graduate completions and completers in a 12-month period.
Completions are the counts of
postsecondary awards granted where each award reported once but multiple awards may be reported for one
recipient. Completers are the
counts of students granted postsecondary awards. The count of completers is collected in two ways. The
first way counts all completers, while
the second way counts completers by award level (e.g., number of associate's completers, number of
bachelor's completers).
Student Financial Aid
Financial Aid Recipients and Amounts
Student Financial Aid collects the counts of undergraduate students awarded different types of financial
aid and the total amounts of aid
awarded. The average dollar amount of aid awarded is then calculated. In addition, Student Financial Aid
collects counts of full-time, first-time
undergraduate student awarded aid and amounts of aid, and counts and disbursed amounts for undergraduate
and graduate students
receiving military education benefits.
Charges and Average Net Price
Average Institutional Net Price
IPEDS collects data to calculate average net price at each institution for two groups of undergraduate
students: those awarded grant and
scholarship aid and those awarded Title IV federal aid.
Average net price is calculated for full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduates who
were awarded grant or scholarship aid
from the federal government, state/local government, or the institution anytime during the academic
year. For public institutions, this includes
only students who paid the in-state or in-district tuition rate. Other sources of grant aid are
excluded. Average net price is generated by
subtracting the average amount of federal, state/local government, and institutional grant and
scholarship aid from the total cost of
attendance. Total cost of attendance is the sum of published tuition and required fees (lower of
in-district or in-state for public institutions),
books and supplies, and the weighted average of room and board, and other expenses.
For the purpose of the IPEDS reporting, aid awarded refers to financial aid that was awarded to, and
accepted by, a student. This amount
may differ from the aid amount that is disbursed to a student.
Retention, Graduation Rates, and Outcome Measures
Retention Rates
Retention rates are measures of the rate at which students persist in their educational program at an
institution, expressed as a percentage.
For four-year institutions, this is the percentage of first-time bachelors (or equivalent)
degree-seeking undergraduates from the previous fall
who are again enrolled in the current fall. For all other institutions this is the percentage of
first-time degree/certificate-seeking students from
the previous fall who either re-enrolled or successfully completed their program by the current fall.
The full-time retention rate is calculated
using the percentage of full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduates, while the
part-time rate is calculated using the
percentage of part-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduates.
Graduation Rates and Transfer-out Rate
Graduation rates are those developed to satisfy the requirements of the Student Right-to-Know Act and
Higher Education Act, as amended,
and are defined as the total number of individuals from a given cohort of full-time, first-time
degree/certificate-seeking undergraduates who
completed a degree or certificate within a given percent of normal time to complete all requirements of
the degree or certificate program;
divided by the total number of students in the cohort of full-time, first-time
degree/certificate-seeking undergraduates minus any allowable
exclusions. Institutions are permitted to exclude from the cohort students who died or were totally and
permanently disabled; those who left
school to serve in the armed forces or were called up to active duty; those who left to serve with a
foreign aid service of the federal
government, such as the Peace Corps; and those who left to serve on an official church mission.
A further extension of the traditional Graduation Rates (GR) component which carries forward 100% and
150% graduation rates data
previously reported in the GR component is the Graduation Rates 200% (GR200) component, which requests
information on any additional
completers and exclusions from the cohort between 151% and 200% normal time for students to complete all
requirements of their program of
study.
Transfer-out rate is the total number of students from the cohort who are known to have transferred out
of the reporting institution (without
earning a degree/award) and subsequently re-enrolled at another institution within the same time period;
divided by the same adjusted cohort
(initial cohort minus allowable exclusions) as described above. Only institutions with a mission that
includes providing substantial preparation
for students to enroll in another eligible institution are required to report transfers out.
Outcome Measures Data
Alternative measures of student success are reported by degree-granting institutions to describe the
outcomes of four degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate student groups: First-time, full-time (FTFT);
First-time, part-time (FTPT); Non-first-time, full-time entering (NFTFT); and
Non-first-time, part-time entering (NFTPT). Additionally, each of the four cohorts collects data on two
subcohorts: Pell grant recipients and non
-Pell grant recipients. These measures provide the 4-year, 6-year, and 8-year award rates (or
completions rates) after entering an institution.
NCES calculates award rates by dividing a cohort's or subcohort's adjusted cohort into the number of
total awards at 4-year, 6-year, and 8-
year status points.
The initial cohort can be revised and take allowable exclusions resulting in an adjusted cohort.
Institutions are permitted to exclude from the
initial cohort students who died or were totally and permanently disabled; those who left school to
serve in the armed forces or were called up
to active duty; those who left to serve with a foreign aid service of the federal government, such as
the Peace Corps; and those who left to
serve on an official church mission.
The highest award and the type of award (i.e., certificate, Associate's, or Bachelor's) are reported at
each status point. For students who did
not earn an undergraduate award after 8-years of entry, the enrollment statuses are reported as either
still enrolled at the institution, or
subsequently transferred out of the institution. Unlike the Graduation Rates data, all institutions must
report on a full-year cohort (students
entering July 1 of one year to June 30 to the next) and on their transfer out students, regardless if
the institution has a mission that provides
substantial transfer preparation.
Finance
Core Revenues
Core revenues for public institutions reporting under GASB standards include tuition and fees;
government (federal, state, and local)
appropriations and operating and nonoperating grants/contracts; private gifts, grants, and contracts
(private operating grants/contracts plus
gifts and contributions from affiliated entities); sales and services of educational activities;
investment income; other operating and
nonoperating sources; and other revenues and additions (capital appropriations and grants and additions
to permanent endowments). “Other
core revenues” include federal appropriations, sales and services of educational activities, other
operating and nonoperating sources, and
other revenues and additions.
Core revenues for private, not-for-profit institutions (and a small number of public institutions)
reporting under FASB standards include tuition
and fees; government (federal, state, and local) appropriations and grants/contracts; private gifts,
grants and contracts (including contributions
from affiliated entities); investment return; sales and services of educational activities; and other
sources (a generated category of total
revenues minus the sum of core and noncore categories on the Finance component). “Other core revenues”
include government (federal,
state, and local) appropriations, sales and services of educational activities, and other sources.
Core revenues for private, for-profit institutions reporting under FASB standards include tuition and
fees; government (federal, state, and
local) appropriations and grants/contracts; private grants/ contracts; investment income; sales and
services of educational activities; and other
sources (a generated category of total revenues minus the sum of core and noncore categories on the
Finance component). “Other core
revenues” include government (federal, state, and local) appropriations and other sources.
At degree-granting institutions, core revenues exclude revenues from auxiliary enterprises (e.g.,
bookstores and dormitories), hospitals, and
independent operations. Non-degree-granting institutions do no report revenue from auxiliary enterprises
in a separate category, and thus
may include these amounts in the core revenues from other sources.
Core Expenses
Core expenses include expenses for instruction, research, public service, academic support, student
services, institutional support,
scholarships and fellowships (GASB) or net grant aid to students (FASB) and other expenses. Core
expenses exclude expenses for auxiliary
enterprises, hospitals, and independent operations. “Other core expenses” is the sum of grant
aid/scholarships and fellowships and other
expenses.
Endowment Assets
Endowment assets, for public institutions under GASB standards, and private, not-for-profit institutions
under FASB standards, include gross
investments of endowment funds, term endowment funds, and funds functioning as endowment for the
institution and any of its foundations
and other affiliated organizations. Private, for-profit institutions under FASB do not hold or report
endowment assets.
Salaries and Wages
Salaries and wages for public institutions under GASB standards and private (not-for-profit and
for-profit) institutions under FASB standards,
include amounts paid as compensation for services to all employees regardless of the duration of
service, and amounts made to or on behalf
of an individual over and above that received in the form of a salary or wage.
Staff
FTE Staff
The full-time-equivalent (FTE) by occupational category is calculated by summing the total number of
full-time staff and adding one-third of
the total number of part-time staff. Occupational categories include instructional staff, research staff,
public service staff, instructional support
staff, management staff, and other occupations. Instructional staff are primarily engaged in teaching and do
a combination of teaching,
research, and/or public service. Research staff are staff whose primary function is research while public
service staff are staff whose primary
function is public service. Instructional support occupations include archivists, curators, and museum
technicians; librarians and media
collections specialists; librarian technicians; student and academic affairs and other education services
occupations. Other staff include staff
in service occupations; sales and related occupations; office and administrative support occupations;
natural resources, construction, and
maintenance occupations; production, transportation and material moving occupations; and military specific
occupations. Graduate assistants
are not included.
Equated Instructional Non-Medical Staff Salaries
Institutions reported the number of full-time nonmedical instructional staff and their salary outlays by
academic rank, gender, and the number
of months worked (9-, 10-, 11-, and 12-months). Salary outlays for staff who worked 10-, 11-, and 12-months
were equated to 9-months of
work by multiplying the outlays reported for 10-months by 0.90, the outlays reported for 11 months by 0.818,
and the outlays reported for 12-
months by 0.75. The equated 10-, 11-, and 12-outlays were then added to the outlays for instructional staff
that worked 9-months to generate
a total 9-month equated salary outlay. The total 9-month equated outlay was then divided by total number of
instructional non-medical staff to
determine an equated 9-month average salary. This calculation was done for each academic rank. Salary
outlays were not reported for staff
that work less than 9-months and were excluded.
Student-to-Faculty Ratio
Institutions can provide their institution’s student-to-faculty ratio (i.e., student-to-instructional staff)
for undergraduate programs or follow the
NCES guidance in calculating their student-to-faculty ratio, which is as follows: the number of FTE students
(using Fall Enrollment survey
data) divided by total FTE instructional staff (using the total Primarily instruction +
Instruction/research/public service staff reported in Human
Resources component and adding any not primarily instructional staff that are teaching a credit course). For
this calculation, FTE for students
is equal to the number of the full-time students plus one-third the number of part-time students; FTE for
instructional staff is similarly
calculated. Students in "stand-alone" graduate or professional programs (such as, medicine, law, veterinary,
dentistry, social work, or public
health) and instructional staff teaching in these programs are excluded from the FTE calculations.
Additional Resources
Additional resources on the IPEDS Data Feedback Report, including the instructions on creating a custom
comparison report, FAQs, and
video tutorials, can be found at
https://nces.ed.gov/Ipeds/Help/View/2.
