The recently announced shakeups in federal funding and dismantling of the Department of Education (DoED) have spread uncertainty throughout higher ed. Concerns around which programs may be cut, and what will happen to the ones that remain are rampant. One of many questions on the minds of enrollment leaders: what will happen to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)?
MARKETview’s Ben Plache, Ph.D., Senior Director of Client Success, helped break down the present IPEDS situation, how things might change in its absence and what steps could ease the impact of this potential outcome.
The Current State of IPEDS
As of today, the future of IPEDS data is in limbo. The Department of Education laid off 50 percent of its staff in March, including the former operations lead for the IPEDS team. The Institute of Education Sciences, which is a sub-agency within the DoED responsible for maintaining IPEDS data, had $900 million in contracts with the federal government cancelled. Many of them were reported to be from the National Center for Education Statistics, which is responsible for collecting the student data that makes up IPEDS. A Department official stated that IPEDS wasn’t affected by these cuts, but no details have been provided about how (or if) the data will be maintained and supported going forward.
The Consequences of Losing IPEDS
One of the primary reasons IPEDS is so heavily relied upon is its ability to serve as a tool for peer and aspirant benchmarking on a one-to-one level. Schools can use the data to find out exactly how other individual institutions are performing, and trust that the information is reported honestly. The sheer volume of data in IPEDS is another benefit that would be lost — it’s sourced from nearly every institution that receives federal funding. Plache described why there is no easy replacement for the volume and reporting compliance of IPEDS.
“The reason it’s a source of truth is that the Department of Education can compel colleges to report to IPEDS because it’s part of their funding requirements. They have a stick. No one else has a stick. And that’s the challenge.”
– Ben Plache
Navigating Student Enrollment Without IPEDS
So how would the enrollment profession move forward without IPEDS? As we’ve already discussed, the volume is unlikely to be replicated by other data sets. However, IPEDS does have some downsides that wouldn’t be missed. Plache shared one of the biggest issues with the federal data set:
“IPEDS is delayed. The time offset is pretty significant. It’s not real-time data, and it’s hard to make decisions based on aggregated data that is outdated or inaccurate.”
– Ben Plache
In fact, one of the primary drivers behind MARKETview was the industry’s lack of timely, decision-grade market comparisons based on student-record level data. The newest IPEDS data available is typically released nine months after the conclusion of the academic year it was sourced from. Things change quickly in higher ed, and data from previous cycles may not be relevant to the current landscape. This makes it difficult and often ineffective to make important enrollment planning decisions using IPEDS.
A real-time data set like MARKETview can serve as an alternative resource for analysis and marketplace benchmarking, while providing more reliable, up-to-date insights. It may not have the same volume and one-to-one comparison that IPEDS provides, but MARKETview can provide a stable source of truth for enrollment analytics. Plache emphasized the specific areas in which real-time data can offer an improved substitute to IPEDS data.
“When it comes to first-year enrollment, we can fill in that missing picture. Part of the need that MARKETview fills is that it’s faster, more reliable and more actionable data, and it’s organized in a way to help understand what’s happening across the marketplace.”
– Ben Plache
Want to learn more about how MARKETview can provide your institution with comparative data you can use to achieve your enrollment and financial goals? Schedule a brief demo with us today.