What is IPEDS?
Most U.S. colleges must answer the federal IPEDS surveys. They report enrollment, degrees, costs, finances, staffing, and other facts.
- Full name
- Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
- Published by
- National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), U.S. Department of Education
- Edition in EduInsights
- 2014–15 through 2023–24, with newer provisional releases
- Current availability
- Used in the current EduInsights data release.
Why it matters
Why we use IPEDS
IPEDS gives us basic facts colleges report about themselves, their students, their degrees, their costs, and their staff.
The college itself
You can see its location, college type, calendar, degree levels, and other basic facts.
Students and degrees
You can compare enrollment and degrees by student group, field of study, and degree level.
What college costs and how it runs
IPEDS also covers price, financial aid, finances, staff, retention, graduation, and student outcomes.
Good to know
What to keep in mind
- IPEDS is several surveys with different schedules
- Colleges report enrollment, degrees, price, staff, and finances at different times. The dates do not always match.
- A degree count looks backward
- It shows that the college awarded degrees in that field and year. It does not confirm current admission.
- Some numbers are estimates
- NCES sometimes fills a reporting gap with an estimate. We keep that note beside the number.
On its own
Questions this source can answer by itself
These questions need no facts from another source.
- How many degrees did a college award in a field?
- How has enrollment changed at a college?
- How do costs or staffing compare among colleges?
With other sources
Questions this source helps answer
We use another source only when it describes the same college, field, career, place, or time.
- What careers are connected with fields where a college awards degrees?
- How do broader earnings outcomes compare with reported degrees?
Where it stops
What this source cannot tell you
- A reported degree does not prove that a program accepts students today.
- Colleges may revise reports, and some values are estimated by NCES.
- IPEDS does not track where individual graduates work.
Use this source in a real question.
Ask about a college, field, career, place, or change over time.
