Ithaka S+R is pleased to announce that we have been awarded a new grant from Lumina Foundation to assess how state higher education agencies use the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) to support their systems, inform policy and planning, and advance credential attainment and other postsecondary education goals. This timely initiative, conducted in collaboration with the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO), will document the role of IPEDS data now that the national data infrastructure faces uncertainty due to potential cutbacks and significant structural changes to federal postsecondary education data collection. We thank Lumina Foundation for its support and SHEEO for its collaboration.

IPEDS has long been a cornerstone of higher education data in the United States. Since the Higher Education Act of 1965 and its subsequent amendments, IPEDS data have been integral to understanding and improving postsecondary education, informing everything from enrollment trends and graduation rates to financial aid amounts and institutional finances. Beyond federal usage, state agencies and other stakeholders rely heavily on IPEDS to drive decisions and improvements in higher education and to provide consumer information to students and parents to inform college choices. As a former head of IPEDS, I have seen first-hand how important these data are to both states and institutions as well as putting data into the hands of students and parents for making very important decisions about the colleges they enroll in. 

Through this initiative, we will

  • conduct a comprehensive national survey of all 63 state higher education agencies;
  • perform detailed interviews with agency leaders;
  • analyze collected data to identify critical uses, gaps, and state-level priorities;
  • produce a public report with actionable recommendations for federal and state policymakers

In the fall, we will host a national webinar to disseminate our findings and foster broader dialogue.

This work builds upon Ithaka S+R’s broader portfolio of projects related to the national postsecondary education data infrastructure, including recent work with the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative (NPEC), our partnership with the Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) Coalition, and our ongoing initiative to improve data capacity within higher education programs in prisons.

We look forward to advancing this vital conversation and contributing meaningful insights to strengthen the national postsecondary education data infrastructure.