According to the Association for Institutional Research, "The field of institutional research (IR) is over 50 years old and is embedded in nearly every college and university in the United States and many others around the world." IR professionals support policy making, planning, programming, and fiscal decisions by collecting, analyzing, and dissemating data. Typically the data collecgted are also used to meet governmental reporting requirements and to benchmark their results against peer institutions.
Data Planet can assist in institutional research initiatives on your campus in two key ways:
→ Use statistics in the Data Planet repository to analyze trends at your institution, and/or to compare and contrast statistics on your institution with peers.
→ Load the data that your IR office collects into Data Planet and use the powerful functionality of the Data Planet repository to analyze the data. As another example, an institution might elect to have permitted data from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program, collected by the UCLA Higher Education Research Institute, ingested by Data Planet.
Data Planet facilitates storage, accessibility, usability, maintenance and archiving of statistical data. Our Data Hosting Services seamlessly and securely integrate your data in the Data Planet platform, allowing users to compare and correlate your data against the entire Data Planet repository of statistical datasets in a single, easy-to-use interface. The IR office at your institution may elect to utilize these services for datasets they collect. The Data Planet team will work with your staff to load the data into the Data Planet platform, create descriptive metadata, and control access.
For more on Data Planet Data Hosting Services, please visit here.
National Center for Education Statistics US Postsecondary Education (IPEDS): The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) conducted by the NCES involves annual institution-level data collections. All postsecondary institutions in the United States that participate in federal programs providing financial assistance to students are required to report data using a web-based data collection system.
National Center for Education Statistics National Postsecondary Student Financial Aid Study (NPSAS): NPSAS examines the characteristics of students in postsecondary education in the United States, with focus on how their education is financed. The purpose of NPSAS is to compile a comprehensive research dataset, based on student-level records, on financial aid provided by the federal government, the states, postsecondary institutions, employers, and private agencies, along with student demographic and enrollment data. NPSAS is the primary source of information used to inform public policy on such programs as the Pell grants and Stafford loans. Data about family circumstances, demographics, education and work experiences, and student expectations are collected from students through a web-based multi-mode interview (self-administered and computer-assisted telephone).
National Center for Education Statistics Academic Library Statistics: The data are collected through the Academic Libraries Survey, a voluntary survey of approximately 3,700 degree-granting postsecondary institutions conducted biennially by the NCES as part of its Library Statistics Program. The dataset summarizes services, staff, collections, and expenditures of academic libraries in 2- and 4-year degree-granting postsecondary institutions in the 50 United States and Washington, DC.
Office of Postsecondary Education College Athletics : Any coeducational postsecondary institution in the United States that participates in the federal student financial assistance programs and has an intercollegiate athletic program is required by the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, 20 USC 1092(g) (also known as the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act [EADA]), to participate in the annual EADA data collection. Through this survey, data are collected by the US Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education on athletic participation, staffing, and revenues and expenses, by men's, women's, and coed varsity teams.