General Mandate

IPEDS is conducted by NCES as part of the Center's Congressional mandate under the National Education Statistics Act of 1994 (PL 103-382, Sec. 404(a)) which states that "The duties of the Center are to collect, analyze, and disseminate statistics and other information related to education in the United States and in other nations, including--

• collecting, acquiring, compiling (where appropriate, on a state by state basis), and disseminating full and complete statistics on the condition and progress of education, at the pre-school, elementary, secondary, and postsecondary levels in the United States, ...;
• conducting and publishing reports and analyses of the meaning and significance of such statistics;
• collecting, analyzing, cross-tabulating, and reporting, to the extent feasible, so as to provide information by gender, race, ...; and
• assisting public and private educational agencies, organizations, and institutions in improving and automating statistical and data collection activities..."

Vocational Education Data

IPEDS responds to certain of the requirements pursuant to Section 421(a)(1) of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act. The data related to vocational programs and program completions are collected from postsecondary institutions known to provide occupationally specific vocational education.¹

Data on Race/Ethnicity and Gender of Students

The collection and reporting of race/ethnicity and gender data on students and completers are mandatory for all institutions which receive, are applicants for, or expect to be applicants for Federal financial assistance as defined in the Department of Education (ED) regulations implementing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (34 CFR 100), or defined in any ED regulation implementing Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (34 CFR 106). The collection of race/ethnicity and gender data in vocational programs is mandated by Section 421(a)(1) of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act.

Fall Staff Data

The collection and reporting of race/ethnicity and gender data on the Fall Staff (S) section of the Human Resources (HR) component are mandatory for all institutions which receive, are applicants for, or expect to be applicants for Federal financial assistance as defined in the Department of Education (ED) regulations implementing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (34 CFR 100). The collection of data are also mandated by PL 88-352, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 (29 CFR 1602, subparts O, P, and Q). Institutions with 15 or more full-time employees are required to respond to the IPEDS Fall Staff component under this mandate.

Mandatory Reporting for Institutions with Program Participation Agreements

The completion of all IPEDS surveys, in a timely and accurate manner, is mandatory for all institutions that participate in or are applicants for participation in any Federal financial assistance program authorized by Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended. The completion of the surveys is mandated by 20 USC 1094, Section 487(a)(17) and 34 CFR 668.14(b)(19).

Cost of Higher Education

Section 101 of the Higher Education amendments of 1965 (PL 105-244) requires that NCES collect the following information from institutions of higher education: "(i) tuition and fees for a full-time undergraduate student; (ii) cost of attendance for a full-time undergraduate student, consistent with the provisions of section 472; (iii) average amount of financial assistance received by an undergraduate student who attends an institution of higher education, including - (I) each type of assistance or benefit described in section 428(a)(2)(C)(i); (II) fellowships; and (III) institutional and other assistance, and (IV) number of students receiving financial assistance described in each" of the above categories.

IPEDS is to "collect information regarding the data elements described (in the paragraph above) with respect to at least all institutions of higher education participating in programs under Title IV, beginning with the information from academic year 2000 - 2001 and annually thereafter."

Student Right-to-Know

Sections 668.41, 668.45, and 668.48 of the Student Assistance General Provision (34 CFR 668) were amended to implement the Student Right-to-Know Act, as amended by the Higher Education Amendments of 1991 and further by the Higher Education Technical Amendments of 1993 and 1999. The final regulations require an institution that participates in any student financial assistance program under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, to disclose information about graduation or completion rates to current and prospective students. The final regulations also require such institutions that also award athletically related student aid to provide certain types of data regarding the institution's student population, and the graduation or completion rates of categories of student-athletes, to potential athletes, their parents, coaches, and counselors.

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¹ Institutions providing vocational/occupational programs are identified through responses to the Institutional Characteristics (IC) survey and the Completions (C) survey.