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ACE, Higher Ed Community Comment on IPEDS Reporting Burdens

March 20, 2007

The Department of Education (ED) should study the effort required by college and universities to complete the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) survey in the 2006-07 filing cycle, according to a letter sent today to the Office of Management and Budget by the American Council on Education (ACE) and 39 other higher education associations.

The association letter is the first of two planned responses to an ED proposal from the Jan. 24 Federal Register that would expand the annual IPEDS survey to include several new areas of campus activity. The current survey is 155 pages long and requires an additional page for every major offered by an institution.

The department estimates that it takes an ‘average institution’ 51 hours to complete the survey each year. Association officials, who believe the 51-hour estimate grossly underestimates the administrative burden placed on campuses, sought to draw separate attention to this issue before sending a second letter regarding the specifics of new ED proposal. That letter will be sent in the coming weeks.

“No school we have consulted believes the 51-hour estimate remotely reflects the time they spend on this task,” said ACE President David Ward in the letter.  He noted that one institution reportedly employs three full-time staff just to comply with the IPEDS reporting requirements.

The associations ask that ED consult “with campus officials to understand the full range of campus activities necessary to complete these surveys.” Following these discussions, ED would produce a study that examines the total cost and time efforts necessary to meet the requirements, for all types of post-secondary institutions.

The full text of the letter can be found here.