Appendix 2: Using IPEDS Data to Understand the Opportunities in Your Field

Using IPEDS Data to Understand the Opportunities in Your Field

The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) is a system of interrelated surveys conducted annually by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a part of the Institute for Education Sciences within the United States Department of Education. IPEDS data are submitted at the aggregate level from postsecondary institutions and do not have student-level information. Institutions submit data through twelve interrelated survey components about six general higher education topics in 3 collection cycles.

Access data for your hiring committees by following these steps to understand the diverse landscape of applicants:

1. Go to https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/.
2. Click “Use the Data” tab in green located under the image of the graduation caps.
3. Click “Compare Institutions”.
4. You will see a screen that shows “1. Select Institutions, 2. Select Variables, 3. Output.” You will have to complete each of these sections before you can run the final report.
5. Under “Select Institutions,” you will be prompted to answer the following question “How would you like to select institutions to include in your data file/report?” Use “by group,” and under the “by group selection,” click on “EZ Group.” Under “EZ group,” click the box next to “all institutions” and click “search.”
6. This should bring you back to the screen that lists “1. Select Institutions, 2. Select Variables, 3. Output.” You now click on “Select Variables. Under the “Select Variables” section, you will again be promoted to answer the following question “How would you like to select institutions to include in your data file/report?” Unlike before, you do not have to answer this question.
7. Instead, look at the list of variables outlined at the bottom of the page and find the variable “Completions.” Under “Completions,” click the first box, “Awards/degrees conferred by program (2020 CIP classification), award level, race/ethnicity, and gender.” Under “Awards/degrees conferred by program (2020 CIP classification), award level, race/ethnicity, and gender,” click “2019-20 to the current year.”
8. When you click “2019-20 to the current year,” you will be prompted to complete three sections “1. Select Year,” under this section, click the boxes next to the most recent three years (e.g., 2021-22, 2020-21, 2019-20) (note: at the time of writing this document, only the two most recent years are available).
9. Next, under “Step 2: Select Qualifying Variable(s),” click “First or Second Major.” Under “First or Second Major,” click “First Major” and then click “save.”
10. Next, click “CIP Code – 2020 Classification” under this section. You can use keywords to search for degrees that match the position your unit is hiring or the major for which you are looking to recruit new students for your program (e.g., classics, psychology, or sociology). Select all degrees that apply and then click save.
11. Then, click “Award level,” Under “Award level,” click the box next to “Doctor’s degree-research/scholarship)” and click save (note: you only need to click this box if looking for new potential faculty. If recruiting graduate students, click on the boxes next to “Bachelor’s degree,” “Master’s degree,” or both depending on the purpose of the search and save).
12. Finally, under “Step 3: Select from the list of variables,” Select all the diverse categories you want to view (e.g., grand total, grand total men, or grand total women).
13. After completing all three sections with the appropriate selections, return to the top of the page where you see “1. Select Institutions, 2. Select Variables, 3. Output,” and click continue (located next to the light blue box that reads “When you have finished selecting your variables from the tree, click continue”).
14. At this point, you should see a list of all of your variables next to the years you’ve previously selected. Click “Continue” on the right-hand bar in blue & white again.
15. Finally, you should reach the section labeled “Output.” You will be prompted to answer four questions that will format your report. As these questions are based on how you would like to use the data, we include the selections we traditionally make, but feel free to adjust. For the first question, “Which identification variables would you like to include?” click the circle next to “Institution name only.”
16. Next, for the question, “Would you like long or short (maximum eight characters) variable names?” Click the circle next to “Long variable name.”
17. Then, for the question, “In what format would you like to receive your data?’ “Click the circle next to “Download in comma separated format.”
18. Next, for the question, “Would you like to include imputation and status flags?” Click the circle next to “No.”
19. Finally, click “Continue” in blue and white again in the right-hand corner and download the file.