Enrollment in 

Postsecondary 

Institutions, Fall 2004; 

Graduation Rates, 1998 & 

2001 Cohorts; 

and Financial Statistics, 

Fiscal Year 2004

E.D. TAB

U.S. Department of Education 

Institute of Education Sciences 

NCES 2006-155 

Laura G. Knapp 

Janice E. Kelly-Reid 

Roy W. Whitmore 

RTI International 

Elise S. Miller 

Program Director 

National Center for Education Statistics

U.S. Department of Education 

Institute of Education Sciences 

NCES 2006-155

Enrollment in 

Postsecondary 

Institutions, Fall 2004; 

Graduation Rates, 1998 & 

2001 Cohorts; 

and Financial Statistics, 

Fiscal Year 2004

E.D. TAB

February 2006
U.S. Department of Education

Margaret Spellings 

Secretary

Institute of Education Sciences 

Grover J. Whitehurst 

Director

National Center for Education Statistics

Mark Schneider 

Commissioner

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for collecting, analyzing, and 

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Suggested Citation 

Knapp, L.G., Kelly-Reid, J.E., and Whitmore, R.W. (2006). Enrollment in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2004; 

Graduation Rates, 1998 & 2001 Cohorts; and Financial Statistics, Fiscal Year 2004 (NCES 2006-155). U.S. 

Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved [date] from 

http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006155. 

Content Contact 

Aurora D’Amico 

(202) 502-7334 

aurora.d'amico@ed.gov
iii

Foreword 

This E.D. TAB presents findings from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System 

(IPEDS) spring 2005 data collection, which included four components: Student Financial Aid for 

full-time, first-time, degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students for the 2003-04 academic 

year, Enrollment for fall 2004 and 12-month counts for 2003-04, Graduation Rates for full-time, 

first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students beginning college in 1998 at 4-year 

institutions or in 2001 at less-than-4-year institutions, and Finance for fiscal year 2004. These 

data were collected through the IPEDS web-based data collection system. 

The data on which this report is based are available to researchers and the public through the 

IPEDS Peer Analysis System and College Opportunities On-Line. Both of these sources can be 

found at http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds. This report continues a series of E.D. TABs based on the 

collection of data from over 6,500 postsecondary education institutions that participate in Title 

IV federal student financial aid programs. 

We hope that the information provided in the report will be useful to a wide range of interested 

readers. Further, we hope that the results reported here will encourage researchers and others to 

make full use of the IPEDS data for analysis, peer comparisons, or to help answer questions 

about postsecondary education institutions. 

Mark Schneider 

Commissioner 

National Center for Education Statistics 

C. Dennis Carroll 

Associate Commissioner 

Postsecondary Studies Division 

v

Acknowledgments 

The information presented in this publication was provided by either state coordinators for the 

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) or officials at individual institutions. 

In addition, these persons provided much assistance in resolving questions on the data, which 

resulted in more accurate information. Although it is not possible to list the names of all these 

people, their assistance was invaluable and is much appreciated. 

The U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), and the 

Office for Civil Rights, with the approval of the Office of Management and Budget, cooperate in 

the collection of racial/ethnic and gender information from all postsecondary institutions that 

participate in the Fall Enrollment, Completions, and Fall Staff components of the IPEDS survey. 

In this collaboration, data provided by postsecondary institutions are designated as Compliance 

Reports pursuant to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (34 CFR 100.6(b)). 

The authors are grateful to Patricia Brown, Andrew Mary, Cathy Statham, Susan Broyles, Paula 

Knepper, and Dennis Carroll of the Postsecondary Studies Division, National Center for 

Education Statistics for their valuable comments during the review of this publication. We also 

appreciate the thoughtful review provided by Tom Snyder, National Center for Education 

Statistics, Claudette Kaba, Office for Civil Rights, and Jack Hill, Registrar at Marian College. At 

RTI International, in addition to the authors, June Cong, Marcus Berzofsky, Scott Ginder, Robert 

J. Morris, Seungho Huh, Burton Levine, Jiantong (Jean) Wang, Luhua Zhao, James Isaac, and 

Joanne Studders contributed to production of this report. 

vii

Contents 

Page 

Foreword........................................................................................................................................ iii 

Acknowledgments............................................................................................................................v 

List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... viii 

Introduction......................................................................................................................................1 

IPEDS 2004-05.............................................................................................................................1 

Focus of This Report.....................................................................................................................2 

Selected Findings.............................................................................................................................3 

Characteristics of Enrolled Students.............................................................................................3 

Revenues and Expenses of Title IV Institutions...........................................................................3 

Graduation Rates.........................................................................................................................10 

Full-time, First-Time Degree/Certificate-Seeking Undergraduate Financial Aid Recipients ....12 

Appendix A: Survey Methodology............................................................................................. A-1 

Overview.................................................................................................................................. A-1 

Terminology Used in the IPEDS Web Collection................................................................... A-1 

Universe, Institutions Surveyed, and Response Rates............................................................. A-1 

Survey Procedures ................................................................................................................... A-7 

Survey Components................................................................................................................. A-8 

Edit Procedures...................................................................................................................... A-10 

Imputation Procedures ........................................................................................................... A-11 

Data Perturbation and Confidentiality ................................................................................... A-26 

Appendix B: Glossary of IPEDS Terms ......................................................................................B-1 
viii

List of Tables 

Table Page 

1. Enrollment at Title IV institutions, by control and level of institution, student level, 

attendance status, gender, and race/ethnicity: United States, fall 2004...............................4 

2. Enrollment, residence, and migration of all first-time degree/certificate-seeking 

undergraduate students enrolled at Title IV institutions, by state: fall 2004 .......................6 

3. Revenues of Title IV institutions, by level and control of institution, accounting 

standards utilized, and source of funds: United States, fiscal year 2004.............................7 

4. Expenses of Title IV institutions, by level and control of institution, accounting 

standards utilized, and type of expense: United States, fiscal year 2004 ............................9 

5. Graduation rates at Title IV institutions, by race/ethnicity, level and control of 

institution, and gender: United States, cohort years 1998 and 2001..................................11 

6. Graduation rates of bachelor’s-seeking students at 4-year Title IV institutions, by 

control of institution, gender, and time to degree: United States, cohort year 1998 .........12 

7. Full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduates enrolled and those 

receiving financial aid at Title IV institutions, by sector of institution: United 

States, academic years 2002-03 and 2003-04....................................................................13 

8. Types and average amounts of financial aid received by full-time, first-time 

undergraduates at Title IV institutions, by sector of institution: United States, 

academic year 2003-04 ......................................................................................................14 

A-1. Title IV institutions and administrative offices responding to the IPEDS Spring 

2005 data collection, by degree-granting status and level and control of 

institution/office: United States and other jurisdictions.................................................. A-3 

A-1a. Title IV institutions and administrative offices responding to the IPEDS Spring 

2005 data collection, by degree-granting status and level and control of 

institution/office: United States ...................................................................................... A-5 

A-2. Fall enrollment and percentage imputed for all Title IV institutions, by control of 

institution, student level, attendance status, gender, and degree-granting status: 

United States, fall 2004................................................................................................. A-14 

A-3. Fall enrollment and percentage imputed for all Title IV institutions, by control of 

institution and degree-granting status for first-time, first-year undergraduate 

students: United States, fall 2004.................................................................................. A-14 

A-4. Fall enrollment and percentage imputed for all Title IV institutions, by control of 

institution and degree-granting status for first-time, first-year students who 

graduated from high school in the past 12 months: United States, fall 2004 ............... A-15 
ix

A-5. Unduplicated count and percentage imputed for all Title IV institutions, by control 

of institution, student level, gender, and degree-granting status: United States, 

2003-04 ......................................................................................................................... A-15 

A-6. Instructional activity and percentage imputed for all Title IV institutions, by control 

of institution, degree-granting status, and type of instructional activity: United 

States, 2003-04.............................................................................................................. A-16 

A-7. Number and percent of Title IV institutions with imputed 1-year retention rates for 

first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students, by control, degreegranting status, and attendance status: United States, fall 2004 ................................... A-16 

A-8. Revenues and expenses and the percentages imputed for Title IV institutions, by 

control of institution and type of funds: United States, fiscal year 2004...................... A-18 

A-9. Student counts and percentage imputed for all Title IV institutions, by control of 

institution and student level: United States, cohort years 1998 and 2001 .................... A-22 

A-10. Financial aid recipients and percentage imputed for all Title IV institutions, by type 

of aid and level and control of institution: United States, academic year 2003-04 ...... A-25 

1

Introduction 

The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) collects institution-level data 

from postsecondary institutions in the United States (50 states and the District of Columbia) and 

other jurisdictions, such as Puerto Rico.1 For IPEDS, a postsecondary institution is defined as an 

organization open to the public that has as its primary mission the provision of postsecondary 

education. IPEDS defines postsecondary education as formal instructional programs with a 

curriculum designed primarily for students who are beyond the compulsory age for high school. 

This includes academic, vocational, and continuing professional education programs and 

excludes institutions that offer only avocational (leisure) and adult basic education programs. 

Prior to the inception of IPEDS, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) collected 

data from approximately 3,600 institutions of higher education through its Higher Education 

General Information Survey (HEGIS) program. HEGIS was conducted from 1966 until 1985, 

when the mission of NCES was expanded to include all postsecondary institutions. 

IPEDS 2004-05 

Participation in IPEDS was a requirement for the 6,548 institutions and 83 administrative offices 

(central or system offices) that participated in Title IV federal student financial aid programs, 

such as Pell Grants or Stafford Loans during the 2004-05 academic year.2 Because 7 of these 

institutions were not eligible for any component of the spring collection, 6,541 institutions and 

83 administrative offices (central or system offices) in the United States and other jurisdictions 

were expected to participate in the spring 2005 collection. Four of the U.S. service academies are 

included in the IPEDS universe as if they were Title IV institutions.3 Institutions that do not 

participate in Title IV programs may participate in the IPEDS data collection on a voluntary 

basis. 

The spring 2005 collection included enrollment data for fall 2004, student financial aid data for 

the 2003-04 academic year, financial statistics for fiscal year (FY) 2004, and graduation rate 

information for students beginning college in 1998 at 4-year institutions and in 2001 at less-than4-year institutions. The 83 administrative offices were required to participate in the Finance 

component if they had their own separate budget; the other three components—Enrollment (EF), 

Student Financial Aid (SFA), and Graduation Rates (GRS)—were not applicable to them. The 

EF component was required of 6,539 Title IV institutions (two closed institutions were eligible 

for Finance but not Enrollment) and 6,534, or 99.9 percent, responded. The SFA and GRS 

components were required of all Title IV institutions that had first-time, full-time degree/ 

certificate-seeking undergraduate level students. As a result, for the spring 2005 collection, 6,037 

institutions were required to complete the SFA component. Of these, 6,017, or 99.7 percent, 

 

1

 The other jurisdictions include American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, the Marshall Islands, 

the Northern Marianas, Palau, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. 2

 Institutions participating in Title IV programs are accredited by an agency or organization recognized by the 

Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, have a program of over 300 clock hours or 8 credit hours, have been 

in business for at least 2 years, and have a signed Program Participation Agreement (PPA) with the Office of 

Postsecondary Education (OPE), U.S. Department of Education. 

3

 The four U.S. service academies that are not Title IV eligible are the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Military 

Academy, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and the U.S. Air Force Academy. One academy, the U.S. Merchant 

Marine Academy, is Title IV eligible. Data for all five institutions are included in each of the tables and counts of 

institutions. 
2

responded. For the GRS component, 5,829 institutions were required to respond; of these, 5,813, 

or 99.7 percent, responded. The Finance component was required of all Title IV institutions and 

administrative offices. Thus, for the spring 2005 collection, 6,603 institutions and administrative 

offices were required to complete the Finance component, and of these, 6,566, or 99.4 percent, 

responded. 

Focus of This Report 

Tabulations in this report present selected data items collected from the 6,376 Title IV 

institutions in the United States (excluding those in other jurisdictions) that were eligible for at 

least one component of the spring 2005 collection. In addition, 80 administrative offices in the 

United States were eligible for the Finance component and are included in the Finance 

tabulations. Additional detailed information is available through the various IPEDS web tools, 

such as the Peer Analysis System. 
3

Selected Findings 

Characteristics of Enrolled Students 

• Title IV institutions in the United States enrolled 18 million students in fall 2004 

(table 1). Of these, 61 percent were enrolled in 4-year institutions, 38 percent were 

enrolled in 2-year institutions, and 2 percent were enrolled in less-than-2-year 

institutions. 

• During the fall of 2004, 13 million students were enrolled in public institutions, 3 million 

were enrolled in private not-for-profit institutions, and 1 million students were enrolled in 

private for-profit institutions (table 1). 

• Net migration is the difference between the number of students entering the state to 

attend school and the number of students who leave the state to attend school elsewhere. 

In fall 2004, Florida had the highest net migration, with 19,786 more first-time 

undergraduate students entering the state than leaving the state to attend college (table 2). 

New Jersey had the lowest net migration, with 26,584 more first-time undergraduate 

students leaving the state than entering the state to attend college. 

Revenues and Expenses of Title IV Institutions 

• For public institutions during FY 2004, the proportion of revenues originating from 

tuition and fees varied by the type of accounting method employed by the institution 

(table 3). Four-year public institutions using Government Accounting Standards Board 

(GASB) standards received 16 percent of their revenues from tuition and fees, while 

those using Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) standards received 24 percent 

of their revenues from tuition and fees. 

• Two-year public institutions using GASB standards received 16 percent of their revenues 

from tuition and fees, while those using FASB standards received 16 percent of their 

revenues from tuition and fees (table 3). 

• Tuition and fees was the largest single source of revenue for private 4-year institutions in 

fiscal year 2004 (table 3). Private not-for-profit 4-year institutions received 29 percent of 

their revenues from tuition and fees, while private for-profit 4-year institutions received 

91 percent of their revenues from tuition and fees. 

• During this same period, private not-for-profit 2-year institutions received 46 percent of 

their revenues from tuition and fees, and private for-profit 2-year institutions received 85 

percent of their revenues from tuition and fees (table 3). 
4

Table 1. Enrollment at Title IV institutions, by control and level of institution, student level, attendance 

status, gender, and race/ethnicity: United States, fall 2004 

Total Public Private not-for-profit Private for-profit Level of institution, student level, 

attendance status, gender, and 

race/ethnicity Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

Total students 17,710,798 100.0 13,081,358 100.0 3,440,559 100.0 1,188,881 100.0

4-year 10,726,683 60.6 6,736,576 51.5 3,369,849 97.9 620,258 52.2

Undergraduate 8,235,301 46.5 5,407,236 41.3 2,347,309 68.2 480,756 40.4

Full time 6,601,064 37.3 4,286,257 32.8 1,936,016 56.3 378,791 31.9

Part time 1,634,237 9.2 1,120,979 8.6 411,293 12.0 101,965 8.6

Men 3,642,603 20.6 2,426,351 18.5 989,394 28.8 226,858 19.1

Women 4,592,698 25.9 2,980,885 22.8 1,357,915 39.5 253,898 21.4

White, non-Hispanic 5,324,716 30.1 3,580,017 27.4 1,554,654 45.2 190,045 16.0

Black, non-Hispanic 945,164 5.3 602,490 4.6 263,999 7.7 78,675 6.6

Hispanic 640,088 3.6 453,033 3.5 137,517 4.0 49,538 4.2

Asian/Pacific Islander 473,323 2.7 344,579 2.6 111,400 3.2 17,344 1.5

American Indian/Alaska Native 73,702 0.4 55,067 0.4 15,013 0.4 3,622 0.3

Race/ethnicity unknown 555,752 3.1 252,960 1.9 189,685 5.5 113,107 9.5

Nonresident alien 222,556 1.3 119,090 0.9 75,041 2.2 28,425 2.4

Graduate 2,156,853 12.2 1,193,584 9.1 825,093 24.0 138,176 11.6

Full time 1,024,505 5.8 528,171 4.0 387,316 11.3 109,018 9.2

Part time 1,132,348 6.4 665,413 5.1 437,777 12.7 29,158 2.5

Men 878,756 5.0 485,540 3.7 341,084 9.9 52,132 4.4

Women 1,278,097 7.2 708,044 5.4 484,009 14.1 86,044 7.2

White, non-Hispanic 1,255,811 7.1 734,248 5.6 465,504 13.5 56,059 4.7

Black, non-Hispanic 197,472 1.1 103,366 0.8 71,102 2.1 23,004 1.9

Hispanic 111,069 0.6 65,225 0.5 39,587 1.2 6,257 0.5

Asian/Pacific Islander 100,836 0.6 53,217 0.4 42,149 1.2 5,470 0.5

American Indian/Alaska Native 12,110 0.1 7,857 0.1 3,426 0.1 827 0.1

Race/ethnicity unknown 211,526 1.2 68,579 0.5 110,378 3.2 32,569 2.7

Nonresident alien 268,029 1.5 161,092 1.2 92,947 2.7 13,990 1.2

First-professional 334,529 1.9 135,756 1.0 197,447 5.7 1,326 0.1

Full time 301,543 1.7 129,423 1.0 171,166 5.0 954 0.1

Part time 32,986 0.2 6,333 # 26,281 0.8 372 #

Men 168,438 1.0 64,636 0.5 103,120 3.0 682 0.1

Women 166,091 0.9 71,120 0.5 94,327 2.7 644 0.1

White, non-Hispanic 223,012 1.3 94,891 0.7 127,393 3.7 728 0.1

Black, non-Hispanic 24,336 0.1 8,760 0.1 15,478 0.4 98 #

Hispanic 15,661 0.1 6,071 # 9,502 0.3 88 #

Asian/Pacific Islander 39,661 0.2 16,104 0.1 23,453 0.7 104 #

American Indian/Alaska Native 2,289 # 1,205 # 1,071 # 13 #

Race/ethnicity unknown 21,389 0.1 6,736 0.1 14,382 0.4 271 #

Nonresident alien 8,181 # 1,989 # 6,168 0.2 24 #

2-year 6,656,105 37.6 6,282,576 48.0 56,705 1.6 316,824 26.6

Undergraduate 6,655,812 37.6 6,282,344 48.0 56,705 1.6 316,763 26.6

Full time 2,773,407 15.7 2,452,577 18.7 40,983 1.2 279,847 23.5

Part time 3,882,405 21.9 3,829,767 29.3 15,722 0.5 36,916 3.1

Men 2,746,557 15.5 2,602,623 19.9 19,148 0.6 124,786 10.5

Women 3,909,255 22.1 3,679,721 28.1 37,557 1.1 191,977 16.1

White, non-Hispanic 3,903,159 22.0 3,712,654 28.4 33,144 1.0 157,361 13.2

Black, non-Hispanic 882,537 5.0 806,827 6.2 8,385 0.2 67,325 5.7

Hispanic 926,926 5.2 875,493 6.7 4,475 0.1 46,958 3.9

See notes at end of table. 
5

Table 1. Enrollment at Title IV institutions, by control and level of institution, student level, attendance 

status, gender, and race/ethnicity: United States, fall 2004—Continued 

Total Public Private not-for-profit Private for-profit Level of institution, student level, 

attendance status, gender, and 

race/ethnicity Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

Asian/Pacific Islander 403,432 2.3 390,360 3.0 3,121 0.1 9,951 0.8

American Indian/Alaska Native 79,604 0.4 74,536 0.6 2,048 0.1 3,020 0.3

Race/ethnicity unknown 368,362 2.1 333,192 2.5 4,212 0.1 30,958 2.6

Nonresident alien 91,792 0.5 89,282 0.7 1,320 # 1,190 0.1

Graduate1

 293 # 232 # 0 0.0 61 #

Full time 49 # 21 # 0 0.0 28 #

Part time 244 # 211 # 0 0.0 33 #

Men 89 # 72 # 0 0.0 17 #

Women 204 # 160 # 0 0.0 44 #

White, non-Hispanic 255 # 211 # 0 0.0 44 #

Black, non-Hispanic 20 # 4 # 0 0.0 16 #

Hispanic 1 # 0 0.0 0 0.0 1 #

Asian/Pacific Islander 3 # 3 # 0 0.0 0 0.0

American Indian/Alaska Native 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0

Race/ethnicity unknown 1 # 1 # 0 0.0 0 0.0

Nonresident alien 13 # 13 # 0 0.0 0 0.0

Less-than-2-year 328,010 1.9 62,206 0.5 14,005 0.4 251,799 21.2

Full time 266,633 1.5 37,371 0.3 12,533 0.4 216,729 18.2

Part time 61,377 0.3 24,835 0.2 1,472 # 35,070 2.9

Men 87,510 0.5 26,874 0.2 5,148 0.1 55,488 4.7

Women 240,500 1.4 35,332 0.3 8,857 0.3 196,311 16.5

White, non-Hispanic 138,407 0.8 41,232 0.3 3,715 0.1 93,460 7.9

Black, non-Hispanic 71,572 0.4 8,205 0.1 2,945 0.1 60,422 5.1

Hispanic 71,132 0.4 6,669 0.1 4,273 0.1 60,190 5.1

Asian/Pacific Islander 15,831 0.1 2,755 # 1,065 # 12,011 1.0

American Indian/Alaska Native 3,214 # 1,742 # 66 # 1,406 0.1

Race/ethnicity unknown 24,928 0.1 1,197 # 1,366 # 22,365 1.9

Nonresident alien 2,926 # 406 # 575 # 1,945 0.2

# Rounds to zero. 

1

 Nine 2-year institutions reported students enrolled in graduate-level courses. 

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 

System (IPEDS), Spring 2005. 
6

Table 2. Enrollment, residence, and migration of all first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate 

students enrolled at Title IV institutions, by state: fall 2004 

Migration of students 

State 

Enrollment in 

institutions 

located in the 

designated 

state 

Residents of the 

designated 

state attending 

any institution 

Residents of the 

designated 

state attending 

an institution 

in the same state 

Into 

designated 

state 

Out of 

designated 

state 

Net

migration1

 

United States 2,910,285 2,808,642 2,388,047 522,238 420,595 101,643

 

Alabama 43,436 38,477 34,627 8,809 3,850 4,959

Alaska 3,406 5,014 3,076 330 1,938 -1,608

Arizona 55,471 44,297 40,102 15,369 4,195 11,174

Arkansas 25,940 24,690 21,948 3,992 2,742 1,250

California 305,785 297,316 273,728 32,057 23,588 8,469

Colorado 53,331 51,375 43,391 9,940 7,984 1,956

Connecticut 32,992 37,850 23,270 9,722 14,580 -4,858

Delaware 8,815 7,507 5,373 3,442 2,134 1,308

District of Columbia 12,885 4,763 1,582 11,303 3,181 8,122

Florida 166,609 146,823 134,310 32,299 12,513 19,786

Georgia 91,882 88,760 77,066 14,816 11,694 3,122

Hawaii 8,769 9,135 6,293 2,476 2,842 -366

Idaho 12,798 12,489 9,482 3,316 3,007 309

Illinois 113,731 124,192 100,351 13,380 23,841 -10,461

Indiana 63,692 56,917 49,626 14,066 7,291 6,775

Iowa 44,547 36,429 32,212 12,335 4,217 8,118

Kansas 31,383 29,154 25,304 6,079 3,850 2,229

Kentucky 40,963 36,205 32,150 8,813 4,055 4,758

Louisiana 47,610 44,905 41,053 6,557 3,852 2,705

Maine 11,269 12,460 8,342 2,927 4,118 -1,191

Maryland 49,795 56,894 39,148 10,647 17,746 -7,099

Massachusetts 77,973 69,172 50,673 27,300 18,499 8,801

Michigan 96,492 96,918 87,897 8,595 9,021 -426

Minnesota 62,241 64,123 51,469 10,772 12,654 -1,882

Mississippi 34,198 31,435 29,188 5,010 2,247 2,763

Missouri 53,780 51,655 43,749 10,031 7,906 2,125

Montana 8,622 8,799 6,561 2,061 2,238 -177

Nebraska 19,361 19,268 15,940 3,421 3,328 93

Nevada 14,717 15,260 12,672 2,045 2,588 -543

New Hampshire 12,963 12,442 6,928 6,035 5,514 521

New Jersey 71,402 97,986 65,778 5,624 32,208 -26,584

New Mexico 17,369 17,538 14,373 2,996 3,165 -169

New York 200,415 194,598 163,782 36,633 30,816 5,817

North Carolina 83,464 73,604 66,748 16,716 6,856 9,860

North Dakota 9,622 7,847 5,604 4,018 2,243 1,775

Ohio 116,428 117,648 102,190 14,238 15,458 -1,220

Oklahoma 42,471 39,891 36,159 6,312 3,732 2,580

Oregon 31,734 29,804 24,825 6,909 4,979 1,930

Pennsylvania 144,853 132,007 112,973 31,880 19,034 12,846

Rhode Island 16,979 10,144 7,119 9,860 3,025 6,835

South Carolina 39,031 35,572 31,739 7,292 3,833 3,459

South Dakota 9,256 9,087 6,816 2,440 2,271 169

Tennessee 54,915 52,199 44,838 10,077 7,361 2,716

Texas 236,046 237,503 218,422 17,624 19,081 -1,457

Utah 28,876 22,227 20,503 8,373 1,724 6,649

 

Vermont 6,427 4,940 2,091 4,336 2,849 1,487

Virginia 71,303 66,692 54,416 16,887 12,276 4,611

Washington 42,505 46,185 36,979 5,526 9,206 -3,680

West Virginia 19,055 16,546 14,366 4,689 2,180 2,509

Wisconsin 56,113 57,173 47,538 8,575 9,635 -1,060

Wyoming 6,565 4,727 3,277 3,288 1,450 1,838

1 Net migration is the difference between the number of students entering the state to attend school (into) and the number of 

students (residents) who leave the state to attend school elsewhere (out of). A positive net migration indicates more students 

coming into the state than leaving to attend school elsewhere. 

NOTE: State of residence is unknown for 63,346 students attending Title IV institutions in the United States. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 

System (IPEDS), Spring 2005.
7

Table 3. Revenues of Title IV institutions, by level and control of institution, accounting standards utilized, 

and source of funds: United States, fiscal year 2004 

4-year 2-year Less-than-2-year 

Source of funds 

Revenues

 (in thousands) Percent

Revenues 

(in thousands) Percent 

Revenues 

(in thousands) Percent

 

 Public institutions using GASB standards 

 

Total revenues and other sources $175,135,264 100.0 $40,841,224 100.0 $3,004,145 100.0

 

Operating revenues 107,474,419 61.4 16,352,157 40.0 1,099,749 36.6

 

Tuition and fees (net of allowances and 

discounts) 27,078,686 15.5 6,457,133 15.8 288,166 9.6

Grants and contracts 34,405,516 19.6 7,230,359 17.7 684,175 22.8

Federal (excludes FDSL loans) 23,194,407 13.2 4,744,446 11.6 104,317 3.5

State 4,710,307 2.7 1,850,397 4.5 515,980 17.2

Local 6,500,802 3.7 635,515 1.6 63,879 2.1

Sales and services of auxiliary enterprises after 

deducting discounts and allowances 14,739,631 8.4 1,806,099 4.4 24,139 0.8

Sales and services of hospitals 18,038,139 10.3 0 0.0 0 0.0

Independent operations 898,352 0.5 4,554 # 0 0.0

Other operating revenues 12,314,095 7.0 854,013 2.1 103,269 3.4

 

Nonoperating revenues 57,627,670 32.9 22,468,728 55.0 1,086,880 36.2

 

Federal appropriations 1,451,113 0.8 246,810 0.6 13,745 0.5

State appropriations 41,760,133 23.8 11,686,690 28.6 344,399 11.5

Local appropriations 230,203 0.1 7,648,974 18.7 662,802 22.1

Nonoperating grants 1,586,149 0.9 2,073,624 5.1 34,231 1.1

Federal 1,245,113 0.7 1,338,251 3.3 26,640 0.9

State 313,215 0.2 668,226 1.6 4,772 0.2

Local 27,821 # 67,147 0.2 2,819 0.1

Gifts 3,478,239 2.0 234,738 0.6 5,663 0.2

Investment income 6,407,513 3.7 230,920 0.6 6,567 0.2

Other nonoperating revenues 2,714,320 1.5 346,972 0.8 19,473 0.6

 

Total other revenues and additions 10,033,175 5.7 2,020,339 4.9 817,516 27.2

 

Capital appropriations 3,438,251 2.0 1,382,669 3.4 8,619 0.3

Capital grants and gifts 2,672,009 1.5 477,927 1.2 2,230 0.1

Additions to permanent endowments 987,743 0.6 9,522 # 25 #

Other revenues and additions 2,935,172 1.7 150,220 0.4 806,642 26.9

 

 Public institutions using FASB standards 

 

Total revenues and investment return 6,873,324 100.0 31,109 100.0 147,139 100.0

 

Tuition and fees 1,660,668 24.2 5,021 16.1 8,609 5.9

Government appropriations 766,656 11.2 12,427 39.9 75,552 51.3

Federal 22,298 0.3 1,022 3.3 6,164 4.2

State 744,358 10.8 8,266 26.6 40,040 27.2

Local 0 0.0 3,140 10.1 29,347 19.9

Government grants and contracts 1,096,015 15.9 8,797 28.3 22,559 15.3

Federal 959,867 14.0 7,461 24.0 5,829 4.0

State 128,049 1.9 520 1.7 9,776 6.6

Local 8,099 0.1 816 2.6 6,955 4.7

Private gifts, grants, and contracts 478,276 7.0 743 2.4 9 #

Contributions from affiliated entities 0 0.0 39 0.1 0 0.0

Investment return 528,722 7.7 129 0.4 16,002 10.9

Sales and services of educational activities 128,915 1.9 55 0.2 360 0.2

Sales and services of auxiliary enterprises 456,799 6.6 1,777 5.7 88 0.1

Hospital revenue 1,549,143 22.5 0 0.0 0 0.0

Independent operations revenue 15,869 0.2 0 0.0 0 0.0

Other revenue 192,262 2.8 2,121 6.8 23,961 16.3

See notes at end of table. 
Table 3. Revenues of Title IV institutions, by level and control of institution, accounting standards utilized, 

and source of funds: United States, fiscal year 2004—Continued 

4-year 2-year Less-than-2-year 

Source of funds 

Revenues

 (in thousands) Percent

Revenues 

(in thousands) Percent 

Revenues 

(in thousands) Percent

 

 Private not-for-profit institutions (FASB standards) 

 

Total revenues and investment return $133,755,382 100.0 $886,843 100.0 $279,158 100.0

 

Tuition and fees 38,186,065 28.5 408,334 46.0 78,308 28.1

Government appropriations 895,812 0.7 15,468 1.7 280 0.1

Federal 414,581 0.3 5,448 0.6 10 #

State 467,358 0.3 7,230 0.8 270 0.1

Local 13,874 # 2,789 0.3 0 0.0

Government grants and contracts 14,624,415 10.9 141,681 16.0 117,753 42.2

Federal 13,202,233 9.9 108,238 12.2 72,826 26.1

State 955,952 0.7 30,124 3.4 31,109 11.1

Local 466,230 0.3 3,320 0.4 13,818 4.9

Private gifts, grants, and contracts 14,776,238 11.0 58,801 6.6 17,932 6.4

Contributions from affiliated entities 1,016,748 0.8 14,228 1.6 2,130 0.8

Investment return 30,888,090 23.1 52,515 5.9 2,256 0.8

Sales and services of educational activities 3,277,989 2.5 18,947 2.1 33,820 12.1

Sales and services of auxiliary enterprises 10,288,377 7.7 49,931 5.6 2,405 0.9

Hospital revenue 9,657,753 7.2 0 0.0 0 0.0

Independent operations revenue 4,627,964 3.5 0 0.0 0 0.0

Other revenue 5,515,931 4.1 126,938 14.3 24,275 8.7

 

 Private for-profit institutions (FASB standards) 

 

Total revenues and investment return 6,017,253 100.0 3,516,170 100.0 2,281,558 100.0

 

Tuition and fees 5,490,082 91.2 3,004,175 85.4 1,763,489 77.3

Government appropriations, grants, and contracts 212,022 3.5 274,781 7.8 245,664 10.8

Federal 196,945 3.3 227,813 6.5 226,697 9.9

State and local 15,076 0.3 46,968 1.3 18,968 0.8

Private grants and contracts 3,696 0.1 3,798 0.1 4,967 0.2

Investment income and investment gains (losses) 10,931 0.2 7,282 0.2 11,425 0.5

Sales and services of educational activities 104,314 1.7 76,956 2.2 119,459 5.2

Sales and services of auxiliary enterprises 164,260 2.7 80,054 2.3 22,129 1.0

Other revenue 31,948 0.5 69,124 2.0 114,424 5.0

# Rounds to zero. 

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System 

(IPEDS), Spring 2005. 

• Approximately one-fourth to one-third of expenses were for instruction at 4-year 

institutions (table 4). Instruction accounted for 25 percent of expenses at public 4-year 

institutions using GASB standards and 27 percent of expenses at public 4-year 

institutions using FASB standards. Instruction accounted for 33 percent of expenses at 

private not-for-profit 4-year institutions and for 24 percent of expenses at private forprofit institutions. 

• Approximately one-third of expenses were for instruction at 2-year institutions (table 4). 

Instruction accounted for 39 percent of expenses at public 2-year institutions using GASB 

standards and 34 percent of expenses at public 2-year institutions using FASB standards. 

Instruction accounted for 36 percent of expenses at private not-for-profit 2-year 

institutions and for 30 percent of expenses at private for-profit 2-year institutions. 
9

Table 4. Expenses of Title IV institutions, by level and control of institution, accounting standards utilized, 

and type of expense: United States, fiscal year 2004 

4-year 2-year Less-than-2-year 

Type of expense 

Expenses

 (in thousands) Percent

Expenses

(in thousands) Percent 

Expenses

(in thousands) Percent

 

 Public institutions using GASB standards 

 

Total expenses $161,473,081 100.0 $38,285,928 100.0 $2,100,394 100.0

 

Operating expenses 155,394,272 96.2 37,582,702 98.2 2,002,123 95.3

Instruction 40,734,164 25.2 14,974,416 39.1 1,079,487 51.4

Research 20,349,447 12.6 14,082 # 305 #

Public service 8,098,718 5.0 691,825 1.8 2,063 0.1

Academic support 10,426,561 6.5 2,783,271 7.3 141,254 6.7

Student services 5,829,127 3.6 3,435,867 9.0 133,978 6.4

Institutional support 11,290,116 7.0 5,221,258 13.6 201,358 9.6

Operation and maintenance of plant 9,159,971 5.7 3,226,177 8.4 195,536 9.3

Depreciation 7,586,394 4.7 1,438,688 3.8 32,540 1.5

Scholarships and fellowships (excluding 

discounts and allowances) 5,111,076 3.2 3,054,191 8.0 19,464 0.9

Auxiliary enterprises 13,263,218 8.2 2,029,552 5.3 42,939 2.0

Hospital services 16,959,790 10.5 0 0.0 0 0.0

Independent operations 699,291 0.4 25,612 0.1 10,075 0.5

Other operating expenses and deductions 5,886,400 3.6 687,764 1.8 143,124 6.8

 

Nonoperating expenses 6,078,810 3.8 703,226 1.8 98,271 4.7

Interest 2,240,096 1.4 448,844 1.2 9,758 0.5

Other nonoperating expenses and deductions 3,838,714 2.4 254,382 0.7 88,513 4.2

 

 

 Public institutions using FASB standards 

 

Total expenses 6,181,327 100.0 30,922 100.0 125,778 100.0

 

Instruction 1,661,669 26.9 10,564 34.2 87,128 69.3

Research 1,100,609 17.8 441 1.4 0 0.0

Public service 203,171 3.3 18 0.1 177 0.1

Academic support 524,262 8.5 2,514 8.1 10,840 8.6

Student services 250,809 4.1 4,279 13.8 11,303 9.0

Institutional support 431,411 7.0 4,953 16.0 6,900 5.5

Auxiliary enterprises 431,955 7.0 1,959 6.3 132 0.1

Net grant aid to students 12,115 0.2 1,732 5.6 1,078 0.9

Hospital services 1,540,494 24.9 0 0.0 0 0.0

Independent operations 11,897 0.2 0 0.0 0 0.0

Other expenses 12,934 0.2 4,462 14.4 8,220 6.5

 

 Private not-for-profit institutions (FASB standards) 

 

Total expenses 103,757,579 100.0 829,248 100.0 282,314 100.0

 

Instruction 33,725,354 32.5 295,520 35.6 125,788 44.6

Research 12,040,735 11.6 3,280 0.4 35 #

Public service 1,968,967 1.9 7,851 0.9 13,290 4.7

Academic support 8,727,084 8.4 53,349 6.4 8,392 3.0

Student services 7,466,472 7.2 87,587 10.6 12,476 4.4

Institutional support 13,776,031 13.3 231,999 28.0 59,013 20.9

Auxiliary enterprises 10,466,658 10.1 49,422 6.0 220 0.1

Net grant aid to students 1,084,941 1.0 17,365 2.1 1,218 0.4

Hospital services 8,374,128 8.1 0 0.0 0 0.0

Independent operations 4,221,611 4.1 1,379 0.2 940 0.3

Other expenses 1,905,598 1.8 81,495 9.8 60,944 21.6

See notes at end of table. 
Table 4. Expenses of Title IV institutions, by level and control of institution, accounting standards utilized, 

and type of expense: United States, fiscal year 2004—Continued 

4-year 2-year Less-than-2-year 

Type of expense 

Expenses

 (in thousands) Percent

Expenses

(in thousands) Percent 

Expenses

(in thousands) Percent

 

 Private for-profit institutions (FASB standards) 

 

Total expenses $4,822,488 100.0 $3,023,634 100.0 $1,960,447 100.0

 

Instruction 1,143,248 23.7 907,510 30.0 677,082 34.5

Research and public service 3,705 0.1 5,483 0.2 10,200 0.5

Academic support, student services, and 

institutional support 3,109,123 64.5 1,710,832 56.6 802,600 40.9

Auxiliary enterprises 168,069 3.5 86,148 2.8 29,338 1.5

Net grant aid to students 32,603 0.7 24,923 0.8 8,861 0.5

Other expenses 365,740 7.6 288,737 9.5 432,367 22.1

# Rounds to zero. 

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System 

(IPEDS), Spring 2005. 

Graduation Rates 

Graduation rates data as of August 31, 2004, were collected on a cohort of first-time, fulltime degree/certificate-seeking undergraduates who were enrolled at 4-year institutions as of 

October 15, 1998, (for institutions on a standard academic terms) or who were enrolled 

during the period of September 1, 1998, to August 31, 1999 (for institutions operating on a 

continuous basis). For less-than-4-year institutions, graduation rates data were collected on 

students who were enrolled as of October 15, 2001, or who were enrolled during the period 

of September 1, 2001, to August 31, 2002. Table 5 reflects graduation rates for all students 

included in the cohort. Table 6 includes only students originally identified in the cohort as 

seeking bachelor’s degrees.1

• Overall graduation rates at 4-year institutions were somewhat higher than at 2-year 

institutions (55 percent and 33 percent respectively); however, graduation rates were 

highest at less-than-2-year institutions (66 percent) (table 5). Table 5 reflects graduation 

rates for institutions regardless of the length of the programs. 

• Considering graduation rates by racial/ethnic group for 4-year and 2-year institutions, 

Asian/Pacific Islanders had the highest graduation rates, 65 percent at 4-year institutions 

and 36 percent at 2-year institutions (table 5). American Indians/Alaska Natives had the 

lowest graduation rate (37 percent) at 4-year institutions, whereas Black, non-Hispanics 

had the lowest graduation rate (27 percent) at 2-year institutions. 

• Graduation rates of bachelor’s-seeking students at 4-year institutions increased 

significantly when measured after 6-years, rather than after 4-years, from time of entry 

(table 6). The 4-year graduation rate of bachelor’s-seeking students was 35 percent, but 

the 6-year graduation rate was 56 percent. Table 6 reflects only students seeking 

bachelor’s degrees. 

 

1

 See footnotes in tables 5 and 6 for descriptions of how the rates reported in these tables were calculated. 
11

• Graduation rates of bachelor’s-seeking students at 4-year institutions varied by control of 

institution (table 6). The 6-year graduation rate of bachelor’s-seeking students at public 

institutions was 53 percent, whereas it was 64 percent at private not-for-profit 

institutions, and 25 percent at private for-profit institutions. 

Table 5. Graduation rates at Title IV institutions, by race/ethnicity, level and control of institution, and 

gender: United States, cohort years 1998 and 2001 

Level and control of 

institution, and gender Total 

White, 

nonHispanic

Black, 

nonHispanic Hispanic 

Asian/ 

Pacific 

Islander

American 

Indian/ 

Alaska 

Native 

Race/

ethnicity

unknown 

Nonresident

alien 

 

4-year institutions 

(cohort year 1998) 55.3 58.2 39.7 45.8 64.7 36.5 51.7 58.4

 

Public 51.9 54.6 37.3 40.9 61.3 32.5 53.5 50.0

Men 48.4 51.3 30.7 35.7 56.9 28.6 50.4 48.4

Women 54.8 57.5 41.6 44.8 65.3 35.6 56.3 52.2

 

Private not-for-profit 63.3 65.8 45.3 56.0 73.3 49.8 60.7 65.1

Men 60.3 62.9 39.3 52.3 71.6 46.6 58.1 62.3

Women 65.6 68.2 49.3 58.6 74.6 52.1 62.8 68.5

Private for-profit 45.0 49.2 37.9 49.5 57.1 33.1 25.1 61.4

Men 46.6 50.9 38.3 49.5 56.6 37.3 26.1 66.5

Women 42.8 46.7 37.5 49.6 58.1 28.2 24.0 50.6

 

2-year institutions 

(cohort year 2001) 32.6 33.9 26.6 32.6 35.7 31.0 34.0 29.6

Public 24.1 26.3 16.6 19.3 27.1 23.2 21.0 25.2

Men 22.9 24.9 15.9 18.4 23.9 22.1 20.0 21.5

Women 25.1 27.6 17.1 20.0 30.5 24.0 22.1 28.8

 

Private not-for-profit 58.4 62.4 50.1 48.7 57.7 37.3 54.2 61.8

Men 59.7 64.6 49.9 48.4 57.5 37.6 54.1 60.6

Women 57.1 60.0 50.3 49.1 57.9 37.0 54.3 62.7

Private for-profit 60.1 65.3 48.8 61.2 64.4 60.3 52.8 64.8

Men 60.6 66.8 46.9 59.6 62.2 62.1 51.3 59.9

Women 59.7 64.2 49.8 62.3 66.2 59.2 54.0 68.8

 

Less-than-2-year 

institutions (cohort 

year 2001) 66.1 — — — — — — —

 

Public 68.5 — — — — — — —

Private not-for-profit 64.9 — — — — — — —

Private for-profit 65.8 — — — — — — —

— Not available. 

NOTE: The rates in this table reflect graduation rates at institutions regardless of the length of programs. The graduation rate was 

calculated as required for disclosure and reporting purposes under the Student Right-to-Know Act. This rate was calculated as the 

total number of completers within 150 percent of normal time divided by the revised cohort minus any allowable exclusions. The 

revised cohort is the current (spring 2005) estimate of the number of students entering the institution as full-time, first-time degree- or 

certificate-seeking undergraduates in the reference year. Allowable exclusions include those students who died or were totally and 

permanently disabled; those who left school to serve in the armed forces; those who left to serve with a foreign aid service of the 

federal government, such as the Peace Corps; and those who left to serve on official church missions. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 

System (IPEDS), Spring 2005. 
12

Table 6. Graduation rates of bachelor’s-seeking students at 4-year Title IV institutions, by control of 

institution, gender, and time to degree: United States, cohort year 1998 

Gender and time to degree Total Public Private not-for-profit Private for-profit

 

All students 

4-year graduation rate (%) 34.5 26.8 49.8 19.9

5-year graduation rate (%) 51.5 47.4 60.5 23.1

6-year graduation rate (%) 56.4 53.2 63.7 24.5

Men 

4-year graduation rate (%) 29.3 21.4 44.9 22.2

5-year graduation rate (%) 47.7 43.2 57.4 25.1

6-year graduation rate (%) 53.1 49.8 60.8 26.4

Women 

4-year graduation rate (%) 38.8 31.2 53.8 17.5

5-year graduation rate (%) 54.6 50.8 62.9 20.9

6-year graduation rate (%) 59.0 56.1 66.0 22.5

NOTE: The rates in this table reflect only students seeking bachelor’s degrees, rather than all students at 4-year institutions. The 

graduation rate was calculated as required for disclosure and reporting purposes under the Student Right-to-Know Act. This rate

was calculated as the total number of completers within the specified time to degree divided by the revised cohort minus any 

allowable exclusions. The revised cohort is the current (spring 2005) estimate of the number of students entering the institution as 

full-time, first-time degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates in the reference year. Allowable exclusions include those students 

who died or were totally and permanently disabled; those who left school to serve in the armed forces; those who left to serve with 

a foreign aid service of the federal government, such as the Peace Corps; and those who left to serve on official church missions. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 

System (IPEDS), Spring 2005. 

Full-time, First-Time Degree/Certificate-Seeking Undergraduate Financial Aid 

Recipients 

• In academic year 2003-04, there were 2.6 million full-time, first-time degree/certificateseeking undergraduates attending Title IV institutions located in the United States 

(table 7). Of these, more than 1.9 million, or 74 percent, received financial aid. 

• The proportion of students receiving financial aid varied by sector of institution. About 

374,000, or 60 percent of full-time, first-time undergraduates at public 2-year institutions 

and 23,000, or 61 percent of those at public less-than-2-year institutions received aid 

(table 7). About 382,000, or 85 percent of comparable undergraduates at private not-forprofit 4-year institutions received aid, as did approximately 173,000, or 86 percent of 

those at private for-profit 2-year institutions. 
13

Table 7. Full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduates enrolled and those receiving 

financial aid at Title IV institutions, by sector of institution: United States, academic years 

2002-03 and 2003-04 

Academic year 2002-031 Academic year 2003-042

Sector of institution 

Number 

enrolled

Number of 

financial aid 

recipients

Percent 

receiving 

financial aid

Number 

enrolled

Number of 

financial aid 

recipients 

Percent 

receiving 

financial aid

 

Total students 2,520,166 1,839,004 73.0 2,564,718 1,901,784 74.2

Public 4-year 850,580 621,289 73.0 875,507 658,103 75.2

Public 2-year 624,212 358,229 57.4 628,638 374,146 59.5

Public less-than-2-year 41,052 23,433 57.1 38,011 23,023 60.6

Private not-for-profit 4-year 448,945 377,419 84.1 450,177 382,302 84.9

Private not-for-profit 2-year 17,571 14,017 79.8 16,673 13,496 80.9

Private not-for-profit less-than-2-

year 17,838 12,533 70.3 13,775 10,704 77.7

Private for-profit 4-year 80,759 66,054 81.8 84,819 63,481 74.8

Private for-profit 2-year 195,010 166,268 85.3 201,549 172,918 85.8

Private for-profit less-than-2-year 244,199 199,762 81.8 255,569 203,611 79.7

1 The numbers shown reflect those institutions that reported having financial aid recipients in academic year 2002-03. 2 The numbers shown reflect those institutions that reported having financial aid recipients in academic year 2003-04. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 

System (IPEDS), Spring 2004 and Spring 2005. 

• Approximately 52 percent of financial aid recipients received one or more federal grants 

during the 2003-04 academic year (table 8). Considering enrollment by institutional 

sector, 34 percent of undergraduate aid recipients attending private not-for-profit 4-year 

institutions received federal grants, compared to 82 percent of those attending private forprofit less-than-2-year institutions. 

• Undergraduate financial aid recipients at public institutions were more likely to receive 

state and local grants than those attending private not-for-profit or private for-profit 

institutions (table 8). Considering 4-year institutions, approximately 323,000, or 49 

percent of undergraduate aid recipients attending public institutions received state and 

local grants, compared to 37 percent at private not-for-profit institutions, and 21 percent 

at private for-profit institutions. 

• Undergraduate financial aid recipients at private not-for-profit institutions were more 

likely to receive institutional grants than those at public or private for-profit institutions 

(table 8). Considering 4-year institutions, 86 percent of undergraduate aid recipients 

attending private not-for-profit institutions received institutional grants, compared to 43 

percent at public institutions, and 17 percent at for-profit institutions. 

• Nearly 60 percent of undergraduate financial aid recipients borrowed money to attend 

postsecondary institutions. Undergraduate financial aid recipients at private for-profit 

institutions were more likely than those attending public or private not-for-profit 

institutions to borrow money to attend college (table 8). Considering financial aid 

recipients at 4-year institutions, 89 percent of aid recipients at private for-profit 

institutions had student loans, compared to 59 percent at public institutions and 71 

percent at private not-for-profit institutions (table 8). 
14

Table 8. Types and average amounts of financial aid received by full-time, first-time undergraduates at 

Title IV institutions, by sector of institution: United States, academic year 2003-04 

Sector of institution 

Number of 

financial 

aid 

recipients 

Number

receiving

Percent of 

aid 

recipients 

receiving

Average 

amount1

Number 

receiving 

Percent of 

aid 

recipients 

receiving 

Average 

 amount1

 

 Federal grants State/local grants 

 

 Total students 1,901,784 984,717 51.8 $2,914 703,164 37.0 $2,228 

 

Public 4-year 658,103 248,343 37.7 2,992 322,838 49.1 2,436 

Public 2-year 374,146 242,294 64.8 2,737 176,486 47.2 1,184 

Public less-than-2-year 23,023 17,846 77.5 2,425 5,104 22.2 1,772 

 

Private not-for-profit 4-year 382,302 128,482 33.6 3,406 142,206 37.2 2,976 

Private not-for-profit 2-year 13,496 8,570 63.5 3,142 5,223 38.7 3,121 

Private not-for-profit less-than-2-year 10,704 9,321 87.1 3,365 2,112 19.7 3,227 

Private for-profit 4-year 63,481 40,298 63.5 2,776 13,476 21.2 2,469 

Private for-profit 2-year 172,918 122,502 70.8 2,725 25,332 14.6 2,290 

Private for-profit less-than-2-year 203,611 167,061 82.0 2,860 10,387 5.1 2,366 

 

 Institutional grants Loans to students2

 

 Total students 714,351 37.6 5,512 1,138,373 59.9 4,248 

 

Public 4-year 280,288 42.6 2,990 390,773 59.4 3,629 

Public 2-year 65,866 17.6 1,200 106,529 28.5 2,712 

Public less-than-2-year 1,879 8.2 1,085 6,396 27.8 4,576 

 

Private not-for-profit 4-year 327,554 85.7 9,047 271,893 71.1 4,726 

Private not-for-profit 2-year 5,281 39.1 2,814 8,624 63.9 4,917 

Private not-for-profit less-than-2-year 1,029 9.6 928 4,302 40.2 4,178 

Private for-profit 4-year 10,696 16.8 1,795 56,294 88.7 6,681 

Private for-profit 2-year 8,517 4.9 1,391 140,904 81.5 5,166 

Private for-profit less-than-2-year 13,241 6.5 595 152,658 75.0 4,258 

1 Each average grant (or loan) value was calculated by dividing the total grants (or loans) awarded by the total number of recipients. 2 Loans to students include only loans made directly to students; federal loans to parents (PLUS) and other loans made directly to 

parents are not included. 

NOTE: The numbers shown reflect only those institutions that reported the number of recipients by types of financial aid and the 

average amounts received. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 

System (IPEDS), Spring 2005. 
A-1

Appendix A: 

Survey Methodology 

Overview 

IPEDS defines a postsecondary institution as an organization that is open to the public and has a 

primary mission of providing education or training beyond the high school level. The primary 

focus of the IPEDS spring 2005 collection was to collect data from Title IV institutions. These 

institutions have Program Participation Agreements (PPAs) with the Office of Postsecondary 

Education (OPE) within the U.S. Department of Education and thus are eligible to participate in 

Title IV student financial aid programs. There were 6,631 Title IV institutions1 and 

administrative offices located in the United States and the other jurisdictions of the United 

States, such as Puerto Rico,2

 in the 2004-05 academic year. 

IPEDS began collecting data from all postsecondary institutions in 1986, when it superseded the 

Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS), which was directed at institutions of 

higher education only. HEGIS data were collected from 1966 through 1985. In 1992, the focus of 

IPEDS became the Title IV institutions, when the Higher Education Amendments made 

reporting to IPEDS mandatory for these institutions. In 2000, IPEDS implemented a web-based 

data collection system with the capability of tailoring data collection screens to each institution. 

Edits were also built into the system to give immediate feedback to the institutions when 

problems were detected. This system has allowed for earlier release of data to institutions and the 

public, primarily through the IPEDS Peer Analysis System and College Opportunities On-Line. 

The spring 2005 collection was entirely web-based. Institutions in the universe were asked to 

enter their survey responses using the IPEDS data collection website. The spring 2005 IPEDS 

data were collected between March 9 and May 4, 2005. The collection had four components: 

Enrollment, Student Financial Aid, Finance, and Graduation Rates. 

Terminology Used in the IPEDS Web Collection 

Please refer to the Glossary provided at the end of this document for definitions of various terms. 

Universe, Institutions Surveyed, and Response Rates 

The IPEDS universe is established during the fall collection period. For the 2004-05 cycle, 30 

institutions included in prior IPEDS data collections were declared to be outside the scope of 

IPEDS because they were closed or were merged with another institution. Furthermore, another 

136 institutions included separately in prior IPEDS data collections were re-classified and are 

now reported by a parent institution. In addition, 182 institutions were added to the universe. 

 

1

 Includes 6,548 institutions and 83 administrative (central or system) offices. The central and system offices are 

required to complete the Institutional Characteristics component in the fall, the Staff component in the winter (if 

they have more than 15 full-time staff), and the Finance component in the spring (if they have their own separate 

budget). 

2

 The other jurisdictions include American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, the Marshall Islands, 

the Northern Marianas, Palau, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. 
A-2

These schools were identified from several sources, including a universe review by state 

coordinators, a review of the data file maintained by OPE, and information provided by the 

institutions themselves. 

The full set of 6,631 Title IV entities was validated by matching the IPEDS universe file with 

OPE’s Postsecondary Education Participation System (PEPS) file. Because most of the studies 

that use IPEDS data concentrate on the Title IV institutions, this group is the main focus of 

IPEDS. Also, according to Section 490 of the Higher Education Amendments of 1992 (P.L. 102-

325), IPEDS is mandatory for any 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 (20 USC 1094(a)(17)). Four of the U.S. service academies 

are included in the IPEDS universe as if they were Title IV institutions.3

The IPEDS database includes institutions that do not participate in Title IV financial aid 

programs. These institutions are invited to participate in the IPEDS program, and if they 

voluntarily respond to the surveys, the institutions are included in College Opportunities On-Line 

(IPEDS COOL). IPEDS COOL is a website developed to help parents and students make 

informed decisions about postsecondary education. 

Not all 6,631 Title IV postsecondary entities were required to participate in all components of the 

spring data collection. For example, the Student Financial Aid (SFA) and Graduation Rates 

(GRS) components are applicable only to those institutions that have full-time, first-time, 

degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students. The Finance component applies to all 

institutions and administrative (central/system) offices; however one administrative office was 

not required to respond because it did not have a separate budget to report. See the Survey 

Components section below for further details regarding which institutions were required to 

complete each component. 

Table A-1 provides the number of Title IV institutions and administrative offices and the survey 

response rates by degree-granting status and by level and control of institution for the United 

States and other jurisdictions for each of the four spring components. Because Title IV 

institutions are the primary focus of IPEDS and they are required to respond, response rates for 

Title IV institutions in the spring 2005 IPEDS collection were quite high. The response rate for 

the Enrollment component was 99.9 percent, the response rate for the Student Financial Aid 

component was 99.7 percent, the response rate for the Finance component was 99.4 percent, and 

the response rate for the Graduation Rates component was 99.7 percent. Overall, less-than-2-year 

institutions had the lowest response rates of all institution levels. Public institutions had the 

highest response rates for all components. Private for-profit institutions had slightly lower 

response rates than public or private not-for-profit institutions. 

Table A-1a provides the number of Title IV institutions and administrative offices and the survey 

response rates by degree-granting status and by level and control of institution for those 

institutions located in the United States only (excluding any other jurisdictions). 

 

3

 The four U.S. service academies that are not Title IV eligible are the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Military 

Academy, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and the U.S. Air Force Academy. One academy, the U.S. Merchant 

Marine Academy, is Title IV eligible. Data for all five institutions are included in each of the tables and counts of 

institutions and students. 
A-3

Table A-1. Title IV institutions and administrative offices responding to the IPEDS Spring 2005 data 

collection, by degree-granting status and level and control of institution/office: United States 

and other jurisdictions 

Degree-granting status and Fall Enrollment Student Financial Aid 

level and control of 

institution/office Final universe

Number 

responded

Response 

rate (%) Final universe 

Number 

responded 

Response 

rate (%)

 

All institutions 6,539 6,534 99.9 6,037 6,017 99.7

 

Public 2,055 2,054 100.0 1,992 1,990 99.9

Private not-for-profit 1,923 1,922 99.9 1,582 1,580 99.9

Private for-profit 2,561 2,558 99.9 2,463 2,447 99.4

4-year 2,614 2,614 100.0 2,187 2,187 100.0

 Public 658 658 100.0 601 601 100.0

 Private not-for-profit 1,580 1,580 100.0 1,263 1,263 100.0

 Private for-profit 376 376 100.0 323 323 100.0

2-year 2,186 2,184 99.9 2,148 2,138 99.5

 Public 1,153 1,152 99.9 1,150 1,150 100.0

 Private not-for-profit 227 226 99.6 209 207 99.0

 Private for-profit 806 806 100.0 789 781 99.0

Less-than-2-year 1,739 1,736 99.8 1,702 1,692 99.4

 Public 244 244 100.0 241 239 99.2

 Private not-for-profit 116 116 100.0 110 110 100.0

 Private for-profit 1,379 1,376 99.8 1,351 1,343 99.4

 

Degree-granting 4,302 4,300 100.0 3,884 3,883 100.0

 

4-year 2,594 2,594 100.0 2,184 2,184 100.0

Public 657 657 100.0 601 601 100.0

Private not-for-profit 1,562 1,562 100.0 1,261 1,261 100.0

Private for-profit 375 375 100.0 322 322 100.0

2-year 1,708 1,706 99.9 1,700 1,699 99.9

Public 1,071 1,070 99.9 1,070 1,070 100.0

Private not-for-profit 115 114 99.1 113 112 99.1

Private for-profit 522 522 100.0 517 517 100.0

 

Non-degree-granting 2,237 2,234 99.9 2,153 2,134 99.1

 

4-year 20 20 100.0 3 3 100.0

Public 1 1 100.0 0 0 †

Private not-for-profit 18 18 100.0 2 2 100.0

Private for-profit 1 1 100.0 1 1 100.0

2-year 478 478 100.0 448 439 98.0

Public 82 82 100.0 80 80 100.0

Private not-for-profit 112 112 100.0 96 95 99.0

Private for-profit 284 284 100.0 272 264 97.1

Less-than-2-year 1,739 1,736 99.8 1,702 1,692 99.4

Public 244 244 100.0 241 239 99.2

Private not-for-profit 116 116 100.0 110 110 100.0

Private for-profit 1,379 1,376 99.8 1,351 1,343 99.4

 

See notes at end of table. 
A-4

Table A-1. Title IV institutions and administrative offices responding to the IPEDS Spring 2005 data 

collection, by degree-granting status and level and control of institution/office: United States 

and other jurisdictions—Continued 

Degree-granting status and Finance Graduation Rates 

level and control of 

institution/office Final universe

Number 

responded

Response 

rate (%) Final universe 

Number 

responded 

Response 

rate (%)

 

All institutions 6,603 6,566 99.4 5,829 5,813 99.7

 

Public 2,121 2,114 99.7 1,982 1,981 99.9

Private not-for-profit 1,915 1,908 99.6 1,563 1,561 99.9

Private for-profit 2,567 2,544 99.1 2,284 2,271 99.4

4-year 2,654 2,651 99.9 2,100 2,099 100.0

 Public 696 696 100.0 594 594 100.0

 Private not-for-profit 1,580 1,577 99.8 1,247 1,246 99.9

 Private for-profit 378 378 100.0 259 259 100.0

2-year 2,206 2,191 99.3 2,113 2,104 99.6

 Public 1,183 1,181 99.8 1,149 1,149 100.0

 Private not-for-profit 218 215 98.6 213 212 99.5

 Private for-profit 805 795 98.8 751 743 98.9

Less-than-2-year 1,743 1,724 98.9 1,616 1,610 99.6

 Public 242 237 97.9 239 238 99.6

 Private not-for-profit 117 116 99.1 103 103 100.0

 Private for-profit 1,384 1,371 99.1 1,274 1,269 99.6

 

Degree-granting 4,377 4,371 99.9 3,756 3,754 99.9

 

4-year 2,639 2,636 99.9 2,097 2,096 100.0

Public 696 696 100.0 594 594 100.0

Private not-for-profit 1,566 1,563 99.8 1,245 1,244 99.9

Private for-profit 377 377 100.0 258 258 100.0

2-year 1,738 1,735 99.8 1,659 1,658 99.9

Public 1,102 1,101 99.9 1,068 1,068 100.0

Private not-for-profit 114 112 98.2 113 112 99.1

Private for-profit 522 522 100.0 478 478 100.0

 

Non-degree-granting 2,226 2,195 98.6 2,073 2,059 99.3

 

4-year 15 15 100.0 3 3 100.0

Public 0 0 † 0 0 †

Private not-for-profit 14 14 100.0 2 2 100.0

Private for-profit 1 1 100.0 1 1 100.0

2-year 468 456 97.4 454 446 98.2

Public 81 80 98.8 81 81 100.0

Private not-for-profit 104 103 99.0 100 100 100.0

Private for-profit 283 273 96.5 273 265 97.1

Less-than-2-year 1,743 1,724 98.9 1,616 1,610 99.6

Public 242 237 97.9 239 238 99.6

Private not-for-profit 117 116 99.1 103 103 100.0

Private for-profit 1,384 1,371 99.1 1,274 1,269 99.6

† Not applicable. 

NOTE: For the Finance component response rates, administrative offices are included in the counts according to the level of the

institution(s) they serve because they complete the Finance component. The other jurisdictions include American Samoa, the 

Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, the Marshall Islands, the Northern Marianas, Palau, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 

System (IPEDS), Spring 2005. 
A-5

Table A-1a. Title IV institutions and administrative offices responding to the IPEDS Spring 2005 data 

collection, by degree-granting status and level and control of institution/office: United States 

Degree-granting status and Fall Enrollment Student Financial Aid 

level and control of 

institution/office Final universe

Number 

responded

Response 

rate (%) Final universe 

Number 

responded 

Response 

rate (%)

 

All institutions 6,374 6,369 99.9 5,881 5,862 99.7

 

Public 2,026 2,025 100.0 1,964 1,962 99.9

Private not-for-profit 1,873 1,872 99.9 1,538 1,536 99.9

Private for-profit 2,475 2,472 99.9 2,379 2,364 99.4

4-year 2,552 2,552 100.0 2,132 2,132 100.0

 Public 640 640 100.0 584 584 100.0

 Private not-for-profit 1,543 1,543 100.0 1,232 1,232 100.0

 Private for-profit 369 369 100.0 316 316 100.0

2-year 2,157 2,155 99.9 2,119 2,109 99.5

 Public 1,142 1,141 99.9 1,139 1,139 100.0

 Private not-for-profit 223 222 99.6 205 203 99.0

 Private for-profit 792 792 100.0 775 767 99.0

Less-than-2-year 1,665 1,662 99.8 1,630 1,621 99.4

 Public 244 244 100.0 241 239 99.2

 Private not-for-profit 107 107 100.0 101 101 100.0

 Private for-profit 1,314 1,311 99.8 1,288 1,281 99.5

 

Degree-granting 4,212 4,210 100.0 3,801 3,800 100.0

 

4-year 2,532 2,532 100.0 2,129 2,129 100.0

Public 639 639 100.0 584 584 100.0

Private not-for-profit 1,525 1,525 100.0 1,230 1,230 100.0

Private for-profit 368 368 100.0 315 315 100.0

2-year 1,680 1,678 99.9 1,672 1,671 99.9

Public 1,060 1,059 99.9 1,059 1,059 100.0

Private not-for-profit 111 110 99.1 109 108 99.1

Private for-profit 509 509 100.0 504 504 100.0

 

Non-degree-granting 2,162 2,159 99.9 2,080 2,062 99.1

 

4-year 20 20 100.0 3 3 100.0

Public 1 1 100.0 0 0 †

Private not-for-profit 18 18 100.0 2 2 100.0

Private for-profit 1 1 100.0 1 1 100.0

2-year 477 477 100.0 447 438 98.0

Public 82 82 100.0 80 80 100.0

Private not-for-profit 112 112 100.0 96 95 99.0

Private for-profit 283 283 100.0 271 263 97.0

Less-than-2-year 1,665 1,662 99.8 1,630 1,621 99.4

Public 244 244 100.0 241 239 99.2

Private not-for-profit 107 107 100.0 101 101 100.0

Private for-profit 1,314 1,311 99.8 1,288 1,281 99.5

 

See notes at end of table. 
A-6

Table A-1a. Title IV institutions and offices responding to the IPEDS Spring 2005 data collection, by 

degree-granting status and level and control of institution: United States—Continued 

Degree-granting status and Finance Graduation Rates 

level and control of 

institution/office Final universe

Number 

responded

Response 

rate (%) Final universe 

Number 

responded 

Response 

rate (%)

 

All institutions 6,435 6,399 99.4 5,681 5,665 99.7

 

Public 2,091 2,084 99.7 1,954 1,953 99.9

Private not-for-profit 1,863 1,856 99.6 1,522 1,520 99.9

Private for-profit 2,481 2,459 99.1 2,205 2,192 99.4

4-year 2,589 2,586 99.9 2,047 2,046 100.0

 Public 677 677 100.0 577 577 100.0

 Private not-for-profit 1,541 1,538 99.8 1,218 1,217 99.9

 Private for-profit 371 371 100.0 252 252 100.0

2-year 2,177 2,162 99.3 2,085 2,076 99.6

 Public 1,172 1,170 99.8 1,138 1,138 100.0

 Private not-for-profit 214 211 98.6 209 208 99.5

 Private for-profit 791 781 98.7 738 730 98.9

Less-than-2-year 1,669 1,651 98.9 1,549 1,543 99.6

 Public 242 237 97.9 239 238 99.6

 Private not-for-profit 108 107 99.1 95 95 100.0

 Private for-profit 1,319 1,307 99.1 1,215 1,210 99.6

 

Degree-granting 4,284 4,278 99.9 3,676 3,674 99.9

 

4-year 2,574 2,571 99.9 2,044 2,043 100.0

Public 677 677 100.0 577 577 100.0

Private not-for-profit 1,527 1,524 99.8 1,216 1,215 99.9

Private for-profit 370 370 100.0 251 251 100.0

2-year 1,710 1,707 99.8 1,632 1,631 99.9

Public 1,091 1,090 99.9 1,057 1,057 100.0

Private not-for-profit 110 108 98.2 109 108 99.1

Private for-profit 509 509 100.0 466 466 100.0

 

Non-degree-granting 2,151 2,121 98.6 2,005 1,991 99.3

 

4-year 15 15 100.0 3 3 100.0

Public 0 0 † 0 0 †

Private not-for-profit 14 14 100.0 2 2 100.0

Private for-profit 1 1 100.0 1 1 100.0

2-year 467 455 97.4 453 445 98.2

Public 81 80 98.8 81 81 100.0

Private not-for-profit 104 103 99.0 100 100 100.0

Private for-profit 282 272 96.5 272 264 97.1

Less-than-2-year 1,669 1,651 98.9 1,549 1,543 99.6

Public 242 237 97.9 239 238 99.6

Private not-for-profit 108 107 99.1 95 95 100.0

Private for-profit 1,319 1,307 99.1 1,215 1,210 99.6

† Not applicable. 

NOTE: For the Finance component response rates, administrative offices are included in the counts according to the level of the

institution(s) they serve because they complete the Finance component. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 

System (IPEDS), Spring 2005. 
A-7

NCES required that the potential for nonresponse bias for all institutions (including those in 

other jurisdictions) be analyzed for sectors for which the response rate is less than 90 percent. As 

shown in table A-1, no sectors require this analysis. 

Survey Procedures 

The IPEDS Spring 2005 data collection was an IPEDS web-based data collection. Each 

institution designated a keyholder, who was the person responsible for ensuring that survey data 

submitted by the institution were correct. The keyholder could generate UserIDs and passwords 

for up to six additional survey respondents who could also enter and review data. For many 

institutions, keyholders were also required to edit and “lock” the data; locking is equivalent to 

submitting completed data to NCES. Additionally, many states or systems had one or more 

coordinators. 

Coordinators are individuals who take responsibility for a specified group of institutions to 

ensure that all data were entered correctly. Some coordinators may be responsible for a system of 

institutions (e.g., SUNY—the State University of New York); others may coordinate all or some 

institutions in a state. Also, coordinators may elect to provide different levels of review. For 

example, some may only view data provided by their institutions, while others may upload, 

review, and lock data for their institutions. 

For the 2004-05 IPEDS data collections, keyholders were asked to register prior to the fall 2004 

data collection. Registration information, including UserIDs and passwords, was e-mailed to 

existing keyholders in mid-July. Also in mid-July, letters were sent to chief executive officers 

(CEOs) at institutions without pre-registered keyholders, requesting that they appoint a 

keyholder for the 2004-05 collection year. The package included a letter for the keyholder and a 

registration certificate with the institution’s UserID and password for the entire 2004-05 

collection period. Subsequent registration mailings were sent to CEOs at institutions at which a 

keyholder had still not been registered, in mid-August, mid-September, mid-December, and midMarch. At the beginning of the winter and spring collections (in late November and early March, 

respectively), e-mail messages were sent to registered keyholders and coordinators requesting 

that they update or confirm their registration contact information when the collections opened. 

Schools were allowed to designate a new keyholder at any time during the collection year, if 

needed. As with previous IPEDS studies, follow-up for nonresponse was conducted with CEOs, 

coordinators, and keyholders via mail, e-mail, and telephone throughout all three collection 

periods. 

The web-based survey instruments offered many features designed to improve the quality and 

timeliness of the data. As indicated above, survey respondents were required to register before 

entering 2004-05 data to ensure a point of contact between NCES/IPEDS and the institution. 

Online data entry forms were tailored to each institution based on characteristics such as degreegranting status, control of institution (public, private not-for-profit, private for-profit), and level 

of institution (4-year, 2-year, and less-than-2-year). 

When data from previous years were available for an institution, they were preloaded on the 

customized forms for easy reference and comparison purposes. Once the 2004-05 data were 

entered, either manually or through file upload, the keyholders were required to run edit checks 

and resolve all errors before they were able to lock their data. Once data were locked, they were 
A-8

considered “submitted,” regardless of whether or not the coordinator had reviewed the 

submission. 

Once the data were complete and all locks were applied, IPEDS help desk staff conducted a final 

review. If any additional problems were detected, the help desk staff contacted the institutions to 

resolve any remaining questions. Once the data were reviewed and, if necessary, problems 

resolved, most data were migrated to the Peer Analysis System (PAS), where they were made 

available to other responding institutions for comparison purposes. Because of confidentiality 

issues, Student Financial Aid and Graduation Rates data were not immediately available in the 

PAS. 

Survey Components 

Enrollment 

This component of the web-based survey has seven separate parts. Parts A, B, C, and D data are 

reported as of the institution’s official fall reporting date (or October 15, 2004) for the spring 

2005 data collection. Part A collects summary data on the number of students enrolled in the fall, 

including the number of first-time, first-year degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate (freshmen) 

students; the total number of degree/certificate-seeking undergraduates; total undergraduates; 

total graduate students; and total first-professional students—all by race/ ethnicity, gender, and 

enrollment status (full or part time). Part B (which was optional for the spring 2005 collection) 

collects summary data on the number of students enrolled in the fall in each student level 

(undergraduate, graduate, and first-professional) by age category, gender, and enrollment status. 

Part C (which was required this year, but is optional for collections in even numbered years) 

collects summary data on the residence of first-time, first-year degree/ certificate-seeking 

(undergraduate-level) students and the number of those students enrolled in the fall who 

completed high school in the last 12 months, by state of residence. Part D collects data on the 

total number of undergraduate students that entered the institution for the first time in the fall 

term. This includes both full-time and part-time undergraduate students, whether 

degree/certificate-seeking or not, and any students who transferred into the institution. 

Parts E and F collect data for a 12-month reporting period in the previous year; institutions must 

indicate the 12-month period for which they are reporting—either July 1, 2003, through June 30, 

2004, or September 1, 2003, through August 31, 2004. Part E collects total unduplicated student 

counts by race/ethnicity, gender, and student level for those students enrolled during the 

reporting period. Students who attend at different levels in one year are counted at the highest 

level attained by the student. Part F collects data on the total amount of instructional activity and 

full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment for those students. 

Part G collects data on retention rates. Four-year institutions report one rate for full-time, firsttime bachelor’s-seeking undergraduate students and another for part-time, first-time bachelor’sseeking undergraduate students. Less-than-4-year institutions report one rate for full-time, firsttime degree/certificate-seeking students and another for part-time, first-time degree/certificateseeking students. Part G was required for the first time in the spring 2005 collection. 
A-9

Student Financial Aid 

This component of the web-based survey has two parts: a section on student counts and a section 

on financial aid. Data are collected based on the 2003-04 academic year for those institutions that 

are part of the IPEDS universe and indicate that they enrolled full-time, first-time students in 

2003-04. Student counts are collected based on fall 2003 enrollment or unduplicated counts for 

2003-04, and institutions that charge tuition based on residency are asked to provide counts by 

in-district, in-state, and out-of-state students. The number of full-time, first-time 

degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students who received financial aid is collected by type 

of aid. For each type of aid, the average amount of aid received by those students for the entire 

academic year is also collected. Types of aid include federal grants (grants/educational assistance 

funds), state/local grants (grants/scholarships/waivers), institutional grants 

(scholarships/fellowships), and loans to students. 

Finance 

This component of the web-based survey collects summary data on each institution’s financial 

status in fiscal year 2004. The Finance component has different versions of the form based 

mainly on control of the institution: public, private not-for-profit, and private for-profit. This 

year public institutions were allowed to choose between two versions of the survey depending on 

which standards were used for their internal accounting: (1) Government Accounting Standards 

Board (GASB) Statements 34 and 35 reporting standards or (2) Financial Accounting Standards 

Board (FASB) reporting standards. 

For public institutions that used GASB reporting standards to prepare their financial statements, 

data are collected on statement of net assets, plant, property, and equipment (Part A), revenues 

and other additions (Part B), expenses and other deductions (Part C), summary of changes in net 

assets (Part D), scholarships and fellowships (Part E), component units that report using FASB 

standards (Part F), component units that report using GASB standards (Part G), and endowment 

assets (Part H). Additionally, certain data are collected for the U.S. Bureau of the Census, 

including revenue data (Part J), expenditure data (Part K), and debts and assets (Part L).4

Private not-for-profit institutions and public institutions that used FASB reporting standards to 

prepare their financial statements report data on their statement of financial position (Part A), 

summary of changes in net assets (Part B), student grants (Part C), revenues and investment 

return (Part D), expenses by functional and natural classification (Part E), and endowment assets 

(Part H). A shortened version of the not-for-profit form has been developed for private for-profit 

institutions, and data are collected on balance sheet information (Part A), summary of changes in 

equity (Part B), student grants (Part C), revenues and investment return (Part D), and expenses 

by function (Part E). 

Graduation Rates 

This component collects the number of students entering the institution as full-time, first-time 

degree/certificate-seeking students in a particular year (cohort), by race/ethnicity and gender; the 

number of students in this cohort completing within 150 percent of normal time to program 

completion; the number that transferred to other institutions; the number receiving athletically 

 

4

 Part I has been discontinued and is no longer applicable. 
A-10

related student aid; and the number of athletes completing within 150 percent of normal time. 

This survey was developed to help institutions comply with requirements of the Student Rightto-Know legislation. For 4-year institutions, the cohort consists of those students who first 

started in the 1998-99 academic year, and for 2-year and less-than-2-year institutions, the cohort 

is those students starting in the 2001-02 academic year. Institutions operating on standard 

academic terms (semester, trimester, quarter) report on a fall cohort; all other institutions report 

on a full 12-month period (September 1 through August 31). 

The 2004-05 survey forms are available at http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/survey2004.asp. 

Edit Procedures 

Edit checks were built into the web-based instrument to detect major reporting errors. The 

system automatically generated percentages and totals on each component, and edit checks 

compared current responses to previously reported data. The edit checks could be run by the 

keyholder at any time during the collection, and all edit failures were required to be resolved 

before the keyholder could lock the data. As edit checks were executed, survey respondents were 

allowed to correct any errors detected by the system. If data were entered correctly but failed the 

edit checks, the survey respondents were asked either to confirm that the data were correct as 

entered or to explain why the data appeared to be out of the expected data range. Additionally, 

some edit failures were “fatal”; in these cases, the data had to be corrected rather than confirmed 

or explained. For the Graduation Rates component, respondents were permitted to change the 

initial cohort (previously reported numbers brought forward from responses to the Enrollment 

component) if the data were incorrectly reported. Survey respondents were also provided with a 

caveats box on each survey component and were encouraged to use this area to explain any 

special circumstances that might not be evident in their reported data. Finally, the data were 

manually reviewed for additional inconsistencies by coordinators (when applicable) and the 

IPEDS help desk staff. When necessary, keyholders were contacted to verify the accuracy of the 

data. 

The Enrollment survey had several automated edit checks. Among them, the number of full-time, 

first-time, first-year degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students had to be less than or 

equal to the total number of students. Current year data were compared to data from previous 

years, and large discrepancies had to be justified in the edit explanations. Student counts, by 

level, were compared to activity hours to ensure hours were reported if students were reported at 

the undergraduate and graduate levels. For this collection cycle, Part B data were optional; 

however, if provided, total first-time, first-year degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students 

in Part A (reported by race/ethnicity) had to equal the number reported in Part B (reported by 

age). Total first-time, first-year degree/certificate-seeking students in Part A (reported by 

race/ethnicity) had to equal total first-time, first-year degree/certificate-seeking students in Part C 

(reported by state of residence, U.S. territory, or foreign country). If the system detected 

discrepancies in the numbers reported in Parts A, B, and C, balance amounts were generated and 

these balances were entered into “unknown” fields. This resulted in some negative numbers in 

the “unknown” fields, which were subsequently corrected prior to data cleaning and imputation. 

Edits were also applied to the Student Financial Aid component of the survey. For example, the 

number of full-time, first-time students had to be less than or equal to the total number of 

undergraduate students enrolled. The number of full-time, first-time students who received any 
A-11

financial aid during the full academic year had to be less than or equal to the number of full-time, 

first-time undergraduate students. For institutions that charged by residency, the sum of indistrict, in-state, and out-of-state full-time, first-time undergraduate students could not exceed the 

number of full-time, first-time undergraduate students. The number of full-time, first-time 

undergraduate students receiving federal grants could not exceed the number of full-time, firsttime undergraduate students who received any financial aid during the full academic year. The 

same criteria applied to state/local grants, institutional grants, and loans to students. 

For the Finance component, current year data were compared to the previous year’s data and 

large discrepancies had to be justified in the edit explanations. In the version of the Finance 

component for private, not-for-profit institutions, total net assets had to equal total unrestricted 

net assets plus total restricted net assets. Total net assets also had to equal total assets minus total 

liabilities. For all versions of the Finance component, selected fields—such as other sources of 

revenue, other expenses, and long-term debt outstanding at the end of the fiscal year—were 

generated by the collection system using predetermined formulas. Institutions were instructed to 

compare the generated totals to the information in their financial statement and resolve any data 

entry errors. 

For the Graduation Rates component, individual cells were summed to ensure that they did not 

exceed the revised cohort for any race/ethnicity or gender classification. Additionally, counts for 

athletic subcohorts were summed to ensure that they did not exceed the total cohort for any 

race/ethnicity or gender classification. Finally, if cohort members were reported for either section 

of the Graduation Rates component (bachelor’s-seeking or other-than-bachelor’s-seeking), at 

least one cell had to be completed in each applicable section. 

Imputation Procedures 

The Enrollment data, Finance data, Graduation Rates data, and Student Financial Aid data were 

all subject to imputation for nonresponse—both total (institutional) nonresponse and partial 

(item) nonresponse. In addition, the imputation base was restricted to institutions satisfying all of 

the following conditions: 

• The institution must participate in Title IV student financial aid programs. 

• The institution must be currently active5 in IPEDS. 

• The institution must not be an administrative office. 

• The institution must not be a child institution (a child institution’s data are reported by 

another institution, referred to as the “parent”). 

• For the Graduation Rates component, the institution must have enrolled full-time, firsttime students for the cohort year.

Enrollment 

For Part A of the Enrollment component, 115 imputation groups and 48 collapsed imputation 

groups were formed primarily based on institutional sector and undergraduate, graduate, and 

first-professional offerings. 

 

5

 Institutions that did not respond were verified as currently active (open for business) prior to imputation through 

telephone calls and e-mail. 
A-12

The following imputation methods were used (in order of preference) to impute missing data in 

enrollment Parts A, B, E, and F: 

• Carry Forward—Reported 2003 (or 2002) enrollment data were carried forward to the 

current year. The number of students reported in 2003 (or 2002) was used as the base 

value for the imputation. This base value was then multiplied by either the ratio of current 

year to past year median part-time students or the ratio of current year to past year 

median full-time students (whichever was applicable) within the imputation group to 

adjust for year-to-year change. Medians were determined within imputation groups. 

• Nearest Neighbor Fall Enrollment Part A—Reported 2004 enrollment Part A data were 

used in defining the distance measure for this method. In particular, the distance between 

two institutions was defined as the maximum relative difference in enrollment count 

among the levels of study (undergraduate, graduate, first-professional). The nearest 

neighbor of the imputee was selected from the responding institutions in the same 

imputation group as the donor. The donor’s unduplicated enrollment counts (or 

instructional activity hours) were multiplied by the ratio of the imputee’s fall enrollment 

count to the donor’s fall enrollment count to adjust for the difference between the two 

institutions. These adjusted values were used as the imputed values. 

• Nearest Neighbor Completions—The completions data for academic year 2003-04 were 

used in defining the distance measure for this method. In particular, the distance between 

two institutions was defined as the maximum relative difference in award count among 

the levels of study (undergraduate, graduate, first-professional). The nearest neighbor of 

the imputee was selected from the responding institutions in the same imputation group 

as the donor. The donor’s fall enrollment counts (or unduplicated enrollment counts or 

instructional activity hours) were multiplied by the ratio of the imputee’s award count to 

the donor’s award count to adjust for the difference between the two institutions. These 

adjusted values were used as the imputed values. The identified donor’s award counts 

were used to impute for Part A and Part E data simultaneously, where applicable. Donors 

for Part B were identified after Part A was imputed in order to ensure that the total 

enrollment in a given institution was the same across all parts of the Fall Enrollment 

survey. 

• Ratio Adjustment Based on Part A Data—The Fall Enrollment Part A dataset for 

academic year 2004-05 was used to determine the median contact or credit hours per fulltime equivalent (FTE) student. This ratio was calculated for each collapsed imputation 

group for undergraduate credit hours, undergraduate contact hours, and graduate credit 

hours. An institution’s FTE, based on the institution’s Part A data, is equal to an 

institution’s full-time students plus one-third its part-time students. The median ratio for 

each collapsed imputation group was applied to the Part F nonrespondent’s Part A 

enrollment. For institutions that had undergraduate offerings, the institution’s calendar 

year indicator determined whether the imputed activity hours were assigned to contact or 

credit hours. 

• Group Median—For each imputation group, the median enrollment count of all 

responding institutions was calculated. The responding institution that had the closest 

enrollment count to this median was designated as the “median” institution. Enrollment 

counts were imputed using the values from the median institution. For public institutions, 
A-13

if there were at least three donors from the imputee’s state, the median institution was 

chosen from the institutions within the same state as the imputee. Otherwise, the median 

institution was chosen from the entire imputation group. The median institution used to 

impute for enrollment counts was used to impute for the unduplicated enrollment counts 

and the instructional activity hours, where applicable. 

For total nonrespondents, if there were past enrollment data, then the Carry Forward method was 

used. Alternately, if there were past completions data, the Nearest Neighbor method was used. 

Otherwise the Group Median method was used. Partial nonresponse was determined by 

comparison with the existing past fall enrollment data. The three types of partial nonrespondents 

imputed using the Carry Forward method were 

• missing a whole level—institutions missing all the lines for undergraduate, graduate, or 

first-professional offering; 

• missing a half level—full-time data were present but part-time data were missing, or parttime data were present and full-time data were missing; and 

• missing data within undergraduate level—first-time, first-year data were present, but total 

undergraduates data were missing, or total undergraduates data were present, but firsttime, first-year data were missing. 

Table A-2 provides the fall enrollment counts (reported and imputed) and percentages that were 

imputed for all Title IV institutions in the United States, by control of institution, student level, 

attendance status, gender, and degree-granting status. 

Table A-3 provides fall enrollment counts (reported and imputed) and percentages that were 

imputed for first-time, first-year undergraduate students at Title IV institutions in the United 

States, by control of institution, degree-granting status, and residency. 

Table A-4 provides the same counts as Table A-3 except that it is for only those first-time, firstyear students who graduated from high school in the past 12 months. 

Table A-5 provides the unduplicated headcount data (reported and imputed) and percentages that 

were imputed for all Title IV institutions in the United States, by control of institution, student 

level, gender, and degree-granting status. 

Table A-6 provides the instructional activity (reported and imputed) and percentages that were 

imputed for all Title IV institutions in the United States, by control of institution, degree-granting 

status, and type of instructional activity (credit or contact hour). 

Table A-7 provides the number and percentage of institutions with imputed 1-year retention rates 

for first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students for all Title IV institutions in the 

United States, by control, degree-granting status, and attendance status. 
A-14

Table A-2. Fall enrollment and percentage imputed for all Title IV institutions, by control of institution, student level, 

attendance status, gender, and degree-granting status: United States, fall 2004 

Total Public Private not-for-profit Private for-profit 

Imputed Imputed Imputed Imputed 

Student level, attendance 

status, gender, and 

degree-granting status 

Fall 

enrollment Number Percent 

Fall 

enrollment Number Percent

Fall 

enrollment Number Percent 

Fall 

enrollment Number Percent

All students 17,710,798 707 # 13,081,358 190 # 3,440,559 214 # 1,188,881 303 #

 

Undergraduate 15,219,123 707 # 11,751,786 190 # 2,418,019 214 # 1,049,318 303 #

First-time, first-year 2,910,285 461 # 1,993,143 68 # 498,851 171 # 418,291 222 #

Other undergraduate 12,308,838 246 # 9,758,643 122 # 1,919,168 43 # 631,027 81 #

Graduate 2,157,146 0 0.0 1,193,816 0 0.0 825,093 0 0.0 138,237 0 0.0

First-professional 334,529 0 0.0 135,756 0 0.0 197,447 0 0.0 1,326 0 0.0

 

Full time 10,967,201 521 # 7,433,820 98 # 2,548,014 208 # 985,367 215 #

Part time 6,743,597 186 # 5,647,538 92 # 892,545 6 # 203,514 88 #

 

Men 7,523,953 232 # 5,606,096 60 # 1,457,894 160 # 459,963 12 #

Women 10,186,845 475 # 7,475,262 130 # 1,982,665 54 # 728,918 291 #

Degree-granting 17,272,044 404 # 12,980,112 190 # 3,411,685 214 # 880,247 0 0.0

Non-degree-granting 438,754 303 # 101,246 0 0.0 28,874 0 0.0 308,634 303 #

# Rounds to zero. 

NOTE: Table is restricted to U.S. institutions only. No students were imputed for institutions in other jurisdictions. This table is based on the enrollment by 

race/ethnicity and gender component (Part A) of the Enrollment component. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Spring 

2005. 

Table A-3. Fall enrollment and percentage imputed for all Title IV institutions, by control of institution and degree-granting 

status for first-time, first-year undergraduate students: United States, fall 2004 

Total Public Private not-for-profit Private for-profit 

Imputed Imputed Imputed Imputed 

Degree-granting status 

Fall 

enrollment Number Percent 

Fall 

enrollment Number Percent

Fall 

enrollment Number Percent 

Fall 

enrollment Number Percent

All students 2,910,285 2,515 0.1 1,993,143 150 # 498,851 238 # 418,291 2,127 0.5

 

Degree-granting 2,630,243 1,432 # 1,934,331 68 # 485,820 171 # 210,092 1,193 0.3

Non-degree-granting 280,042 1,083 # 58,812 82 # 13,031 67 # 208,199 934 0.2

# Rounds to zero. 

NOTE: Table is restricted to U.S. institutions only. No students were imputed for institutions in other jurisdictions. This table is based on the enrollment by 

state of residency section (Part C) of the Enrollment component. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Spring 

2005. 
A-15

Table A-4. Fall enrollment and percentage imputed for all Title IV institutions, by control of institution and degree-granting 

status for first-time, first-year students who graduated from high school in the past 12 months: United States, 

fall 2004 

Total Public Private not-for-profit Private for-profit 

Imputed Imputed Imputed Imputed 

Degree-granting status 

Fall 

enrollment Number Percent 

Fall 

enrollment Number Percent

Fall 

enrollment Number Percent 

Fall 

enrollment Number Percent

All students 1,768,796 45 # 1,322,629 0 0.0 365,389 4 # 80,778 41 0.1

 

Degree-granting 1,731,100 4 # 1,317,253 0 0.0 363,045 4 # 50,802 0 0.0

Non-degree-granting 37,696 41 # 5,376 0 0.0 2,344 0 0.0 29,976 41 0.1

# Rounds to zero. 

NOTE: Table is restricted to U.S. institutions only. No students were imputed for institutions in other jurisdictions. This table is based on the enrollment by 

state of residency section (Part C) of the Enrollment component. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Spring 

2005. 

Table A-5. Unduplicated count and percentage imputed for all Title IV institutions, by control of institution, student level, 

gender, and degree-granting status: United States, 2003-04 

Total Public Private not-for-profit Private for-profit 

Imputed Imputed Imputed Imputed 

Student level, gender, 

and degree-granting 

status 

Unduplicated 

count Number % 

Unduplicated 

count Number %

Unduplicated 

count Number % 

Unduplicated 

count Number %

All students 24,114,942 858 # 18,211,198 306 # 4,200,346 162 # 1,703,398 390 #

 

Undergraduate 20,721,419 858 # 16,375,630 306 # 2,839,794 162 # 1,505,995 390 #

Graduate 3,041,197 0 0.0 1,692,688 0 0.0 1,152,558 0 0.0 195,951 0 0.0

First-professional 352,326 0 0.0 142,880 0 0.0 207,994 0 0.0 1,452 0 0.0

Men 10,251,085 235 # 7,826,002 81 # 1,759,889 127 # 665,194 27 #

Women 13,863,857 623 # 10,385,196 225 # 2,440,457 35 # 1,038,204 363 #

 

Degree-granting 23,462,718 428 # 18,042,723 266 # 4,158,043 162 # 1,261,952 0 0.0

Non-degree-granting 652,224 430 # 168,475 40 # 42,303 0 0.0 441,446 390 #

# Rounds to zero. 

NOTE: Table is restricted to U.S. institutions only. No students were imputed for institutions in other jurisdictions. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Spring 

2005. 
A-16

Table A-6. Instructional activity and percentage imputed for all Title IV institutions, by control of institution, degreegranting status, and type of instructional activity: United States, 2003-04 

Total Public Private not-for-profit Private for-profit 

Imputed Imputed Imputed Imputed 

Degree-granting status 

and type of instructional 

activities Total amount Amount % Total amount Amount % Total amount Amount % Total amount Amount %

Credit hour activity 452,054,544 7,484 # 294,927,779 3,944 # 92,265,351 3,540 # 64,861,414 0 0.0

Undergraduate 404,541,197 7,484 # 273,328,886 3,944 # 69,007,489 3,540 # 62,204,822 0 0.0

Graduate 47,513,347 0 0.0 21,598,893 0 0.0 23,257,862 0 0.0 2,656,592 0 0.0

Contact hour activity 608,171,039 266,664 # 248,710,691 0 0.0 27,558,406 0 0.0 331,901,942 266,664 0.1

 

Degree-granting 707,546,028 7,484 # 470,218,656 3,944 # 101,757,452 3,540 # 135,569,920 0 0.0

Credit hour activity 439,754,503 7,484 # 294,611,344 3,944 # 91,731,310 3,540 # 53,411,849 0 0.0

Undergraduate 392,288,773 7,484 # 273,014,557 3,944 # 68,518,959 3,540 # 50,755,257 0 0.0

Graduate 47,465,730 0 0.0 21,596,787 0 0.0 23,212,351 0 0.0 2,656,592 0 0.0

Contact hour activity 267,791,525 0 0.0 175,607,312 0 0.0 10,026,142 0 0.0 82,158,071 0 0.0

 

Non-degree-granting 352,679,555 266,664 # 73,419,814 0 0.0 18,066,305 0 0.0 261,193,436 266,664 0.1

Credit hour activity 12,300,041 0 0.0 316,435 0 0.0 534,041 0 0.0 11,449,565 0 0.0

Undergraduate 12,252,424 0 0.0 314,329 0 0.0 488,530 0 0.0 11,449,565 0 0.0

Graduate 47,617 0 0.0 2,106 0 0.0 45,511 0 0.0 † † †

Contact hour activity 340,379,514 266,664 # 73,103,379 0 0.0 17,532,264 0 0.0 249,743,871 266,664 0.1

† Not applicable. 

# Rounds to zero. 

NOTE: Table is restricted to U.S. institutions only. No credit hour or contact hour activity data were imputed for institutions in other jurisdictions. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Spring 

2005. 

Table A-7. Number and percent of Title IV institutions with imputed 1-year retention rates for first-time degree/certificateseeking undergraduate students, by control, degree-granting status, and attendance status: United States, 

fall 2004 

Total Public Private not-for-profit Private for-profit 

Degree-granting status Imputed Imputed Imputed Imputed 

and attendance status 

All 

institutions Number Percent 

All 

institutions Number Percent

All 

institutions Number Percent 

All 

institutions Number Percent

All institutions 5,841 5 0.1 1,964 1 0.1 1,536 1 0.1 2,341 3 0.1

 

Full time students 5,817 5 0.1 1,960 1 0.1 1,529 1 0.1 2,328 3 0.1

Part time students 4,069 5 0.1 1,831 1 0.1 1,005 1 0.1 1,233 3 0.1

 

Degree-granting 3,796 2 # 1,642 1 0.1 1,347 1 0.1 807 0 0.0

Full time students 3,786 2 # 1,641 1 0.1 1,341 1 0.1 804 0 0.0

Part time students 3,027 2 # 1,612 1 0.1 936 1 0.1 479 0 0.0

Non-degree-granting 2,045 3 0.1 322 0 0.0 189 0 0.0 1,534 3 0.1

Full time students 2,031 3 0.1 319 0 0.0 188 0 0.0 1,524 3 0.1

Part time students 1,042 3 0.1 219 0 0.0 69 0 0.0 754 3 0.1

# Rounds to zero. 

NOTE: Table is restricted to U.S. institutions only. No retention rates were imputed for institutions in other jurisdictions. This table is based on the 

retention rate section (Part G) of the Enrollment component. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Spring 

2005. 
A-17

Finance 

For the Finance component, Parts A through E of the public GASB reporting form, the private 

not-for-profit FASB reporting form, and the private for-profit F-3 reporting form were subject to 

imputation. The imputation groups were created separately for public, private not-for-profit, and 

private for-profit institutions. Thirty imputation groups were formed based primarily on 

institutional sector, graduate or first-professional offering, medical degree offering, state (for 

public only), and religious affiliation (for private not-for-profit only). 

The following imputation methods were used (in order of preference) to impute missing data in 

the Finance component of the survey: 

• Carry Forward—Reported prior finance data were carried forward to the current year. 

The values were then multiplied by a median inflation adjustment from within the 

imputation group to account for year-to-year change. For variables deemed proportional 

to enrollment, such as total tuition and fees or total student grants, further adjustment by 

FTE enrollment ratios was made. 

• Nearest Neighbor FTE—Data from a nearest neighbor of the imputee based on previous 

years’ FTE enrollment values within the imputation group were used as the imputed 

values. An imputee/donor FTE adjustment for variables closely related to FTE was made 

to the imputed values. For public imputees, only institutions within the same state as the 

imputee were considered as potential donors. If there were no potential donors within the 

same state, then this restriction did not apply. 

• Nearest Neighbor EAP (Employees by Assigned Position)—Data from a nearest neighbor 

of the imputee based on the current or previous year EAP data within the imputation 

group were used as the imputed values. The number of total employees reported in the 

EAP dataset was used in defining the distance measure. An imputee/donor adjustment 

was made to the imputed values. For public imputees, only institutions within the same 

state as the imputee were considered as potential donors. If there were no potential 

donors within the same state, then this restriction did not apply. 

If an institution was a nonrespondent and had finance data in the previous 2 years, then the Carry 

Forward method was used. If the finance data of previous 2 years were not available but the Fall 

Enrollment data of previous years were, then the Nearest Neighbor-FTE method was used. If 

neither finance nor FTE data were available, the Nearest Neighbor-EAP method was used if the 

EAP data for the previous years were available. Partial nonresponse was determined by 

comparison with the existing past data. Partial nonrespondents were imputed by applying the 

above methods to the missing parts. 

Since no information was available on whether they actually adopted GASB or FASB to prepare 

their financial statements, public imputees were imputed using data from public GASB donors. 

Private not-for-profit imputees were imputed using data from private not-for-profit donors, not 

from public FASB donors. 

Table A-8 provides the revenues and expenditures/expenses (reported and imputed) as well as 

the percentages of these amounts that were imputed for all Title IV institutions in the United 

States, by control of institution and type of funds. 
A-18

Table A-8. Revenues and expenses and the percentages imputed for Title IV institutions, by control of 

institution and type of funds: United States, fiscal year 2004 

[Amounts are in thousands of dollars] 

Total Public (GASB)1

 Public (FASB)2

Imputed Imputed Imputed 

Type of funds Total funds Amount % Total funds Amount % Total funds Amount %

 

Total revenues and 

investment 

returns $372,768,569 $557,068 0.1 $218,980,633 $247,760 0.1 $7,051,572 $0 0.0

 

Tuition and fees 84,428,736 41,732 # 33,823,985 3,567 # 1,674,299 0 0.0

Government 

appropriations, grants, 

and contracts 128,568,805 227,226 0.2 110,058,923 216,038 0.2 1,982,006 0 0.0

 Federal 47,822,273 124,921 0.3 32,364,843 114,867 0.4 1,002,641 0 0.0

 State and local 80,746,532 102,305 0.1 77,694,080 101,170 0.1 979,366 0 0.0

Private gifts, grants, and 

contracts 19,063,099 5,986 # 3,718,640 59 # 479,027 0 0.0

Sales and services of 

educational activities 3,760,814 1,067 # † † † 129,329 0 0.0

Auxiliary enterprises 27,635,688 5,680 # 16,569,869 3,347 # 458,663 0 0.0

Hospitals 29,245,035 0 0.0 18,038,139 0 0.0 1,549,143 0 0.0

Contributions from 

affiliated entities 1,033,144 1,520 0.1 † † † 39 0 0.0

Investment return 38,162,353 1,797 # 6,645,000 1,688 # 544,853 0 0.0

Independent operations 

revenue 5,546,738 0 0.0 902,906 0 0.0 15,869 0 0.0

Other revenue 35,324,155 272,060 0.8 29,223,171 23,061 0.1 218,343 0 0.0

 

Total expenses 322,873,141 479,016 0.1 201,859,404 199,561 0.1 6,338,027 0 0.0

 

Instruction 95,421,930 101,389 0.1 56,788,067 85,956 0.2 1,759,361 0 0.0

Research and public 

service 44,514,402 2,064 # 29,156,440 1,232 # 1,304,416 0 0.0

Academic support, 

student services, and 

institutional support 76,755,018 95,830 0.1 39,462,790 60,750 0.2 1,247,271 0 0.0

Operation and 

maintenance of plant 12,581,684 14,977 0.1 12,581,684 14,977 0.1 † † †

Scholarships and 

fellowships/aid 9,369,568 4,900 0.1 8,184,731 720 # 14,925 0 0.0

Auxiliary enterprises 26,569,611 2,222 # 15,335,709 305 # 434,047 0 0.0

Hospitals 26,874,412 0 0.0 16,959,790 0 0.0 1,540,494 0 0.0

Independent operations 4,970,804 0 0.0 734,977 0 0.0 11,897 0 0.0

Other expenses 25,815,712 257,634 1.0 22,655,216 35,620 0.2 25,616 0 0.0

 

See notes at end of table. 
A-19

Table A-8. Revenues and expenses and the percentages imputed for Title IV institutions, by control of 

institution and type of funds: United States, fiscal year 2004—Continued 

[Amounts are in thousands of dollars] 

Private not-for-profit Private for-profit 

Imputed Imputed 

Type of funds Total funds Amount % Total funds Amount %

 

Total revenues and 

investment 

returns 134,921,383 272,815 0.2 11,814,981 36,493 0.3 

 

Tuition and fees 38,672,707 11,949 # 10,257,746 26,216 0.3 

Government 

appropriations, grants, 

and contracts 15,795,409 2,637 # 732,467 8,552 1.2 

 Federal 13,803,335 2,177 # 651,455 7,877 1.2 

 State and local 1,992,074 460 # 81,012 674 0.8 

Private gifts, grants, and 

contracts 14,852,971 5,807 # 12,461 120 1.0 

Sales and services of 

educational activities 3,330,756 0 0.0 300,729 1,067 0.4 

Auxiliary enterprises 10,340,714 1,901 # 266,443 431 0.2 

Hospitals 9,657,753 0 0.0 † † † 

Contributions from 

affiliated entities 1,033,105 1,520 0.1 † † † 

Investment return 30,942,861 74 # 29,639 35 0.1 

Independent operations 

revenue 4,627,964 0 0.0 † † † 

Other revenue 5,667,144 248,927 4.4 215,496 73 # 

 

Total expenses 104,869,141 242,957 0.2 9,806,569 36,498 0.4 

 

Instruction 34,146,661 6,043 # 2,727,840 9,390 0.3 

Research and public 

service 14,034,158 109 # 19,389 723 3.7 

Academic support, 

student services, and 

institutional support 30,422,402 9,670 # 5,622,555 25,410 0.5 

Operation and 

maintenance of plant † † † † † † 

Scholarships and 

fellowships/aid 1,103,525 4,170 0.4 66,386 10 # 

Auxiliary enterprises 10,516,300 1,905 # 283,555 12 # 

Hospitals 8,374,128 0 0.0 † † † 

Independent operations 4,223,929 0 0.0 † † † 

Other expenses 2,048,037 221,060 10.8 1,086,843 953 0.1 

† Not applicable. 

# Rounds to zero. 

1 Public institutions that use Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) standards to prepare their financial statements. 2 Public institutions that use Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) standards to prepare their financial statements.

NOTE: All public FASB data are reported, not imputed, because public imputees are imputed using data from public GASB donors. 

This table is restricted to U.S. institutions only. No revenues or expenditures were imputed for institutions in other jurisdictions. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 

System (IPEDS), Spring 2005. 
A-20

Graduation Rates 

The variables used to define imputation groups for the Graduation Rates component were 

• sector; 

• medical offering; 

• first-professional offering; 

• graduate offering; 

• bachelor’s degree (LEVEL5=1); and 

• less than 1 year or at least 1 but less than 2 years or associate’s degree or at least 2 but 

less than 4 years (LEVEL1=1 or LEVEL2=1 or LEVEL3=1 or LEVEL4=1). 

Each combination of the above criteria formed a unique imputation group. Imputation groups for 

institutions in sector 9 (private for-profit less-than-2-year institutions) were also defined by the 

combination of LEVEL1 and LEVEL2. A donor was selected from the same imputation group as 

the imputee. 

The following imputation methods were used (in order of preference) to impute missing data in 

the Graduation Rate component of the survey: 

• Carry Forward—The imputed school’s previous year’s data were used as the donor 

values. No year-to-year adjustment was necessary because the graduation rate for last 

year’s cohort is the best estimate of the graduation rate for this year’s cohort. 

• Nearest Neighbor—The responding institution with the nearest “distance” to the imputee 

within the imputee’s imputation group was used as the donor. The distance was 

calculated from a predicted graduation rate and either the Completions data or the Fall 

Enrollment data. 

• Group Median—A median institution in each imputation group was determined and used 

as a donor for imputees in that imputation group. 

When previous year’s data were not available, the Nearest Neighbor imputation method was 

used if sufficient data were available. Otherwise, the Group Median imputation procedure was 

used. Group Median and Nearest Neighbor imputations were performed within imputation 

groups. 

Table A-9 provides the GRS cohort student counts (reported and imputed) and percentages that 

were imputed for all Title IV institutions in the United States, by control of institution and 

student level. Table A-9 includes counts and percentages for imputation related to data collected 

regarding students receiving athletically related student aid that are included in the data file. 

These data were collected as required by the Student Right-to-Know Act, but are not included in 

the findings reported in this document. 

Student Financial Aid 

For the Student Financial Aid component, 28 imputation groups were formed primarily based on 

institutional sector and calendar system, state FIPS code, and religious affiliation. Medical 

degree offering was not considered since the existence of a medical school does not impact SFA. 
A-21

Also, graduate or first-professional offering was not considered since SFA only applies to fulltime, first-time students. 
A-22

Table A-9. Student counts and percentage imputed for all Title IV institutions, by control of institution 

and student level: United States, cohort years 1998 and 2001 

Total Public 

Imputed Imputed 

Student level Students Number Percent Students Number Percent 

Section II—Bachelor’s degree-seeking 

Bachelor’s or equivalent degree-seeking subcohort 1,114,352 41 # 716,970 0 0.0

Total exclusions 3,189 0 0.0 1,984 0 0.0

Adjusted bachelor’s or equivalent degree-seeking subcohort 1,111,163 41 # 714,986 0 0.0

Total completers within 150% 630,984 54 # 382,430 0 0.0

Completers of programs of <2 years 705 25 3.5 255 0 0.0

Completers of programs of 2-4 years 4,128 0 0.0 1,543 0 0.0

Completers of bachelor’s or equivalent degrees 626,151 29 # 380,632 0 0.0

Completed the program in 4 years or less 383,637 26 # 191,466 0 0.0

Completed the program in 5 years 188,291 3 # 147,390 0 0.0

Completed the program in 6 years 54,223 0 0.0 41,776 0 0.0

Total transfer-out students (noncompleters) 91,364 11 # 76,031 0 0.0

Noncompleters enrolled and noncompleters not enrolled 388,815 1 # 256,525 0 0.0

Still enrolled in programs of 5 years or longer 1,144 0 0.0 559 0 0.0

Other noncompleters1 387,671 1 # 255,966 0 0.0

Section III—Other than bachelor’s degree-seeking at 

4-year institutions 

Other than bachelor’s degree-seeking subcohort 114,373 5 # 44,459 0 0.0

Total exclusions 1,366 0 0.0 543 0 0.0

Adjusted other than bachelor’s degree-seeking subcohort 113,007 5 # 43,916 0 0.0

Total completers within 150% 46,033 61 0.1 11,426 0 0.0

Completers of programs of <2 years 12,921 11 0.1 759 0 0.0

Completers of programs of 2-4 years 28,334 40 0.1 8,243 0 0.0

Completers of bachelor’s or equivalent degrees 4,778 10 0.2 2,424 0 0.0

Total transfer-out students (noncompleters) 9,221 5 0.1 6,663 0 0.0

Noncompleters enrolled and noncompleters not enrolled 57,753 31 0.1 25,827 0 0.0

Still enrolled in programs of 5 years or longer 158 0 0.0 81 0 0.0

Other noncompleters1 57,595 31 0.1 25,746 0 0.0

Section IV—Degree/certificate-seeking at less-than4-year institutions 

Degree/certificate-seeking subcohort 999,272 3,983 0.4 599,502 175 #

Total exclusions 1,980 2 0.1 1,016 0 0.0

Adjusted degree/certificate-seeking subcohort 997,292 3,981 0.4 598,486 175 #

Total completers within 150% 410,482 2,262 0.6 158,618 160 0.1

Completers of programs of <2 years 292,080 1,995 0.7 61,158 160 0.3

Completers of programs of 2-4 years 118,402 267 0.2 97,460 0 0.0

Total transfer-out students (noncompleters) 93,375 20 # 88,302 0 0.0

Noncompleters enrolled and noncompleters not enrolled 493,435 1,664 0.3 351,566 15 #

Still enrolled in programs of 3 years or longer 1,804 0 0.0 1,599 0 0.0

Other noncompleters1 491,631 1,664 0.3 349,967 15 #

Section V—Total number of students receiving 

athletically related student aid 

Total students receiving athletically related student aid 186,976 781 0.4 111,694 216 0.2

Football 33,829 215 0.6 22,941 29 0.1

Basketball 28,093 180 0.6 16,127 57 0.4

Baseball 20,883 107 0.5 12,918 42 0.3

Cross-country/track 21,535 105 0.5 13,564 40 0.3

All other sports 82,636 174 0.2 46,144 48 0.1

Section VI—Subcohort of students receiving 

athletically related student aid (all sports) 

Athletic subcohort 51,724 199 0.4 32,095 44 0.1

Total exclusions 154 0 0.0 111 0 0.0

Adjusted athletic subcohort 51,570 199 0.4 31,984 44 0.1

Total completers within 150% 25,685 43 0.2 14,635 4 #

Completers of programs of <2 years 745 4 0.5 612 0 0.0

Completers of programs of 2-4 years 4,433 6 0.1 3,811 4 0.1

Completers of bachelor’s or equivalent degrees 20,507 33 0.2 10,212 0 0.0

Total transfer-out student (noncompleters) 5,629 6 0.1 4,461 6 0.1

Not completed within 150% 20,256 150 0.7 12,888 34 0.3

See notes at end of table.
A-23

Table A-9. Student counts and percentage imputed for all Title IV institutions, by control of institution and 

student level: United States, cohort years 1998 and 2001—Continued 

Private not-for-profit Private for-profit 

Imputed Imputed 

Student level Students Number Percent Students Number Percent

Section II—Bachelor’s degree-seeking 

Bachelor’s or equivalent degree-seeking subcohort 380,105 41 # 17,277 0 0.0

Total exclusions 1,193 0 0.0 12 0 0.0

Adjusted bachelor’s or equivalent degree-seeking subcohort 378,912 41 # 17,265 0 0.0

Total completers within 150% 243,943 29 # 4,611 25 0.5

Completers of programs of <2 years 348 0 0.0 102 25 24.5

Completers of programs of 2-4 years 2,312 0 0.0 273 0 0.0

Completers of bachelor’s or equivalent degrees 241,283 29 # 4,236 0 0.0

Completed the program in 4 years or less 188,729 26 # 3,442 0 0.0

Completed the program in 5 years 40,350 3 # 551 0 0.0

Completed the program in 6 years 12,204 0 0.0 243 0 0.0

Total transfer-out students (noncompleters) 15,272 11 0.1 61 0 0.0

Noncompleters enrolled and noncompleters not enrolled 119,697 1 # 12,593 0 0.0

Still enrolled in programs of 5 years or longer 584 0 0.0 1 0 0.0

Other noncompleters1 119,113 1 # 12,592 0 0.0

Section III—Other than bachelor’s degree-seeking at 

4-year institutions 

Other than bachelor’s degree-seeking subcohort 25,159 5 # 44,755 0 0.0

Total exclusions 783 0 0.0 40 0 0.0

Adjusted other than bachelor’s degree-seeking subcohort 24,376 5 # 44,715 0 0.0

Total completers within 150% 11,323 55 0.5 23,284 6 #

Completers of programs of <2 years 2,133 5 0.2 10,029 6 0.1

Completers of programs of 2-4 years 7,392 40 0.5 12,699 0 0.0

Completers of bachelor’s or equivalent degrees 1,798 10 0.6 556 0 0.0

Total transfer-out students (noncompleters) 1,480 5 0.3 1,078 0 0.0

Noncompleters enrolled and noncompleters not enrolled 11,573 19 0.2 20,353 12 0.1

Still enrolled in programs of 5 years or longer 77 0 0.0 † † †

Other noncompleters1 11,496 19 0.2 20,353 12 0.1

Section IV—Degree/certificate-seeking at less-than4-year institutions 

Degree/certificate-seeking subcohort 31,585 90 0.3 368,185 3,718 1.0

Total exclusions 104 0 0.0 860 2 0.2

Adjusted degree/certificate-seeking subcohort 31,481 90 0.3 367,325 3,716 1.0

Total completers within 150% 19,233 71 0.4 232,631 2,031 0.9

Completers of programs of <2 years 15,011 6 # 215,911 1,829 0.8

Completers of programs of 2-4 years 4,222 65 1.5 16,720 202 1.2

Total transfer-out students (noncompleters) 1,592 0 0.0 3,481 20 0.6

Noncompleters enrolled and noncompleters not enrolled 10,656 19 0.2 131,213 1,630 1.2

Still enrolled in programs of 3 years or longer 58 0 0.0 147 0 0.0

Other noncompleters1 10,598 19 0.2 131,066 1,630 1.2

Section V—Total number of students receiving 

athletically related student aid 

Total students receiving athletically related student aid 74,781 565 0.8 501 0 0.0

Football 10,888 186 1.7 † † †

Basketball 11,841 123 1.0 125 0 0.0

Baseball 7,860 65 0.8 105 0 0.0

Cross-country/track 7,966 65 0.8 5 0 0.0

All other sports 36,226 126 0.3 266 0 0.0

See notes at end of table.
A-24

Table A-9. Student counts and percentage imputed for all Title IV institutions, by control of institution 

and student level: United States, cohort years 1998 and 2001—Continued 

Private not-for-profit Private for-profit 

Imputed Imputed 

Student level Students Number Percent Students Number Percent

Section VI—Subcohort of students receiving 

athletically related student (all sports) 

Athletic subcohort 19,446 155 0.8 183 0 0.0

Total exclusions 43 0 0.0 † † †

Adjusted athletic subcohort 19,403 155 0.8 183 0 0.0

Total completers within 150% 10,948 39 0.4 102 0 0.0

Completers of programs of <2 years 96 4 4.2 37 0 0.0

Completers of programs of 2-4 years 567 2 0.4 55 0 0.0

Completers of bachelor’s or equivalent degrees 10,285 33 0.3 10 0 0.0

Total transfer-out student (noncompleters) 1,168 0 0.0 † † †

Not completed within 150% 7,287 116 1.6 81 0 0.0

† Not applicable. 

# Rounds to zero. 

1 This line is calculated from the numbers in the table. It is not represented in the dataset. 

NOTE: This table is restricted to U.S. institutions only. Cohort year 1998 is applicable to 4-year institutions, while cohort year 2001 

is applicable to 2-year and less-than-2-year institutions. For institutions in other jurisdictions, for sections II, III, IV, and VI, there 

were no imputed students or imputed completers; however, for section V, 72 of 2,503 students were imputed. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 

System (IPEDS), Spring 2005. 

The following imputation procedures were used to impute missing data in the Student Financial 

Aid component of the survey. 

If available, we first obtained 

• for academic year reporters, the total number of undergraduates and number of full-time, 

first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduates from the enrollment data for fall 

2003; and 

• for program reporters, the unduplicated count of all students enrolled from the 

unduplicated count data for academic year 2003-04. 

Then the following imputation methods, in order, were used to impute the remaining missing 

data: 

• Carry Forward—This method was for institutions that responded to the previous years’ 

Student Financial Aid survey. Reported prior student financial aid data were carried 

forward to the current year. The values were then adjusted for year-to-year changes. 

• Nearest Neighbor—The responding institution with the nearest “distance” to the imputee 

within the imputee’s imputation group was used as the donor. The distance was 

calculated from the Finance data or the Fall Enrollment data. An imputee/donor 

adjustment was made to the imputed values. 

• Group Median—A median institution in each imputation group based on ranks of 

“student count” and “average aid amount” variables was determined and used as a donor 
A-25

for imputees in that imputation group. The donor’s values were assigned to the imputee 

with no adjustments. 

Table A-10 provides the financial aid recipients (reported and imputed) and percentages that 

were imputed for all Title IV institutions in the United States, by type of aid, control and level of 

institution. 

Table A-10. Financial aid recipients and percentage imputed for all Title IV institutions, by type of aid and 

level and control of institution: United States, academic year 2003-04 

Federal grants State/local grants 

Imputed Imputed 

Level and control of institution 

Number 

receiving Number Percent

Number 

receiving Number Percent

Total recipients 984,717 2,124 0.2 703,164 246 #

4-year 417,123 0 0.0 478,520 0 0.0

Public 248,343 0 0.0 322,838 0 0.0

Private not-for-profit 128,482 0 0.0 142,206 0 0.0

Private for-profit 40,298 0 0.0 13,476 0 0.0

2-year 373,366 1,215 0.3 207,041 186 0.1

Public 242,294 0 0.0 176,486 0 0.0

Private not-for-profit 8,570 133 1.6 5,223 117 2.2

Private for-profit 122,502 1,082 0.9 25,332 69 0.3

Less-than-2-year 194,228 909 0.5 17,603 60 0.3

Public 17,846 69 0.4 5,104 15 0.3

Private not-for-profit 9,321 0 0.0 2,112 0 0.0

Private for-profit 167,061 840 0.5 10,387 45 0.4

Institutional grants Loans to students 

Imputed Imputed 

Level and control of institution 

Number 

receiving Number Percent

Number 

receiving Number Percent

Total recipients 714,351 36 # 1,138,373 1,961 0.2

4-year 618,538 0 0.0 718,960 0 0.0

Public 280,288 0 0.0 390,773 0 0.0

Private not-for-profit 327,554 0 0.0 271,893 0 0.0

Private for-profit 10,696 0 0.0 56,294 0 0.0

2-year 79,664 30 # 256,057 1,269 0.5

Public 65,866 0 0.0 106,529 0 0.0

Private not-for-profit 5,281 27 0.5 8,624 10 0.1

Private for-profit 8,517 3 # 140,904 1,259 0.9

Less-than-2-year 16,149 6 # 163,356 692 0.4

Public 1,879 0 0.0 6,396 93 1.5

Private not-for-profit 1,029 0 0.0 4,302 0 0.0

Private for-profit 13,241 6 # 152,658 599 0.4

# Rounds to zero. 

NOTE: Table is restricted to U.S. institutions only. For institutions in other jurisdictions, 858 recipients were imputed. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 

System (IPEDS), Spring 2005. 
A-26

Data Perturbation and Confidentiality 

Four laws cover protection of the confidentiality of individually identifiable information 

collected by NCES—the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended; the E-Government Act of 2002; the 

Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002; and the USA Patriot Act of 2001. Therefore, 

Under law, public use data collected and distributed by the National Center for 

Education Statistics (NCES) may be used only for statistical purposes and may 

not be disclosed, or used, in identifiable form for any other purpose except as 

required by law. Any effort to determine the identity of any reported case by 

public-use data users is prohibited by law. Violations are subject to Class E felony 

charges of a fine up to $250,000 and/or a prison term up to 5 years.

In order to preserve individuals’ confidentiality, data in the SFA and GRS data files were subject 

to perturbation. Perturbation techniques directly alter the individual respondent's data for some 

variables, but preserve the level of detail in all variables included in the data file. Blanking and 

imputing for randomly selected records; blurring (e.g., combining multiple records through some 

averaging process into a single record); adding random noise; and data swapping or switching 

(e.g., switching the sex variable from a predetermined pair of individuals) for a subset of records 

are all examples of perturbation techniques. All student financial aid and graduation rate data in 

this report and in the IPEDS Peer Analysis System are based on the perturbed data. 
B-1 

Appendix B: 

Glossary of IPEDS Terms 

academic year: The period of time generally extending from September to June; usually equated to 2 

semesters or trimesters, 3 quarters, or the period covered by a 4-1-4 calendar system. 

adjusted cohort: In the Graduation Rates component of IPEDS, an institution’s revised cohort minus 

any allowable exclusions. 

administrative office: The system or central office in a multi-campus environment. 

auxiliary enterprises revenues: Revenues generated by or collected from the auxiliary enterprise 

operations of the institution that exist to furnish a service to students, faculty, or staff and that charge 

a fee that is directly related to, although not necessarily equal to, the cost of the service. Auxiliary 

enterprises are managed as essentially self-supporting activities. Examples are residence halls, food 

services, student health services, intercollegiate athletics, college unions, college stores, and movie 

theaters. 

bachelor’s or equivalent degree-seeking cohort: In the Graduation Rates component of IPEDS, a 

cohort of students who were seeking a bachelor’s or equivalent degree upon entry. 

child institution: An institution that has its data reported by another institution, known as the parent 

institution. 

cohort: A specific group of students established for tracking purposes. 

completers within 150 percent of normal time: Students who completed their program within 150 

percent of the normal (or expected) time for completion. 

component unit: This term applies to GASB institutions only. A component unit is a legally separate 

organizations for which the governing board and/or management of the primary institution is 

financially accountable. It can be another organization for which the nature and significance of its 

relationship with a primary institution is such that exclusion would cause the primary institution’s 

financial statements to be misleading or incomplete. 

control (of institution): A classification of whether an institution is operated by publicly elected or 

appointed officials (public control) or by privately elected or appointed officials and derives its major 

source of funds from private sources (private control). 

coordinator: The person responsible for Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) 

survey related coordination activities for a specified group of schools within a state. This person may 

have certain viewing, verifying, and locking privileges on the data collection system. 

degree/certificate-seeking students: Students enrolled in courses for credit who are recognized by the 

institution as seeking a degree or other formal award. At the undergraduate level, this is intended to 

include students enrolled in vocational or occupational programs. 

degree-granting institution: An institution offering an associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, doctor’s, or 

first-professional degree. 
B-2 

donor: A responding institution whose values are assigned to the imputee. 

exclusions: Those students who may be removed (deleted) from a cohort (or subcohort). For the 

Graduation Rates data collection, students may be removed from a cohort if they left the institution 

for one of the following reasons: died or were totally and permanently disabled; to serve in the armed 

forces; to serve with a foreign aid service of the federal government, such as the Peace Corps; or to 

serve on official church missions. 

fall cohort: The group of students entering in the fall term established for tracking purposes. For the 

Graduation Rates component, this includes all students who enter an institution as full-time, firsttime degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduate students during the fall term of a given year. 

FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board): FASB is recognized by the American Institute of 

Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) as the body authorized to establish accounting standards. In 

practice it defers to the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) for the setting of 

accounting standards for local and state government entities. 

federal grants: Grants provided by federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Education, 

including Title IV Pell Grants and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG). Also 

includes need-based and merit-based educational assistance funds and training vouchers provided 

from other federal agencies and/or federally-sponsored educational benefits programs, including the 

Veteran's Administration, Department of Labor, and other federal agencies. (Used for reporting on 

the Student Financial Aid component.) 

financial aid: Grants, loans, assistantships, scholarships, fellowships, tuition waivers, tuition 

discounts, veteran's benefits, employer aid (tuition reimbursement) and other monies (other than from 

relatives/friends) provided to students to meet expenses. This includes Title IV subsidized and 

unsubsidized loans made directly to students. 

first-professional student: A student enrolled in any of the following degree programs: 

Chiropractic (D.C. or D.C.M.) Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) 

Dentistry (D.D.S. or D.M.D.) Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) 

Law (L.L.B., J.D.) Podiatry (D.P.M., D.P., or Pod.D.) 

Medicine (M.D.) Theology (M.Div., M.H.L., B.D., or Ordination) 

Optometry (O.D.) Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.) 

first-time student (undergraduate): A student attending any institution for the first time at the 

undergraduate level. Includes students enrolled in academic or occupational programs. Also includes 

students enrolled in the fall term who attended college for the first time in the prior summer term, as 

well as students who entered with advanced standing (college credits earned before graduation from 

high school). 

FTE (full-time equivalent): A measurement equal to one student enrolled full time for one academic 

year. Total FTE enrollment includes full time plus the calculated equivalent of the part-time 

enrollment. The full-time equivalent of the part-time students can be estimated using different factors 

depending on the type and control of institution and level of student. 

full-time student: Undergraduate—A student enrolled for 12 or more semester credits, or 12 or more 

quarter credits, or 24 or more contact hours a week each term. Graduate—A student enrolled for 9 or 
B-3 

more semester credits, or 9 or more quarter credits, or a student involved in thesis or dissertation 

preparation that is considered full time by the institution. First-professional—As defined by the 

institution. 

full-year cohort: The group of students entering at any time during the 12-month period September 1 

through August 31 that is established for tracking and reporting Graduation Rate (GRS) data for 

institutions that primarily offer occupational programs of varying lengths. Students must be full time 

and first time to be considered in the cohort. 

GASB (Government Accounting Standards Board): The Governmental Accounting Standards Board 

(GASB) establishes accounting standards for local and state entities including governmental colleges 

and universities. 

government appropriations (revenues): Revenues received by an institution through acts of a 

legislative body, except grants and contracts. These funds are for meeting current operating expenses 

and not for specific projects or programs. The most common example is a state’s general 

appropriation. Appropriations primarily to fund capital assets are classified as capital appropriations. 

government grants: Transfers of money or property from a government agency to the education 

institution without a requirement to receive anything in return. These grants may take the form of 

grants to the institutions to undertake research or they may be in the form of student financial aid. 

(Used for reporting on the Finance component.) 

graduate student: A student who holds a bachelor’s or first-professional degree, or equivalent, and is 

taking courses at the post-baccalaureate level. These students may or may not be enrolled in graduate 

programs. 

graduation rate: The rate required for disclosure and/or reporting purposes under Student Right-toKnow. This rate is calculated as the total number of completers within 150 percent of normal time 

divided by the revised cohort minus any allowable exclusions. 

imputation: A method of estimating data for an entity that did not respond to a data item or survey. 

imputee: A nonresponding institution that has its values imputed. 

in-district student: A student who is a legal resident of the locality in which he/she attends school and 

thus is entitled to reduced tuition charges if offered by the institution. 

in-state student: A student who is a legal resident of the state in which he/she attends school and thus 

is entitled to reduced tuition charges if offered by the institution. 

institutional affiliation: A classification that indicates whether a private not-for-profit institution is 

associated with a religious group or denomination. Private not-for-profit institutions may be either 

independent or religiously affiliated. 

institutional grants: Scholarships and fellowships granted and funded by the institution and/or 

individual departments within the institution, (i.e., instruction, research, public service) that may 

contribute indirectly to the enhancement of these programs. Includes scholarships targeted to certain 

individuals (e.g., based on state of residence, major field of study, athletic team participation) for 

which the institution designates the recipient. 

instructional activity: The provision of coursework to students. 
B-4 

keyholder: The person designated by an official institutional representative to have in their 

possession the necessary UserID and password to gain access to the Integrated Postsecondary 

Education Data System (IPEDS) data collection system to complete the survey. The keyholder is 

responsible for entering data and locking the site by each survey completion date. 

level (of institution): A classification of whether an institution’s programs are 4 years or more (4-

year), at least 2 but less than 4 years (2-year), or less than 2 years (less-than-2-year). 

loans to students: Any monies that must be repaid to the lending institution for which the student is 

the designated borrower. Includes all Title IV subsidized and unsubsidized loans and all 

institutionally- and privately-sponsored loans. Does not include PLUS and other loans made directly 

to parents. 

nonresident alien: A person who is not a citizen or national of the United States and who is in this 

country on a visa or temporary basis and does not have the right to remain indefinitely. 

normal time to completion: The amount of time necessary for a student to complete all requirements 

for a degree or certificate according to the institution’s catalog. This is typically 4 years (8 semesters 

or trimesters, or 12 quarters, excluding summer terms) for a bachelor’s degree in a standard termbased institution; 2 years (4 semesters or trimesters, or 6 quarters, excluding summer terms) for an 

associate’s degree in a standard term-based institution; and the various scheduled times for certificate 

programs. 

non-degree-granting institution: An institution offering only postbaccalaureate, post-master’s, or 

first-professional certificates, or certificates or diplomas of 4 years or less. 

OPE: Office of Postsecondary Education 

other degree-seeking subcohort: A cohort of students who were seeking a degree or certificate other 

than bachelor’s degree upon entry. 

out-of-state student: A student who is not a legal resident of the state in which he/she attends school. 

parent institution: An institution that reports data for another institution, known as the child 

institution. 

part-time student: Undergraduate—A student enrolled for either 11 semester credits or less, or 11 

quarter credits or less, or less than 24 contact hours a week each term. Graduate—A student enrolled 

for either 8 semester credits or less, or 8 quarter credits or less. 

PEPS (Postsecondary Education Participation System): Database used by OPE to track all 

institutions eligible for Title IV federal student financial aid programs. 

postsecondary institution: An institution that has as its sole purpose, or one of its primary missions, 

the provision of postsecondary education. Postsecondary education is the provision of a formal 

instructional program whose curriculum is designed primarily for students beyond the compulsory 

age for high school. This includes programs whose purpose is academic, vocational, and continuing 

professional education, and excludes avocational and adult basic education programs. For IPEDS, 

these institutions must be open to the public. 

Program Participation Agreement (PPA): A written agreement between a postsecondary institution 

and the Secretary of Education. This agreement allows institutions to participate in any of the Title 
B-5 

IV student assistance programs other than the State Student Incentive Grant (SSIG) and the National 

Early Intervention Scholarship and Partnership (NEISP) programs. The PPA conditions the initial 

and continued participation of an eligible institution in any Title IV program upon compliance with 

the General Provisions regulations, the individual program regulations, and any additional conditions 

specified in the program participation agreement that the Department of Education requires the 

institution to meet. Institutions with such an agreement are referred to as Title IV institutions. 

private for-profit institution: A private institution in which the individual(s) or agency in control 

receives compensation other than wages, rent, or other expenses for the assumption of risk. 

private not-for-profit institution: A private institution in which the individual(s) or agency in control 

receives no compensation, other than wages, rent, or other expenses for the assumption of risk. These 

include both independent not-for-profit schools and those affiliated with a religious organization. 

programs of less than 2 years: Programs requiring less than 2 years of full-time-equivalent collegelevel work (4 semesters or 6 quarters) or less than 1,800 contact hours to obtain a degree, diploma, 

certificate, or quarter in the summer. 

public institution: An educational institution whose programs and activities are operated by publicly 

elected or appointed school officials and which is supported primarily by public funds. 

race/ethnicity: Categories used to describe groups to which individuals belong, identify with, or 

belong in the eyes of the community. The categories do not denote scientific definitions of 

anthropological origins. A person may be counted in only one group. The groups used to categorize 

U.S. citizens, resident aliens, and other eligible noncitizens are as follows: 

 White, non-Hispanic 

 Black, non-Hispanic 

 Hispanic 

 Asian/Pacific Islander 

 American Indian/Alaska Native 

resident alien (and other eligible noncitizens): A person who is not a citizen or national of the United 

States but who has been admitted as a legal immigrant for the purpose of obtaining permanent 

resident alien status (and who holds either an alien registration card (Form I-551 or I-151), a 

Temporary Resident Card (Form I-688), or an Arrival-Departure Record (Form I-94) with a notation 

that conveys legal immigrant status such as Section 207 Refugee, Section 208 Asylee, Conditional 

Entrant Parolee or Cuban-Haitian).

revised cohort: Initial cohort after revisions are made. This is the number from which graduation and 

transfer-out rates are calculated. Cohorts may be revised if an institution discovers that incorrect data 

were reported in an earlier year. 

sector: One of nine institutional categories resulting from dividing the universe according to control 

and level. Control categories are public, private not-for-profit, and private for-profit. Level categories 

are 4 years and higher (4-year), at least 2 but less than 4 years (2-year), and less than 2 years (lessthan-2-year). For example: public 4-year institutions. 

state and local government grants: State and local monies awarded to the institution under state and 

local student aid programs, including the state portion of State Student Incentives Grants (SSIG) 

(used for reporting Student Financial Aid data). 
B-6 

student charges: Average amount for tuition and fees, room or board charged to all students by the 

institution. Tuition and fees may vary by the level of student (undergraduate, graduate, or firstprofessional). 

Student Right-to-Know Act: Also known as the "Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act" 

(P.L. 101-542), which was passed by Congress November 9, 1990. Title I, Section 103, requires 

institutions eligible for Title IV funding to disclose completion or graduation rates of certificate- or 

degree-seeking, full-time students entering an institution to all students and prospective students. 

Further, Section 104 requires each institution that participates in any Title IV program and is 

attended by students receiving athletically related student aid to annually submit a report to the 

Secretary. This report is to contain, among other things, graduation/completion rates of all students as 

well as students receiving athletically related student aid by race/ethnicity and gender and by sport, 

and the average completion or graduation rate for the four most recent years. These data are also 

required to be disclosed to parents, coaches, and potential student athletes when the institution offers 

athletically related student aid. The Graduation Rates component of IPEDS was developed 

specifically to help institutions respond to these requirements. 

subcohort: A predefined subset of the initial cohort or the revised cohort established for tracking 

purposes on the Graduation Rates (GRS) component of IPEDS (e.g., athletic subcohort). 

Title IV institution: An institution that has a written agreement with the Secretary of Education that 

allows the institution to participate in any of the Title IV federal student financial assistance 

programs (other than the State Student Incentive Grant (SSIG) and the National Early Intervention 

Scholarship and Partnership (NEISP) programs). 

transfer-in student: A student entering the reporting institution for the first time but known to have 

previously attended a postsecondary institution at the same level (e.g., undergraduate, graduate). The 

student may transfer with or without credit. 

transfer-out rate: Total number of students who are known to have transferred out of the reporting 

institution within 150 percent of normal time to completion divided by the revised cohort minus 

allowable exclusions. 

transfer-out student: A student who leaves the reporting institution and enrolls at another institution. 

undergraduate student: A student enrolled in a 4- or 5-year bachelor’s degree program, an associate’s 

degree program, or a vocational or technical program below the baccalaureate. 

unduplicated count: The sum of students enrolled for credit with each student counted only once 

during the reporting period, regardless of when the student enrolled. 

UserID: A series of numbers possibly with an alpha prefix that is created for a specific user to be able 

to access a system. For security purposes, each user is required to have a UserID and a password in 

order to access the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) data collection system.