Delta Cost Project Data
The Delta Cost Project makes data available in a number of different formats. The database that AIR uses to analyze trends and to produce reports and briefs can be accessed from the National Center for Education Statistics at http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/deltacostproject/.
In addition, AIR, along with Xcalibur, provides an interactive web-based data system that gives higher education stakeholders easy access to information on finance, performance, and enrollments for individual institutions, groups of institutions, or the nation. This can be accessed at http://www.tcs-online.org/Home.aspx.
Data
Delta Cost Project Data
The Delta Cost Project has constructed a national data base for evaluating trends in postsecondary education, based on IPEDS data and spanning the years 1987 – 2005. Trends are analyzed using a panel of approximately 2000 public and private non-profit institutions. The database will be maintained and updated periodically. We are now initiating work to translate it to a web-based application, to enable user-friendly access to institutional and policy audiences. The database can now be viewed online.
Other Public Data/Analyses
Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB). The Delta Project has partnered with the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) on a multi-year initiative to strengthen governing board capacity for effective oversight of college spending, in ways appropriate to boards’ roles in strategic planning, public accountability, and financial oversight. The work includes a pilot effort being managed in the spring of 2008 to pilot better ways to integrate oversight of costs into on-going work of governing boards.
College Board- Trends in Higher Education Series
- Trends in College Pricing 2007 (PDF, October, 2007)
- Trends in Student Aid 2007 (PDF, October, 2007)
- Education Pays 2007: The Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and Society (PDF, September, 2007)
College Results On-Line. This site, developed by the Education Trust in conjunction with the National Association of System Heads contains a web-based tool for analyzing retention and graduation rates for colleges and universities. The tool allows users to compare institutions on graduation rates by ethnic groups, total educational spending per FTE student enrolled, median SAT scores for entering freshmen, and the proportion of students receiving Pell grants.
Department of Education’s Library of Tables. The Tables Library contains tables that focus on various topics in postsecondary education. These topics include access to postsecondary education, persistence and attainment of a degree, financial aid, student demographics, and institutional characteristics.
The Higher Education Price Index (HEPI). The Higher Education Price Index (HEPI), is an inflation tool designed specifically to track major categories of expenditures unique to higher education. Originally developed by Kent Halstead in conjunction with the State Higher Education Executive Officers’ organization, HEPI has been managed since 2001 by the Common Fund.
The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS). TICAS website includes a spot where one can compare institutions on a number of indicators related to their role in serving underrepresented and minority students. Users can generate data for a single institution, or generate comparison data for groups of institutions.
Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Peer Analysis and Data Slicing Tools.
Measuring Up. Prepared by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education users can compare states on six different categories of postsecondary performance: preparation, participation, affordability, completion, benefits, and learning. Data are aggregated to state-level performance indicators, and states are compared to one another in these categories of performance.
National Association of State Budget Officers. NASBO produces several annual publications on trends in state expenditures, as well as a fiscal survey of the states.
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Data Analysis System (DAS). The DAS is a software application that allows you to produce tables and to estimate covariance analyses from NCES data sets. There is a separate DAS for each data set, but all have a consistent interface and command structure. Each DAS runs in two modes-Tables and Covariance Analysis. Using the DAS Online, you can create programming instruction files, run tables and regressions, and view output using a web browser. In the Tables mode, the DAS will create a table of estimates; corresponding standard errors that are calculated by taking into account the complex sampling designs used in NCES surveys, and weighted sample sizes for the estimates. Data can be analyzed based on several postsecondary survey areas including:
- Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study - BPS
- High School and Beyond - HS&B
- Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System - IPEDS
- National Postsecondary Student Aid Study - NPSAS
- National Study of Postsecondary Faculty - NSOPF
National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) is the national authority on state performance in higher education. Their website, www.higheredinfo.org, contains a wealth of information about performance in higher education, and allows researchers and others to download performance data on a number of measures to make broad comparisons between states on factors such as academic preparation for college-level work; participation in higher education; affordability; learning; completion; benefits; and finance.
National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. They also have a number of other reports available in several topic areas: access and affordability, college-level learning, state performance, finance, governance, and public opinion.
National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). NSSE annually collects information from hundreds of four-year colleges and universities nationwide about student participation in programs and activities that institutions provide for their learning and personal development. The results provide an estimate of how undergraduates spend their time and what they gain from attending college. Survey items represent empirically confirmed "good practices" in undergraduate education. That is, they reflect behaviors by students and institutions that are associated with desired outcomes of college. NSSE's widespread use has spawned several other national used instruments including the Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement, the Community College Survey of Student Engagement, the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement, and the Law School Survey of Student Engagement, all of which are supported through institutional participation fees.
State Higher Education Finance (SHEF) Report. The State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) organization publishes annual reports documenting trends in state funding for higher education. Data are available for state as well as national trends beginning in 1997, and can be downloaded into excel formats and to power-point presentations.
University of Illinois, “Grapevine” Survey. This site reports trend data on state tax appropriations for operating expenses for higher education. Published since 1961, the site shows annual average percent changes in state appropriations for higher education, including student aid and state higher education agencies. The data do not report on expenditures, nor do they contextualize data in relation to enrollments. Nonetheless, they allow comparisons between states on measures such as appropriations per $1,000 of personal income.