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 U.S. jurisdictions (see appendix A for a list of other U.S. jurisdictions). This "First Look" presents findings from the preliminary data of the IPEDS winter 2011-12 data collection, which included two survey components: Human Resources, which collects staff counts for fall 2011 and salary information for full-time instructional staff covering academic year 2011-12; and Student Financial Aid, which collects the number of undergraduate students receiving aid as well as the amount of aid received by those students. Data for both components were collected through the IPEDS web-based data collection system. Detailed information about the study methodology can be found at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2012293. This "First Look" using IPEDS preliminary data provides users with an opportunity to obtain access to IPEDS data soon after the close of data collection. Preliminary data have not been extensively reviewed or edited. Provisional data for this collection, containing fully reviewed, edited, and imputed data, will be released approximately 3 months after the preliminary data. Final data, including revisions to the provisional data submitted by institutions after the close of data collection, will be available during the next collection year (2012-13). The purpose of this report is to introduce new data through the presentation of tables containing descriptive information. Selected findings have been chosen to demonstrate the range of information available when using the IPEDS data rather than to discuss all of the observed differences, and they are not meant to emphasize any particular issue. Not all data collected during the winter 2011-12 collection are displayed in this "First Look"; however, all data from the winter 2011-12 collection are publicly available through the IPEDS Data Center, found at http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/datacenter. Appended are: (1) Data Collection Procedures; and (2) Glossary of IPEDS Terms. (Contains 2 tables, 2 footnotes and 6 endnotes.)