Accurate, timely data on student outcomes and post-graduate earnings is a critical piece of any state effort to close equity gaps in college access and success, boost attainment statewide, and strategically align education and workforce goals. Unfortunately, in the absence of a federal student-level data network, states and other key stakeholders…

The Committee on Academic Science and Engineering (CASE), now defunct, established the CASE reporting system in 1965 to collect data on the Federal Government's obligations to universities, colleges, and other nonprofit organizations. The National Science Foundation, who has responsibility for the CASE system, uses the data for preparing annual…

Provides guidelines for building a consistent and reliable database of expenditures within an institution of higher education. Stresses the importance of involving key constituencies, including both data providers and data users, in decisions about building the data elements for such a database and the resulting campus cost studies. (DB)

Institutional procedures for fielding out-of-state data requests are examined in order to develop procedures for the generation of data for state agencies in a prompt, accurate, yet politically astute manner. Part I (Analyzing the Request for Data) discusses the importance of understanding the reasonableness and complexity of the request. Part II…

This article provides ideas on how to conduct alumni telephone surveys: (1) use the information gathered; (2) implement a survey; (3) develop appropriate questions; (4) test a survey instrument; (5) train interviewers; (6) collect the data; (7) analyze the results; (8) report the results; and (9) use the results to take action. (MDM)

This article provides advice on how to plan and conduct an alumni census through the mail, drawing on the experiences of Stonehill College in North Easton, Massachusetts, which undertook such a survey in 1992. It focuses on costs, information needs, questionnaire design, mailing considerations, reporting the results, and expected response rates.…

Techniques used by large and small institutions to trace and keep track of alumni are outlined, based on data from a national survey. Additionally, two articles on recordkeeping are presented. For 19 of the 27 institutions surveyed, information is provided on: institutional data regarding alumni population, staff assigned to tracing lost alumni,…

The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) is a system of surveys designed to collect data from all providers of postsecondary education. It is the core postsecondary education data collection program within the Department of Education. This discussion describes the IPEDS, its scope, and component surveys. Postsecondary education…

The Student Outcomes Questionnaire and the Student Outcomes Information Analysis Service (SOIS) developed by NCHEMS and the College Board are discussed. The term, "student outcomes," is defined as the consequence of a student's enrollment in an educational institution and involvement in its programs. The importance of this type of…

In 1989, a joint project was undertaken by the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges, the National Center for Academic Achievement and Transfer, the Center on Community College Education, and the Center for the Study of Community Colleges to disseminate data and research findings on the transfer of two-year college students to…

This book provides conceptual and practical strategies for the data and information collection and analysis needs of a diverse group of institutions, ranging from small rural community colleges to large urban research institutions. The model framework is designed for use by any size or type of institution and gives a broad overview of various…