The Institutional Characteristics machine-readable data file (MRDF) is a subfile of the larger Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS). It contains extensive descriptive information about more than 3,000 accredited institutions of higher education in the United States and its outlying territories. Each record includes the following variables: institution name; address; telephone number; Congressional district; type of control; highest level of offering; type of programs; kinds of accreditation; current and previous year's enrollment figures; affiliation; tuition and fees; room and board charges; admission requirements; year established; date first degree awarded; date first work offered; evening and weekend sessions; summer programs; statistics on race and sex of the student body; and land-grant status. Up to 1981-82, names and titles of chief administrative officers were also included. The data collected here are used to prepare the annual publication "Education Directory--Colleges and Universities" and are also used in other HEGIS data files. This census-type survey has been conducted annually since 1966, except for 1982-83 (HEGIS-XVII) and 1985-86 (HEGIS-XX). In those two periods no new survey forms were distributed and collected, but changes were made to the master file from information received from other sources. The file is in numeric sequence by Federal Interagency Committee on Education (FICE) code for each institution, followed by the data and information for that particular school, usually in coded form. POPULATION: Higher Education Institutions (>3,000). TYPE OF SURVEY: Census Survey; National Survey. RESPONDENTS: Survey Coordinators for Institutions of Higher Education. FREQUENCY: Annual. YEAR OF FIRST DATA: 1966. (CDM)