IPEDS
Also called Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
NCES describes eight content areas: institutional characteristics, prices, admissions, enrollment, student financial aid, degrees and certificates conferred, student persistence and success, and institutional resources (human resources, finance, academic libraries). In practice that is a set of survey components filed in fall, winter, and spring — Completions, 12-month Enrollment, Institutional Characteristics in the fall; Student Financial Aid, Graduation Rates, Outcome Measures in the winter; Fall Enrollment, Finance, Human Resources in the spring.
IPEDS is the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System: annual surveys the National Center for Education Statistics runs on every college, university, and vocational school that participates in Title IV federal student aid. Completions, enrollment, charges, aid, graduation rates, finance, and staffing all sit here. College Scorecard and CIP-coded MBA program lists inherit the IPEDS roster. IPEDS is the survey system. UNITID is the school key inside it.
What does IPEDS collect?
NCES describes eight content areas: institutional characteristics, prices, admissions, enrollment, student financial aid, degrees and certificates conferred, student persistence and success, and institutional resources (human resources, finance, academic libraries). In practice that is a set of survey components filed in fall, winter, and spring — Completions, 12-month Enrollment, Institutional Characteristics in the fall; Student Financial Aid, Graduation Rates, Outcome Measures in the winter; Fall Enrollment, Finance, Human Resources in the spring.
Reporting is mandatory for Title IV participants under the Higher Education Act. The Completions component is where six-digit CIP codes and credential levels are reported: how many master’s degrees in 52.0201, how many in 52.1301. Scorecard later collapses those six-digit awards to four-digit fields of study. If the MBA is miscoded in Completions, every downstream STEM OPT conversation and Scorecard row starts from the wrong CIP.
IPEDS does not collect starting salaries, CSEA function tables, or H-1B outcomes. It does not publish ROI. People who say “IPEDS salary” are usually mixing it up with Scorecard tax earnings or with the IPEDS Human Resources survey (staff pay), which is not MBA placement.
Worked example
A business school files Completions for 2024-25: 400 master’s awards in CIP 52.0201, 40 in 52.1301. Those counts become the IPEDS Completions file keyed by UNITID. Scorecard field-of-study earnings will appear under 52.02 and 52.13 at CREDLEV 5, for Title IV completers only, with a lag. CSEA’s employment report for the same spring class is a different operation, run by career services on seekers, not by the IPEDS keyholder.
How does it differ from College Scorecard and from OPEID?
IPEDS is the NCES survey. Scorecard is an ED consumer product that merges IPEDS characteristics with NSLDS aid/debt and tax earnings. OPEID is the Federal Student Aid identifier for Title IV eligibility, not the IPEDS survey key. UNITID and OPEID6 are not one-to-one. Scorecard ships a crosswalk because of that.
| System | Operator | Grain |
|---|---|---|
| IPEDS | NCES | UNITID, six-digit CIP on Completions |
| FSA / PEPS | OPE / FSA | OPEID (6- or 8-digit) |
| Scorecard FOS | ED | UNITID + OPEID6 + 4-digit CIP + credential |
Common errors
Citing “IPEDS earnings” for MBA pay. Assuming every campus brand has one UNITID (branch reporting varies). Treating Completions CIP as automatically equal to the SEVIS CIP on each I-20. Using IPEDS Outcome Measures (which follow entry cohorts) as if they were CSEA three-month placement.
FAQ
Do non-Title IV schools report?
Title IV participation is what makes the surveys mandatory. Some non-Title IV schools report voluntarily; many do not. Scorecard coverage follows Title IV.
Is College Navigator IPEDS?
College Navigator is an NCES consumer view of IPEDS. Scorecard is a different ED site with debt and earnings overlays.
How current is Completions?
Each fall collection covers the prior July–June award year. A 2026 download is not the class that just walked.
Can I get MBA-specific enrollment from IPEDS?
Only if you accept CIP × award-level Completions and 12-month enrollment, not a CSEA “full-time MBA” headcount. Executive and part-time MBAs may share a CIP with the full-time program.
Related terms
Sources
- About IPEDS (NCES) Annual interrelated surveys; Title IV reporters; enrollments, completions, prices, aid, outcomes
- IPEDS homepage 12 survey components; fall/winter/spring collections; UNITID-level files
- College Scorecard Institution Data Documentation Scorecard files are at UNITID; NSLDS/earnings often rolled to OPEID6
