Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System

Overview
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) is the federal government’s core postsecondary data collection program. All postsecondary schools participating in federal student financial aid programs are required to complete a group of annual surveys on a variety of topics. While IPEDS has the most up-to-date, comprehensive data on postsecondary schools, the only distance education data collected are whether an institution offers distance education opportunities to its students. No data on the extent of a school’s distance education offerings are collected. Additionally, because the IPEDS definition of distance education course has changed over time, consistent trend data are not readily available.