IES Blog

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) offers a variety of tools to support hurricane planning, response, and recovery efforts. These resources provide crucial data on educational institutions and infrastructure, helping decision-makers during this critical time. Below is an overview of the key NCES resources available to assist with hurricane response activities.

Key NCES Resources

Interactive Web Maps and APIs

Figure 1: School Weather Watch - Hurricane Milton

NCES provides interactive maps with detailed information on educational institutions across the United States, including the School Weather Watch - Hurricane Milton.

These maps are accessible via application programming interface (APIs), allowing users to easily integrate these data into their own applications. Available resources identify:

• Private School Locations
• Public School Locations
• Public School District Boundaries
• Postsecondary Institution Locations

Public and Private School Search Tools

• The Elementary/Secondary Information System (ELSI): A web application that enables users to view data and create reports on public and private schools across various metrics.
• Private School Search Tool: Search for private schools by state county, or ZIP Code to access detailed information, including addresses, enrollment numbers, and other key data.
• Public School Search Tool: Find public schools by state, county, or ZIP Code to access detailed information, including addresses, enrollment numbers, and other key data.

Postsecondary and Public School District Lookup Tools

School district boundaries and postsecondary institutions are critical for planning resource allocation and understanding affected regions.

• College Navigator: Search for postsecondary institutions by location, programs offered, and other characteristics.
• Public School District Lookup: Explore district boundaries and access information about schools within those districts.

School District Demographic Information

NCES also provides demographic data for school districts, derived from the American Community Survey. This information helps users understand the populations served by each district and is available through the NCES's School District Demographic Dashboard. Additionally, these data can be accessed through NCES’s ACS-ED Maps.

How These Resources Can Assist

By offering comprehensive, real-time access to school system data, NCES helps emergency planners, local authorities, and relief organizations make informed decisions. Whether assessing potential school closures or identifying facilities for emergency shelters, these tools ensure that educational considerations are integrated into broader response and recovery efforts.

Additional Resources

• U.S. Department of Education's Natural Disaster Resources
• Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
• Ready.gov
• NCES's Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates (EDGE) program

By Josue DeLaRosa and Douglas Geverdt, NCES

Note: This post was updated October 12th, 2024, with current link to the School Weather Watch resource.

IES is pleased to announce the National Education Research and Development Center for Improving Rural Postsecondary Education. This Center will be the first rural R&D center to focus on improving access to postsecondary education and completion of postsecondary degrees and credentials for students from rural K-12 districts and locales. Center researchers will disaggregate findings about rural students to better understand variation by student subgroups including racial/ethnic groupings, levels of family income, and genders. Through this investment, IES will support research useful to leaders and staff in rural districts and high schools, administrators and practitioners at rural-serving colleges and universities, and state-level administrators and policymakers concerned with extending postsecondary opportunities to rural students.

This investment continues IES’s prior and ongoing investments in rural R&D centers which started in 2004 with the National Research Center on Rural Education Support (NCRES), and continued in 2009 with The National Center for Research on Rural Education. IES currently supports two rural R&D Centers: The National Center for Rural Education Research Networks (NCRERN), and The National Center for Rural School Mental Health (NCRSMH): Enhancing the Capacity of Rural Schools to Identify, Prevent, and Intervene in Youth Mental Health Concerns. Specifically, this new Center expands on the work of NCRES, which explored the factors that influence postsecondary aspirations for rural African American, Latinx, and Native American high school students. One of the new Center’s eight studies will conduct a representative survey of rural students in three states to assess their postsecondary aspirations and choices.

The new rural Center plans an expansive research agenda that includes a national landscape study of rural students’ postsecondary enrollment and factors that contribute to their postsecondary success, drawing on National Center for Education Statistics data including district-level data collected through the Common Core of Data program and nationally-representative student-level data collected through the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009. Six additional studies conducted across 10 states focus on rural students and the programs that support them in their transitions to and through college. In addition to the descriptive study of rural students aspirations mentioned above, five studies assess specific strategies for improving postsecondary access and success including dual enrollment programs for rural high school students, community-based organizations that encourage and facilitate college enrollment, supportive high school and postsecondary environments for African American students, the comprehensive Montana 10 student support program, and a train-in-place program for rural nursing students.

The Center will carry out a robust program of national leadership and dissemination. Leadership activities will include building the capacity of state agencies, rural-located practitioners, and early-career researchers to conduct research on rural students and rural-serving colleges and universities. Representatives from six state commissions and college systems, and advisory panels of external researchers and practitioners from across the country will guide the Center’s research. Five national organizations that partner with postsecondary institutions and advocate for student needs will assist the Center with disseminating its findings to broad audiences of policymakers, administrators, and practitioners that serve rural students and districts. At the conclusion of its work, the Center will publish a synthesis of its research findings and share it widely.

Map of Rural Postsecondary Education R&D Center Focus States

This blog was written by James Benson (James.Benson@ed.gov), program officer, NCER. 

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month, and NCES is proud to share some of the work we have undertaken to collect data on the characteristics and well-being of sexual and gender minority (SGM) people. Inclusion of questions about sexual orientation and gender identity on federal surveys allows for a better understanding of SGM people relative to the general population. These questions generate data to inform the development of resources and interventions to better serve the SGM community. Giving respondents the opportunity to describe themselves and bring their “whole self” to a questionnaire also helps them to be more fully seen and heard by researchers and policymakers.

Sometimes, we get asked why questions like this appear on education surveys. They can be sensitive questions for some people, after all. We ask these questions so we can better understand educational equity and outcomes for SGM people, just as we do for other demographic groups, such as those defined by race, ethnicity, household income, and region of the country. Just as is the case for other demographic groups, it is possible that SGM people have unique experiences compared with students and educators from other demographic groups.

Over the past 10 years, NCES has researched how to best ask respondents about their sexual orientation and gender identity, how respondents react to these questions, and what the quality of the data is that NCES has collected in questionnaires and datasets that include sexual orientation and gender identity information.

Several NCES studies include background questions for adults about their sexual orientation and gender identity, including the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) Second Follow-up in 2016, the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B) 08/18 and 16/21 collections, the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) in 2020, the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS) 20/22 and 20/25 collections, and the 2023–24 National Teacher and Principal Survey. In addition, the School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and sponsored by NCES, asks students several questions pertinent to SGM experiences. For example, the SCS asks students whether they were bullied due to their gender or sexual orientation and whether they experienced hate speech related to their gender or sexual orientation. As participants in the NCVS, students ages 16 and older who respond to the SCS also report their gender identity and sexual orientation. Collectively, these data allow NCES to describe the experiences of students who identify as sexual and gender minorities.

• As of 2021, 2009 ninth-graders who were bisexual and questioning left postsecondary education without degrees or credentials at higher rates than other groups of students who were in ninth grade in 2009, and they earned bachelor’s or higher degrees at lower rates than other students.¹
   
• In 2020, some 9 percent of students who identified as genderqueer, gender nonconforming, or a different identity had difficulty finding safe and stable housing, which is the three times the rate of students who identified as male or female (3 percent each).²
   
• In 2018, about 10 years after completing a 2007–08 bachelor’s degree, graduates who were gender minorities³ described their financial situations. Graduates who were gender minorities were less likely to own a home (31 percent) or hold a retirement account (74 percent) than graduates who were not gender minorities (63 percent and 87 percent, respectively).⁴
   
• Among 2008 bachelor’s degree graduates with a full-time job in 2018, those who were straight people reported higher average salaries than those who were either lesbian/gay or bisexual.    
   
• In the 2017–18 school year, 18 percent of public schools had a recognized student group that promoted the acceptance of students’ sexual orientation and gender identity, such as a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA). This was an increase from the 2015–16 school year, in which 12 percent of schools reported having a GSA.^5|
   
• Among all students ages 12–18 in grades 6–12 who reported being bullied (19 percent), the percentage who reported being bullied due to their sexual orientation more than doubled from 2017 (4 percent) to 2022 (9 percent).⁶ That change was primarily driven by female students, for whom the percentage tripled from 2017 to 2022 (from 4 to 13 percent), while the percentage of bullied males who reported being bullied for their sexual orientation was not statistically significantly different across the period (3 percent in 2017 and 4 percent in 2022).

Figure 1. Among students ages 12–18 enrolled in grades 6–12 who reported being bullied, percentage who reported that they thought the bullying was related to their sexual orientation: 2017, 2019, and 2022

! Standard error for this estimate is 30 to 50 percent of the estimate’s value.

* Statistically significantly different (p < .05) from 2022. 

State financial aid programs have the potential to substantially augment the support that students receive from the federal Pell Grant. Federal programs, most notably the Federal Pell Grant program, have historically played the lead role of providing a solid foundation of financial support to students, with states playing the supporting role of providing additional aid to students who meet specific eligibility requirements. In recent years, states have moved to innovate their financial aid programs in ways that have the potential to increase total aid packages, meet a wider range of needs, and serve a broader population of students. The effects of these recent innovations are mostly unknown yet of great interest to state legislators and policymakers. To address this issue, IES is funding a set of five research projects that assess the scope and effects of innovative financial aid programs in California, Connecticut, Michigan, Tennessee, and Washington state. This blog describes how the five projects are contributing to the evidence base.

State financial aid program eligibility rules differ in ways that can substantially alter total aid awards, the scope of the population that can be served, and the ways in which students can use aid funds to meet their various needs while enrolled in college. For example, one key policy attribute that affects the total aid award is whether awards are calculated independently of the Pell Grant­–as “first-dollar” awards that add to the Pell award if state eligibility requirements are met– or as “last-dollar” awards that supplement Pell awards conditional upon eligibility and appropriate-use requirements. Policies including an eligibility requirement for recent high school graduation within the state tend to limit aid access for older and returning students. In addition, financial need requirements can limit or broaden the pool of eligible recipients, depending on family income thresholds. Policies that require completion of the federal FAFSA Form without offering an alternative state application tend to close off access to aid for undocumented immigrants. Merit and high school GPA requirements can close off aid access to students who are otherwise ready for college. Moreover, appropriate-use requirements in some states limit aid usage to tuition and registration expenses while other states allow aid usage for living expenses such as housing and transportation.

Given these variations in program eligibility rules, state officials want to know if their aid programs are reaching targeted student groups, meeting their needs in ways that allow them to focus on their studies, and making a difference in their academic and subsequent labor market outcomes. In an effort to support decision making, IES is funding five projects that are each working closely with state officials to understand the features of their programs and conducting research to assess which students are accessing the programs, the extent of support provided by the programs, and their effects on enrollment in and progression through college. Below is the list of the IES-funded projects.

• Evaluating Incentives for Full-time Enrollment at California Community Colleges: Researchers from the Wheelhouse Center for Community College Leadership and Research at the University of California-Davis are assessing the effects of the Student Success Completion Grant, a supplement to California’s Cal Grant B financial aid program, on community college enrollment intensity and academic outcomes. This award provides additional financial aid for full-time enrollment to encourage timely degree completion. 
• Early First-Dollar Categorical Need-Based Aid: A New Model for Making College Affordable?: Researchers at the University of Michigan Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy are assessing the effects of Michigan’s Tuition Incentive Program (TIP), the state’s largest financial aid program. TIP provides a first-dollar scholarship which fully covers in-district community college tuition and fees and provides partial tuition support at four-year institutions, for low-income students as indicated by Medicaid participation before high school graduation.
• Measuring the Impact of State Financial Aid Programs: Researchers at the Connecticut Office of Higher Education and the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management are leading a project to assess the enrollment and postsecondary attainment effects of the Roberta B. Willis Scholarship Program. This last-dollar program has need-merit and need-based components that supplement the Pell Grant to cover the costs of tuition and fees and provide a stipend for books and supplies, for low-income in-state recent high school graduates.
• A Collaborative Use of a State Longitudinal Data System: A Study of the Washington College Grant Program: Researchers from MDRC and the Washington Student Achievement Council are assessing the effects of the Washington College Grant. This first-dollar scholarship is available to eligible low- and middle-income students of all ages enrolled in registered apprenticeships as well as two- and four-year degree programs.
• Studying Heterogeneity in the Impact of Merit Aid Receipt and Loss on Academic and Labor Market Outcomes: Researchers at University of Michigan are partnering with the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, the Tennessee Student Assistance Commission, and the Tennessee Board of Regents to assess the Tennessee Hope Scholarship. This merit-based program awards financial aid to graduates of Tennessee high schools who enroll in a 2- or 4-year public or private postsecondary institution within 16 months of high school graduation, conditional on meeting high school achievement requirements.

We are excited to fund these projects and look forward to the findings they will be sharing, starting in fall 2024.

This blog was written by James Benson (James.Benson@ed.gov), program officer in the Policy and Systems team at NCER.

The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) contains comprehensive data on postsecondary institutions. IPEDS gathers information from every college, university, and technical and vocational institution that participates in federal student financial aid programs. The Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, requires institutions that participate in federal student aid programs to report data on enrollments, program completions, graduation rates, faculty and staff, finances, institutional prices, and student financial aid.

These data are made available to the public in a variety of ways via the IPEDS Use the Data webpage. This blog post provides a description of available IPEDS data tools as well as considerations for determining the appropriate tool to use.

Available Data Tools

IPEDS provides data tools for a variety of users that are organized into three general categories: (1) Search Existing Data, (2) Create Custom Data Analyses, and (3) Download IPEDS Data.

Search Existing Data

Users can search for aggregate tables, charts, publications, or other products related to postsecondary education using the Data Explorer or access IPEDS data via NCES publications like the Digest of Education Statistics or the Condition of Education.

Create Custom Data Analyses

Several data tools allow users to create their own custom analyses with frequently used and derived variables (Data Trends) or all available data collected within IPEDS (Statistical Tables). Users can also customize tables for select subgroups of institutions (Summary Tables). Each of these options allows users to generate analyses within the limitations of the tool itself.

For example, there are three report types available under the Data Feedback Report (DFR) tool. User can

1. select data from the most recent collection year across frequently used and derived variables to create a Custom DFR;
    
2. create a Statistical Analysis Report using the variables available for the Custom DFR; and
    
3. access the NCES developed DFR for any institution.

Download IPEDS Data

Other data tools provide access to raw data through a direct download (Complete Data Files) or through user selections in the IPEDS Custom Data Files tool. In addition, IPEDS data can be downloaded for an entire collection year for all survey components via the Access Database.

Data Tool Considerations

Users may consider several factors—related to both data selection and data extraction—when determining the right tool for a particular question or query.

Data Selection​

1. Quick access – Accessing data in a few steps may be helpful for users who want to find data quickly. Several data tools provide data quickly but may be limited in their selection options or customizable output.

2. Data release – IPEDS data are released to the public in two phases: Provisional and Final. Provisional data have undergone quality control procedures and imputation for missing data but have not been updated based on changes within the Prior Year Revision System. Final data reflect changes made within the Prior Year Revision System and additional quality control procedures and will not change. Some tools allow users to access only final data. Table 1 summarizes how provisional and final data are used by various data tools. The IPEDS resource page “Timing of IPEDS Data Collection, Coverage, and Release Cycle” provides more information on data releases.

   
   Table 1. How provisional and final data are used in various data tools

3. Select institutions – Users may want to select specific institutions for their analyses. Several tools allow users to limit the output for a selected list of institutions while others include all institutions in the output.
    
4. Multiple years – While some tools provide a single year of data, many tools provide access to multiple years of data in a single output.
    
5. Raw data – Some data tools provide access to the raw data as submitted to IPEDS. For example, Look Up an Institution allows users access to survey forms submitted by an institution.
    
6. Institution-level data – Many data tools provide data at the institution level, since this is the unit of analysis within the IPEDS system.
    
7. All data available – Many data tools provide access to frequently used and derived variables, but others provide access to the entirety of variables collected within the IPEDS system.

Data Extraction

1. Save/upload institutions – Several data tools allow a user to create and download a list of institutions, which can be uploaded in a future session.

2. Save/upload variables – Two data tools allow a user to save the variables selected and upload in a future session.
    
3. Export data – Many data tools allow a user to download data into a spreadsheet, while others provide information within a PDF. Note that several tools have limitations on the number of variables that can be downloaded in a session (e.g., Compare Institutions has a limit of 250 variables).
    
4. Produce visuals – Several data tools produce charts, graphs, or other visualizations. For example, Data Trends provides users with the opportunity to generate a bar or line chart and text table.

Below is a graphic that summarizes these considerations for each IPEDS data tool (click the image to enlarge it). 

To find training opportunities—including video tutorials, workshops, and keyholder courses—check out the IPEDS Training Center. Plus, access the IPEDS Distance Learning Dataset Training modules for more guidance on how to use IPEDS data. For additional questions, call the IPEDS Data Use Help Desk at (866) 558-0658 or e-mail ipedstools@rti.org.

By Tara B. Lawley, NCES, and Eric S. Atchison, Arkansas State University System and Association for Institutional Research IPEDS Educator