[OKAIRP] FW: [E-air] Electronic AIR, 4/28/04, AIR Alert 18 - Update 1

[Tyree, Laura]

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*             Special Issue - AIR Alert #18 - Update 1               *
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http://www.airweb.org/page.asp?page=537

SUBJECT: Status of Proposed Inclusion of Instruction Expenses
         per FTE Student on IPEDS COOL

PREPARED: April 2004 by Carol Fuller

TYPE: Informational

SUMMARY
-------
In October 2003, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) 
posted for comment a proposal to add Instruction Expenses per Full 
Time Equivalent (FTE) Student to the IPEDS COOL (Integrated 
Postsecondary Education Data System College Opportunities On-Line) 
Web site.  The NCES does not plan to do this unless required by 
legislation.   


CURRENT STATUS
--------------
The responses to the proposal were overwhelmingly negative.   The 
NCES summarized the responses as follows: Institutions believe that 
presentation of this "overly simplistic" calculation would be a 
disservice to parents and students, as well as institutions, and it 
would provide data that are clearly open to misunderstanding. To 
truly understand this number would require a thorough knowledge of the 
institution and its programs, accounting standards, and any other 
caveats (such as the inclusion of expenses for non-credit activity) 
- something that is not expected when using IPEDS COOL. While 
respondents consistently believe in the goals of accountability and 
informing potential students and their parents, they do not believe 
that these goals would be achieved by the use of this indicator. 
See http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/costperfte.asp for the full statement 
by NCES.

The NCES has decided not to add this indicator to the IPEDS COOL Web 
site unless required to do so by legislation.  If NCES were required 
to include this variable on the COOL Web site, NCES would develop a 
separate page on COOL that would display selected financial 
statistics. Instruction expenses per FTE would be one such variable. 
The displayed values could be obtained either by calculation or by 
asking the institutions to provide it (as they do for Peterson's). 
If institution reports are collected, NCES would then compare the two 
values and ask the institutions to verify which is correct. Other 
items displayed on COOL may include other financial information such 
as scholarships and fellowships and percent of revenues from various 
sources.


IMPLICATIONS FOR INSTITUTIONS
-----------------------------
No action is required by institutions.


TIMELINE
--------
October 6, 2003 - Proposal posted on NCES Web site for comment
April 4, 2004   - NCES summary report of responses to proposal


ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
--------------------
NCES proposal: http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/web2000/instrucexp.asp

General information about IPEDS COOL: http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cool

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Federal Student Aid Web site 
displaying average instructional expenditure per FTE student as 
reported to Peterson's: 
http://studentaid2.ed.gov/gotocollege/collegefinder 
(under Campus Highlights)


Coordinated by the Higher Education Data Policy Committee.  All 
opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the official 
position of the Association for Institutional Research.

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