Digest of Education Statistics 2010

Long before iPads, there was IPEDS.  For those of you that aren’t familiar with IPEDS, it’s the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.  IPEDS is a collection of surveys conducted yearly by the United States Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).  IPEDS provides various reports for higher education institutions that receive federal student aid (Title IV funds).  The data system contains enrollment data, financial aid statistics, staffing information, financial expenditures and other data related to higher education institutions. 

The National Center for Education Statistics provides a report called the Digest of Education Statistics.  The Digest of Education Statistics offers tons of statistical information related to American education, K-12 and higher education.  The statistics are broken down by several variables including public and private institutions, grade level, and state.  The Digest of Education Statistics is a annual report provided by IPEDS that has open access.  This report is very helpful for researchers seeking data that postsecondary enrollment, faculty, graduation rates, financing, libraries, and global comparison.  The report strictly deals with facts, it does not offer opinions.  The report is based on numbers and the report is driven by statistical data. 

Key findings related to higher education finance include 1) the increase in the total tuition, room and board of four year institutions from $2,577 in the 1976-77 academic year to $21,189 in 2009-10, 2) a significant increase in the percentage of full-time undergraduate students receiving aid has increased from 58.7 percent in 1992-93 to 79.5 percent in 2007-08, 3) total revenue for public degree granting institutions went from $246,164,836 in 2005-06 to $267,385,180 in 2008-09 and 4) total expenditures at public degree granting institutions increased by $67,961,801 between 2004 and 2009 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2010).  The prior mentioned are examples of the data found in this report.  I would recommend the Digest of Education Statics to anyone conduction research in education as it provides a plethora of statistical data.  More specifically related to higher education finance, the report identifies trends in tuition and fees, student aid, financing, and expenditures. 

National Center for Education Statistics (2010).  Digest of Education Statistics: 2010. Retrieved on October 18, 2011 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d10/index.asp