Classifying Institutions with the IPEDS Database

Published

March 30, 2025

Overview

The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) is a national dataset maintained by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). It collects data from all U.S. institutions participating in federal financial aid programs. In this project, IPEDS data is used to analyze institutional characteristics (e.g., size, classification, location, and financial indicators) in relation to research publications identified in Scopus, OpenAlex, and Dimensions.

The raw IPEDS data was obtained from the IPEDS website: IPEDS Data Center.

How These Files Fit into the Project Workflow

The IPEDS dataset provides institutional characteristics that are used in:

  1. Disambiguating institution names in citation databases (Scopus, OpenAlex, Dimensions)
  2. Comparing research output across different types of institutions
  3. Assessing dataset usage by institution type (e.g., HBCUs, land-grant universities, private vs. public institutions)

By integrating IPEDS institutional data with the publication datasets generated from each citation database, we can evaluate how research output varies across institution types and funding levels.

File Organization in GitHub Repository

Category File Path & Link
Processed IPEDS Dataset compare_scopus_openalex/resources/IPEDS/IPEDS.csv
Raw IPEDS Data compare_scopus_openalex/resources/raw_data_IPEDS/
Data Processing Code compare_scopus_openalex/resources/documentation/IPEDSdata.rmd
Data Documentation compare_scopus_openalex/resources/documentation/IPEDS_Data.md

Data Sources and Variables

The IPEDS dataset integrates multiple tables across different survey years (2017-2023) to capture important institutional characteristics.

Variable IPEDS Table (Years) Description
Institution Size EFFY2017 - EFFY2023 Total student enrollment by level (undergrad/graduate)
Institution Location HD2017 - HD2023 Institution name, address, city, state, ZIP
HBCU Status HD2017 - HD2023 Indicator if institution is a Historically Black College or University (HBCU)
Carnegie Classification HD2017 - HD2023 Institution type (e.g., public/private, 2-year/4-year)
Endowment Size F1A2017 - F1A2023 Value of endowment assets at the start and end of the fiscal year
Library Budget AL2017 - AL2023 Total library expenditures (salaries, materials, operations)

Table Descriptions

Institution Characteristics (HD files)

  • Description: Provides details on institution location, classification, and designation (e.g., HBCU, land-grant).
  • Contents:
    • UNITID: Unique institution identifier
    • INSTNM: Institution name
    • ADDR, CITY, STABBR, ZIP: Location information. Note: We restrict our sample to only colleges and unversities in the 50 US states.
    • HBCU: 1 = HBCU, 0 = Non-HBCU
    • CONTROL: 1 = Public, 2 = Private Nonprofit, 3 = Private For-Profit
    • ICLEVEL: 1 = 4-year, 2 = 2-year, 3 = Less than 2-year. Note: We restrict our sample to only include ICLEVEL 1 and 2 for 4-year and 2-year colleges and universities.
    • CARNEGIE: See table below.
    • LANDGRNT: 1 = Land Grant, 2 = Not Land Grant
    • year: Added variable for time tracking
Carnegie Code Description
-3 Not available
-2 Not applicable
15 Associate’s Colleges: Mixed Transfer/Career & High Traditional
16 Associate’s Colleges: High Transfer-High Traditional
21 Doctoral Universities: Very High Research Activity (R1)
22 Doctoral Universities: High Research Activity (R2)
31 Master’s Colleges & Universities: Larger programs
32 Master’s Colleges & Universities: Medium programs
33 Master’s Colleges & Universities: Smaller programs
40 Baccalaureate Colleges: Arts & Sciences Focus
51 Special Focus Institutions: Health Professions
52 Special Focus Institutions: Engineering
53 Special Focus Institutions: Other Technology-Related
54 Special Focus Institutions: Business & Management
55 Special Focus Institutions: Arts, Music & Design
56 Special Focus Institutions: Law Schools
57 Special Focus Institutions: Other Fields
58 Tribal Colleges
59 Not classified
60 Baccalaureate/Associate’s Colleges

Institution Size (EFFY files)

  • Description: Contains 12-month unduplicated headcount enrollment by race/ethnicicy, gender, and student level.
  • Contents:
    • UNITID: Unique institution identifier
    • EFFYLEV: Level of study (1 = All students, 2 = Undergrad, 4 = Graduate)
    • EFYTOTLT: Total students enrolled during the 12-month period
    • year: Manually added variable to track enrollment over time
  • Processing Notes:
    • Only includes EFFYLEV = 1 (All students level).
    • Year variable was manually added since it was not originally present.

Endowment Data (F1A files)

  • Description: Reports institutional endowment assets of public universities at the beginning and end of the fiscal year.
  • Contents:
    • UNITID: Unique institution identifier
    • F1H01: Endowment assets at start of fiscal year
    • F1H02: Endowment assets at end of fiscal year
    • year: Fiscal year

Library Expenditures (AL files)

  • Description: Tracks total library budgets, including salaries, benefits, and operations.
  • Contents:
    • UNITID: Unique institution identifier
    • LEXPTOT: Total library expenditures
    • year: Reporting year

Summary of the IPEDS Data

Year No. Institutions
2017 7153
2018 6857
2019 6559
2020 6440
2021 6289
2022 6256
2023 6163
Year Private for-profit Private not-for-profit Public
2017 3093 1959 2069
2018 2793 1930 2077
2019 2566 1905 2056
2020 2463 1889 2036
2021 2411 1868 1994
2022 2352 1855 2019
2023 2299 1836 1999

“Control” is defined as Public, Private Nonprofit, and Private For-Profit.

Year 2-year 4-year
2017 1003 817
2018 989 840
2019 968 852
2020 949 852
2021 930 829
2022 924 859
2023 899 868
Year 2-year 4-year
2017 1034 2371
2018 917 2167
2019 774 2081
2020 736 2046
2021 709 2016
2022 681 2009
2023 664 1996

Data Processing and Standardization

  • Variable Name Changes and Formatting:
    • UNITID and year serve as the primary keys to merge datasets for analysis.
    • year was added to datasets that lacked it.
  • Handling Missing Data and Filters:
    • Non-relevant columns were removed.
    • Datasets were filtered to retain only institutions with complete enrollment and classification data.
  • Merging Strategy:
    • Datasets can be joined using UNITID and year as unique identifiers.
    • Institutions missing UNITID were excluded.

How to Merge with MSI Data

The IPEDS dataset can be linked with the MSI dataset using the UNITID and year variables. This allows for:

  • Identifying MSI institutions within IPEDS to analyze institutional characteristics.
  • Comparing institutional characteristics of MSI and non-MSI institutions, such as enrollment size, Carnegie classification, and financial indicators.
Note

After merging the IPEDS-MSI data with the cleaned institutional data from the citation databases, this dataset also allows for assessing research output and dataset usage by institution type, and examining trends over time in MSI status and institutional characteristics.