IPEDS, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, is a system of interrelated surveys conducted annually by the U.S. Department’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). IPEDS gathers information from every college, university, and technical and vocational institution that participates in the federal student financial aid programs. The Higher Education ACT of 1965, as amended, requires that institutions that participate in federal student aid programs report data on enrollments, program completions, graduation rates, faculty and staff, finances, institutional prices, and student financial aid.

The primary purposes of the surveys are to collect the basic data that identify and describe the universe of postsecondary education institutions; to maintain counts of the number of students enrooled by level of programs; to monitor changes in the demographics of postsecondary students; and to provide policy makers with information on financial statistics from postsecondary institutions. The data can be used for peer analysis, sampling postsecondary institutions and decision making. Information on students is used extensively by federal and state government agencies for workforce planning and by business, industry, and other groups. The data is made available as consumer information to aid students in choosing a postsecondary institution.