The explosion of data sources on U.S. higher education no doubt matches the growth of the Internet. It's a 2000s story, with updates daily. Today's entry isn't about a brand-new web publisher (because The Institute for College Access & Success has been around for a few years, researching access as well as student experience with loans) but an established one's beta web site for displaying college data to the public.
The number of "public" guides to colleges continues to grow with emphasis on easy to pull statistics. This one, CollegeInSight, handles data well and permits even custom tables (through the "explore all data" tab). Data reflect more than 150 variables from multiple sources. The primary sources are recognizable to folks in IR but not to much of the public: IPEDS reported to NCES, Pell Grant files, FISAP reported to DOE, and CDS or Common Data Set maintained by Peterson's.
The resulting mashup, with its clear identification of sources, sets a new standard for data sites concerning higher ed.
© 2009 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. Email contact: bold[AT]marybold.com. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (www.marybold.com, www.boldproductions.com, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as legal or professional advice. Bold is the co-author of Reflections: Preparing for your Practicum or Internship, geared to college interns in the child, education, and family fields. She is a consultant and speaker on assessment, distance learning, and technology.
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