Institutional Characteristics 2012-13 - Overview & Instructions

Sep 14, 2026

Uploaded by Paura

Institutional Characteristics (IC) 2012-13 provides guidance for reporting accurate institutional data to NCES through IPEDS. The overview explains how mission, admissions, student services, and student charges impact public visibility, including College Navigator updates and net price calculations used for Student Financial Aid and College Affordability and Transparency lists. It also outlines this year’s change, reporting requirements for distance education, and common error checks. The document includes instructions for combined reporting across multiple campuses and section-by-section submission rules.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages26

Reading Time1 h 6 min

AccessFree to download

Overview

Changes to This Year's Institutional Characteristics Component

Common Errors and Reporting Reminders

Part A - Important Instructions for New COMBINED Reporting

Combined reporting requirements

Screen coverage and exceptions

Part A - Mission Statement

Institutional Characteristics 2012-13 Institution: Santa Clara University (122931) User ID: P1229311 Overview | Institutional Characteristics Overview | | | | --- | --- | --- | | | Welcome to the Institutional Characteristics (IC) component. This component collects important information about your | | | | institution's mission, admissions, student services, and student charges. | | | | Much of the data reported on IC appear on College Navigator, a college search service for students. Please report data correctly, | | | | as College Navigator is only updated one time after IC data have been reviewed, so errors may stay on the website for a full year. | | | | Additionally, the cost of attendance data are used to calculate the net price of attendance in the Student Financial Aid component. This has important implications for what students see about your institution, and also for the College Affordability and Transparency lists. | | | | Remember, it is the responsibility of the keyholder to provide NCES with accurate data about the institution. Please never | | | | hesitate to call the IPEDS Help Desk and ask for help to make sure that you are reporting correctly! | | | | Changes to This Year's Institutional Characteristics Component: | | | | • There is a new question that asks at what levels your institution offers distance education: undergraduate, graduate, or no distance education offered. Please carefully review the definition of distance education before responding.
• !! Cost of attendance data will only be collected for the current year. Any changes to prior year data need to be made in the prior year revision system. Starting next year, only one year of data will be able to be revised in prior year systems. | | | | | | | | Reviews of the IC survey data indicate a number of places where many people make errors. Please review the common errors listed below to ensure your institution does not make any reporting errors which may affect your institution's appearance to students and others. | | | | • Do not try to outsmart fatal errors. In some cases, this provides false information to students or may cause an | | | | institution to appear on the College Affordability and Transparency lists. Fatal errors are there for a reason-contact the Help Desk at 877.225.2568 and they will happily help you to figure out what you are doing incorrectly, or provide an override if necessary. | | | | • Admissions data are for first-time students only. | | | | • Many institutions are open admission but indicate that they are not. If your institution only requires a GED or other | | | | high school equivalent and/or an ability to benefit test, and admits almost all students that apply, your institution is open admission. | | | | • If your institution makes ANY (even one) exceptions to an on-campus housing requirement, you should not indicate that you require students to live on campus. This leads to inconsistent and problematic reporting on the Student Financial Aid survey.
• Academic year reporters need to report tuition, fees, and living expenses for the entire academic year for which they are reporting. In order to be consistent with other institutions in IPEDS, please use the IPEDS definition of an academic year. | | | | To download survey materials package for this component: Survey Materials
To see last year's data submission for this component: Reported Data | | | | | | | | | | Institution: Santa Clara University (122931) User ID: P1229311 Part A-Important Instructions for New COMBINED Reporting | | Important Instructions for New COMBINED Reporting on Institutional Characteristics | | | --- | --- | --- | | | For Institutions with Campus Reporting | | | | | | | | You will submit a single Institutional Characteristics component that combines data and characteristics from your main campus and all campuses that you r

FAQs

What is the purpose of the Institutional Characteristics (IC) component?

The IC component collects key information about an institution’s mission, admissions, student services, and student charges for reporting to NCES.

How do IC data affect what students see?

Many IC data appear on College Navigator, and attendance cost data are used to calculate net price and support the College Affordability and Transparency lists.

What are the main rules for new COMBINED reporting across campuses?

Institutions with campus reporting submit a single IC component combining main campus and reported campuses, except cost of attendance, which is submitted separately for the main campus and each campus.

Sep 14, 2026

Uploaded by Paura