Online webinars and video training, tutorials, and mentored courses are available to IPEDS data providers and data users.
These training materials are made available through a partnership with RTI International and the Association for Institutional Research (AIR).
Go to AIR's website for IPEDS training materials
Face-to-face IPEDS training workshops are offered throughout the country. The workshops are generally in the form of hands-on computer training on the use of IPEDS data tools for analysis, and contain background and update material as well. Special IPEDS topics are available as well.
Training is provided by certified IPEDS trainers, and the workshops are coordinated by AIR. The workshops are usually part of larger conferences sponsored by different state higher education offices or national and regional education associations.
Go to AIR’s website for the national list of IPEDS training workshops.
Contact an AIR representative about hosting a workshop in your state.
IPEDS trainers are keyholders and coordinators from all regions of the country who have completed training themselves and are certified as knowledgeable about IPEDS. They conduct fact-to-face workshops and develop content for training modules. Along with the IPEDS Help Desks, these folks are valuable information resources on many IPEDS topics.
Go to AIR’s website for the list of IPEDS resource personnel.
State coordinator workshops are held in conjunction with the annual State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO)/NCES Network Conference, and are conducted on an annual basis, usually in the spring. These full-day workshops provide IPEDS state coordinators and other interested parties with up-to-date information on IPEDS, including plans for the future, anticipated changes, and new features and dissemination tools. This forum allows for exchanges of ideas and practices and a general sharing of information between the various state, federal agency, and education association representatives.
Go to SHEEO's website for more information.
NCES and the National Science Foundation (NSF), through RTI International and AIR, have developed a program entitled “Improving Institutional Research in Postsecondary Educational Institutions.” The goals of this program are to provide professional development opportunities to doctoral and postdoctoral students, institutional researchers, educators, and administrators, and to foster the use of federal databases for institutional research in postsecondary education. The program has the following major components:
National Summer Data Policy Institute: The National Summer Data Policy Institute is a one-week intensive introduction to NCES and NSF datasets and research methodologies using large national data sources that is held each summer in the Washington, DC area. It is open to institutional research practitioners, faculty and graduate students with research interests in postsecondary education, and staff from state and national associations with interests in postsecondary data sources.
Go to AIR's website for information on applying to the Institute.
Research and Dissertation Grants: NCES and NSF also supports grants aimed to increase the number of researchers using national datasets and demonstrate the contribution that these datasets make to the national base of knowledge on higher education policy, theory, and practice. Faculty and practitioners are eligible for research grants of up to $40,000 for one year of independent research. Doctoral students are eligible for dissertation grants of up to $20,000 for one year to support dissertation research and writing under the guidance of a faculty dissertation advisor.
Go to AIR's website for more information on these grants.
Postdoctoral Fellowships: Postdoctoral Fellows propose and conduct a research project that results in improvements to the quality, comparability, and usefulness of IPEDS. Fellows work on their research projects in residence at NCES’ offices in Washington, DC or at AIR’s office in Tallahassee, FL. In addition to conducting a research project, fellows are introduced to the higher education policy community through meetings, seminars, and networking opportunities to make the Fellowship a career building experience.
Go to AIR's website for more information on Postdoctoral Fellowships.
Fellowships for the Study of Institutional Research: Funds of up to $10,000 annually for up to three years of full- or part-time graduate study at accredited U.S. universities are available to institutional research professionals wishing to improve their skills through coursework and graduate students who are preparing for a career in institutional research. The fellowships are for graduate study at the certificate, master’s or doctoral level that is advancing or leading to careers in institutional research, thereby increasing the level of expertise in institutional research officers and the data that they produce. Applicants must demonstrate a career interest in institutional research and propose a plan of study that addresses competencies in the field.
Go to AIR's Website for more information on Fellowships for IR Study.
