Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS): Fall Enrollment, 1996-1997 (ICPSR 2447)

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The purpose of this data collection was to provide a more accurate measure of the racial/ethnic enrollment in postsecondary institutions in the United States than was previously available. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) collects racial/ethnic enrollment data from higher education institutions on an annual basis. Some institutions do not report these data, and their "unknown" categories have previously been distributed in direct proportion to the "knowns." This resulted in lower than accurate figures for the racial/ethnic categories. With the advent of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), NCES has attempted to eliminate this problem by distributing all "race/ethnicity unknown" students through a two-stage process. First, the differences between reported totals and racial/ethnic details were allocated on a gender and institutional basis by distributing the differences in direct proportion to reported distributions. The second-stage distribution was designed to eliminate the remaining instances of "race/ethnicity unknown." The procedure was to accumulate the reported racial/ethnic total enrollments by state, level, control, and gender, calculate the percentage distributions, and apply these percentages to the reported total enrollments of institutional respondents (in the same state, level, and control) that did not supply race/ethnicity detail. In addition, the original "race/ethnicity unknown" data were also left unaltered for those who wish to review the numbers actually distributed. The racial/ethnic status was broken down into nonresident alien, Black non-Hispanic, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, Hispanic, and White non-Hispanic. There are six data files. Part 1, Institutional Characteristics, includes variables on control and level of institution, religious affiliation, highest level of offering, Carnegie classification, and state FIPS code and abbreviation. Variables in Part 2 cover total original enrollment by race/ethnicity and sex and by level and year of study of student. Race/ethnicity data were not imputed for institutions that only reported total enrollment. The "race ethnicity unknown" category was not distributed among the race/ethnicity categories. In Part 3, enrollment data are presented by race/ethnicity and sex of student, and by level and year of study for the following selected major field of studies: architecture, education, engineering, law, biological/life sciences, mathematics, physical sciences, dentistry, medicine, veterinary medicine, and business management and administrative services. This file contains data for four-year institutions only. Part 4 provides summary enrollment data by adjusted race/ethnicity and sex of student and by level and year of study of student. The "race/ethnicity unknown" category data were distributed across all known race categories in this file. Also, race data were imputed for institutions that did not report enrollment by race. Part 5, Residence and Migration, contains enrollment data for first-time freshmen, by state of residence. Part 6, Clarifying Questions on Enrollments, provides information on students enrolled in remedial courses, extension divisions, and branches of schools, and numbers of transfer students from in-state, out of state, and other countries.

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