Free Resources - Common Data Set
“There’s just so much information. Where do we begin?”
As an independent college success consultant, I know the sheer amount of information about colleges and universities can be overwhelming. This is why I spend so much time learning about different schools and nuances about college admission, scholarships, financial aid, and overall success in college. The work I do is not just about helping a student find the right school - it’s really about setting a student up for success so they don’t just get in but they find themselves at Commencement with screaming family and friends in the audience, cheering on their achievement! I’ve witnessed thousands of students “walk across the stage” and the feeling of pride from everyone is palpable! There really is nothing like it.
There are endless blogs (thanks for reading this one, by the way), books, Tik Toks, articles, and websites dedicated to the various topics around college. With this in mind, my next series of posts is going to focus on free resources anyone can use to learn more about various schools.
Let’s start with the Common Data Set.
What is a Common Data Set?
The Common Data Set (CDS) is a standardized set of questions used by colleges and universities to report information to various organizations and stakeholders, such as the Department of Education, college guides, publishers, and accrediting bodies. It includes a wide range of data such as enrollment figures, academic programs, faculty demographics, tuition and fees, and more. The CDS attempts to ensure that data reported by different institutions is consistent and comparable, making it easier for students and families to make informed decisions about college, and is intended to improve the accuracy and quality of higher education information.
Colleges and universities are not required to publish a Common Data Set; however, many institutions choose to do so voluntarily in order to provide accurate and comprehensive information to students, families, and other stakeholders. Some organizations, such as college guides and accrediting bodies, may request or require CDS data from colleges in order to evaluate and compare institutions. In these cases, colleges may need to provide the requested information in order to be considered for recognition or accreditation (think U.S. News and World Report rankings).
The information may vary from school to school, but in general you will find quite a bit of information, including:
Enrollment and Persistence: Total enrollment, gender and ethnic diversity, student retention and graduation rates, etc.
Academics: Degrees and certificates offered, faculty size and composition, class size, etc.
Admissions: Application deadline, acceptance rates, SAT/ACT scores, etc.
Student Life: Campus housing, student activities and organizations, health and safety, etc.
Finance: Tuition and fees, scholarships and financial aid, etc.
Instructional Faculty and Class Size: Full-time and part-time faculty, student-faculty ratio, average class size, etc.
Degrees Conferred: Number and types of degrees awarded, etc.
In fact, the Common Data Set is really the foundation for so many other resources out there you may already be familiar with. For this reason, it can be a good information to understand the CDS and what the data means.
A CDS is usually put together by a school’s Institutional Research team. This is the department where data comes together and they look at trends in order to make data-informed decisions. Want to know why a school may have a certain policy? Often (but not always) it comes down to data they’ve collected over the years. For example, MIT and Purdue are returning to requiring standardized test scores for admission and this is because they’ve reviewed retention and persistence data and determined that it was the best decision going forward for their institutions. Time will tell if others follow but right now many are remaining test-optional.
Let’s take a look at an example CDS and try to learn more about the data.
Section A - General information
Includes address, public/private, type of calendar they have, levels of degrees offered, and DEI information
Section B - Enrollment and persistence
Overall enrollment data, including full-time and part-time students, broken down by gender and race/ethnicity
Graduation rates
Section C - First-time, first-year admissions
Enrollment and application information for first-time, first-year students. Note, that transfer students would not be included in this data.
This is a really useful section to review for admissions data, including factors the school considers for first-time, first-year students for admissions. For example, in our example CDS (linked above) it shows that Colorado State University considered SAT and ACT scores if they were submitted (see section C8).
Section D - Transfer Admission
This is the section to review if you are interested in transferring to the institution. It explains deadlines and some transfer credit policies.
Also includes military transfer policies
Section E - Academic Offerings and Policies
This section highlights the types of programs offered, including distance learning, double majors, independent study, internships, etc.
Types of courses most students need to take to be eligible for a degree.
Section F - Student Life
This section highlights the kinds of activities available to students, including campus ministries, choral groups, band, dance, drama/theater, radio station, student newspaper, and much more.
Types of housing available on campus, such as coed dorms, wellness housing, theme housing, and Living Learning Communities, which are often very popular
Section G - Annual Expenses
This is where information is collected that is then used for the school’s net price calculator. I HIGHLY suggest you utilize school’s net price calculators in order to start exploring the net price of the school. Price should absolutely be a consideration for your “right” college.
Section H - Financial Aid
This section shares lots of information, including how much need-based and non-need-based aid is provided by the school.
Scholarships, work-study aid, parent loans, athletic awards - it’s all here.
Section I - Instructional Faculty and Class Size
Provides an overview of the number of full-time and part-time faculty, faculty from minority populations, gender breakdown, and more
Undergraduate class sizes
Section J - Disciplinary Areas of Degrees Conferred
Want to see how many engineering degrees were awarded last year? This is the section to check out.
At the end is a list of CDS definitions. You can explore the terms used throughout the CDS to learn more about what they actually mean.
I invite you to explore the Common Data Sets for schools you are interested in. It’s a great place to start, especially if you like mining through data.
Watch for my next post where I’ll dive into the College Navigator, another great free resource for students and families.
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Do you have something you’d like to learn more about? I’d love to hear from you! Please connect with me at mark@mastalskicoaching.com.
Be Boundless.
