TO:Elise MWer,!PEDSProgram Director; Thomas Weko, Associate Commissioner,Postsecondmy Studies DivisionFROM:Matthew Reed,Prot,:rramDirector,TheInstituteforCollege Access&Success; Chair,NPECFinancialAidData Working GroupRE:Challenges in MatchingCampus-LevelDatafromU.S.DepartmentofEducation sourcesTimely, accurate, and comprehensive data are critical to identifying and addressing what is and isnotworking in higher education. Consumers, policymakers, and researchersallneed user-friendly accesstomeaningful data -data that can deepen our understandingofimportant issuesand inform decision-making at all levels. However, within the U.S. Department ofEducation,different datasets use different identifiers for schools and campuses, and some datasets reportdata for each campus while others group related campuses together. This makes it difficultifnotimpossibletocompare schools or campusestoanalyze the impactoffederal, state, and
