This isn’t going to be the most interesting thing you have read today, in fact my subject today is as dry as it gets. How is that for a hook? I am, however, going to share with you a little-known treasure chest of information. If you are a prospective college student or are the parent or guardian of such a student, you need to know about the Common Data Set.
There are hundreds of websites with college-specific information. One of the first things I tell my student-clients is that the best and most accurate source of information about a college is from the its own website. However not every question is always answered on their websites or in their colorful brochures. It is also not always practical to flip through their pages trying to find where they might have hidden what the average GPA of last year’s admitted students or how much money they gave in merit-based aid. These answers and many, many more can be found within their Common Data Set.
The Common Data Set (CDS) is a standardized and annually updated compilation of data and information from about 4,000 2 and 4-year institutions. It is the result of a collaborative effort between the higher educational community and certain publishers, namely College Board, Peterson’s Guides, and, everyone’s favorite, US News & World Report. According to their website, “The combined goal of this collaboration is to improve the quality and accuracy of information provided to all involved in a student’s transition into higher education, as well as to reduce the reporting burden on data providers. This goal is attained by the development of clear, standard data items and definitions in order to determine a specific cohort relevant to each item.”
It is easy to understand why the publishers value this collaboration; College Board maintains a college search function that is reliable and draws much of its data from CDS. Another interested party, US News uses the information for their rankings which have evolved into the core of their business. By asking every institution to answer the exact same questions, the data is standardized and easier to compare. The colleges, on the other hand, benefit by having some relief from the burden of constantly having to respond to inquiries. Cornell University states, “The Common Data Set provides our answers to many frequently asked questions.” Another university a bit closer to home, Azusa Pacific University says, “APU’s Common Data Set reports contain statistical information about students, faculty, and staff for APU. These are the official statistics used when representing APU to external constituencies.”
So now that we have established what the CDS is and why the principals participate, let’s talk about what it can do for us and how to use it. The majority of Common Data Sets can be found by running a search of the CDS for the name of the university you are researching. It is still a lot of information presented in a lackluster fashion, but I would advise spending some time on one of them and familiarizing yourself with the format and data provided. Take notes of the lines where data supply answers to your questions because that data will appear in that same format on that same line for all of your schools of interest. For instance, line H2n gives the number of first year students awarded non-need based aid and the average award for each. Divide that by the number of enrolled first year students, and you have the percentage of first year students who are awarded merit aid! Alert to rising Seniors: The time has come for you to dig deeper for information for your prospective schools. This is a great place for you to conduct your research. You can ascertain the availability of ROTC or the popularity of the Greek system or learn the ACT averages of the admitted students or see a chart of what attributes admissions is looking for or determine many facts about the availability of financial aid at each of your desired campuses. If this is more than you can do while getting stellar grades this year (#1 priority), then I would delegate the task to a concerned and involved adult. They are itching to help you, so this is where they can! Again, it is a wealth of accurate information presented in a standardized format that can take some of the guess-work out of college research. Good luck!
I am an Independent Educational Consultant. Contact me if you would like to know more about how I might be able to help you with the college application process.
Nice to see a blog post, ICAN by Anne!