Does anyone know where FAFSA gets its school stats?

Paying for College
1

<p>When a student lists a schools code on the FAFSA, the student is given information about the school, for instance its retention and graduation rates. Is the number an average retention rate? Is it a one year rate? If so, from which year? In the case of returning students, is it the year the student entered? I’m asking because there was a huge difference between retention rates reported on the college board website and the FAFSA.</p>

2

<p>I’m not sure I would rely on the info on the FAFSA or CB sites. Look for retention rates on the specific college websites. Those would be the up to date ones. </p>

3

<p>The information comes from a federal report all schools must submit annually (the IPEDS). This is a report that must be completed, and the information must be accurate. If it differs from other reported numbers, the reason may be the measure used.</p>

4

<p>I’m guessing the number reported is a cohort year statistic (prob the 2011 cohort since the 12 data wouldn’t have have been submitted in time to be processed by the Jan 1 opening of the FAFSA). CB and other sites may be using an average, which I imagine is what the colleges report on their own sites as well.</p>

5

<p>I guess it is from the submitted CDS.</p>

6

<p><a href=“IPEDS”>http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;