Why Losing IPEDS Library Data is a Loss for Higher Ed
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), which oversees the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), is considering the elimination of one of its longstanding surveys: the Academic Libraries component, beginning with the 2025–26 collection cycle.
On the surface, this decision might look like a minor administrative adjustment — one less form for institutional research offices to complete. But for anyone who works in higher education, data, or policy, the loss is far more significant. Removing the library survey means ending an important dimension of how we understand, evaluate, and support student success.
Why IPEDS Matters
Since its inception, IPEDS has been the most comprehensive source of higher education data in the United States. Every institution that participates in federal financial aid programs must report to IPEDS, which makes it uniquely complete and reliable.
IPEDS is not just a compliance requirement. It is:
A benchmarking tool: Institutions compare themselves to peers on enrollment, finance, staffing, and outcomes.
A foundation for accountability: IPEDS data informs public tools like College Navigator, accreditation processes, and government reports.
A cornerstone for research: Because IPEDS data covers many colleges and universities, it enables large-scale studies on access, affordability, and equity that no other dataset can match.
Without IPEDS, policymakers, researchers, and the public would be left with a fragmented view of higher education.
Why Libraries Belong in the Picture
Academic libraries are not relics of the past. They are vital infrastructure for learning, research, and equity in higher education.
For students, libraries are often where academic success happens. Whether through research help, tutoring support, technology access, or simply a quiet space to work.
For faculty, libraries sustain research through access to databases, journals, and archives that would otherwise be cost-prohibitive.
For institutions, libraries signal a commitment to student learning and faculty scholarship, embodying the broader mission of higher education.
By collecting data on staffing, expenditures, collections, and services, the IPEDS library survey has allowed anyone with an internet connection to quantify these contributions and see how they evolve over time.
What We Lose Without the Data
If NCES discontinues the library survey, the consequences ripple outward:
Researchers lose context: We can no longer analyze how investments in library services relate to student retention, graduation, or equity.
Policy debates lose evidence: Legislators and boards making funding decisions will lack national benchmarks for library resources.
Institutions lose leverage: Without comparative data, it becomes harder for libraries to make the case for budgets, staffing, or expanded services.
The public loses transparency: Higher education is more than classrooms and tuition prices; it is a network of supports. Without library data, that story becomes incomplete.
This isn’t just about one less dataset, it’s about erasing visibility into an institution’s commitment to supporting its students and faculty. Kathryn Palmer, a writer with Inside Higher Ed, states, “Beyond losing visibility for libraries and their ability to demonstrate their effectiveness, eliminating the library data from the IPEDS survey could disrupt the rapidly changing information marketplace.'“
A Call to Action
In research, we know that what we measure is what we value. By removing the library survey, NCES risks sending the message that libraries no longer matter to student outcomes or institutional performance. That is not only inaccurate, it is harmful.
Once data collection stops, rebuilding it becomes nearly impossible. We lose trend lines, we lose comparability, and we lose the ability to ask (and answer) critical questions.
Higher education leaders, librarians, institutional researchers, and policymakers should take this proposed change seriously. Libraries are integral to the academic enterprise, and the data documenting their role should not disappear quietly.
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