Tuesday, February 17, 2026
In late 2025, the U.S. Department of Education and NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) introduced the Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement (ACTS) to IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System). This expands reporting requirements to enhance transparency in college admissions outcomes and practices. The first ACTS IPEDS submission period for the 2025–26 IPEDS cycle closes on March 18, 2026.
ACTS marks one of the largest expansions of the IPEDS higher education data reporting collection in recent memory. It compels four-year degree-granting institutions, including all public, private nonprofit, and private for-profit institutions that primarily award bachelor’s degrees or higher, to submit detailed admissions and outcomes data. Institutions must report data for the current 2025–26 academic year and several prior years, typically covering six academic years (2019–20 through 2024–25).
Two-year and open-admissions colleges may be exempt for years when they admit all applicants and do not award non-need-based aid.
Under ACTS, institutions must submit disaggregated student-level data for undergraduate applicants, admitted students, enrolled students, and completers, including:
For graduate and professional programs, institutions must break out higher education data reporting further by field of study, detailing financial aid, and outcomes to ensure enrollment management compliance.
Submitted data are aggregated by NCES tools and integrated into broader IPEDS reports.CTS stems from federal direction to expand the postsecondary transparency policy in higher education admissions. It follows a presidential memorandum and a directive from the U.S. Secretary of Education to enhance the admissions data collected through IPEDS. These instructions aim to provide policymakers, researchers, and the public with deeper insights into admissions practices and equity across demographic groups.
Unlike traditional IPEDS surveys that focus on cohort-level data, ACTS collects applicant-level and outcomes data previously maintained only in internal admissions systems.
The data requested under ACTS is substantial. Early estimates indicate institutions may need over 200 person-hours to compile historical and current data, a figure some professionals consider conservative.
Many colleges do not routinely capture admissions data in the disaggregated forms now required, particularly for applicants who were not admitted or enrolled, and may lack mechanisms to link admissions metrics (such as test scores or income) across historical cohorts.
Institutions and associations have raised questions about several issues. These include the clarity of data definitions, the consistency of historical records across systems, and privacy considerations when reporting highly detailed data.
Early higher education strategic planning and governance are critical for leadership and institutional research teams. Universities should consider these strategic steps:
1. Establish Clear Data Ownership and Workflow
Identify your college’s and universities’ departments holding key admissions data (e.g., admissions, registrar, financial aid) and establish cross-functional workflows to extract, clean, and validate information.
2. Align Definitions and Standards
Review NCES instructions and FAQs early with your entire organizational leadership. Develop internal documentation aligning local systems with federal data definitions to ensure accuracy and consistency.
3. Prioritize Historical Data Retrieval
Because ACTS requires prior years’ data, institutions may need to invest in data warehousing or archival retrieval to gather legacy information. This is especially true for applicants who were never enrolled.
4. Address Privacy and Compliance
Disaggregated data raises privacy concerns. Colleges should collaborate with legal, compliance, and other educational resource management teams to ensure reporting complies with FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) and other privacy regulations.
5. Leverage Peer Networks
Engage with professional organizations such as NAICU, AIR, AACRAO, and other research or admissions associations to clarify expectations, share lessons learned, assist with university regulations drafting, and refine best practices.
ACTS is a historic expansion of federal admissions reporting. It will likely shape how researchers and policymakers analyze trends in college access, equity, and outcomes. Effective implementation requires strategic planning, campus-wide collaboration, and close attention to data quality and governance.
Although the compliance window is tight, institutions with robust data infrastructure and transparent processes will be better positioned. They can meet federal requirements and provide meaningful insights to the national higher education landscape.
National Center for Education Statistics. (2025). Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement (ACTS): Survey instructions. Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). https://surveys.nces.ed.gov/ipeds/public/survey-materials/instructions?instructionid=30156
National Center for Education Statistics. (2025). This week in IPEDS: Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement (ACTS). https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/this-week-in-ipeds/331
National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. (2025, September 5). ED proposes new IPEDS survey component. https://www.naicu.edu/news-events/washington-update/2025/september-5/ed-proposes-new-ipeds-survey-component/
Fedscoop. (2025). Education Department adds new admissions data requirements to IPEDS. https://fedscoop.com/education-department-college-admissions-data-ipeds-nces-ies-statistics/
