Annual Survey of Colleges Data

Undergraduate enrollment profile and trend data for U.S. colleges and universities.

What is in the Annual Survey of Colleges Dataset Series?

This higher education data source, made available to Cornell researchers through CCSS, is based on an annual statistical survey conducted by the College Board, which provides profile and trend data on undergraduate and freshman enrollment at thousands of two-year and four-year colleges and universities in the United States.

The survey provides basic general information, including:

Enrollment and persistence
Freshman admission policies
International admission policies
Transfer admission
Academic offerings

Policies
Student life
Annual expenses
Financial aid
Degrees offered

The CCSS data archive collection begins with the 1983-84 school year data and continues to 2022.

How to Access

Downloads are directly available through the CCSS Data & Reproduction Archive for current Cornell students, faculty, and staff. Each year of data is a separate dataset record. The full list of studies in the series is available here. Click on the dataset you are interested in and navigate to the Data & Documentation tab.

Choose the file you are interested in downloading and click on “download.” This will bring you to the download page. You will need to log in:
Users must agree to the terms of use before downloading. This includes CCSS’s standard Acceptable Use Policy and specific conditions from the data provider, which are displayed on the download page on the left side of the screen. Please ensure these terms are acceptable before downloading.

Citing Annual Survey of Colleges Data

Each dataset has a suggested citation included in the metadata. The format is as follows:

College Entrance Examination Board. Annual Survey of Colleges Standard Research Compilation, [year(s)]. Catalog no. [catalog ID]. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University. Cornell Center for Social Sciences [distributor]. [date of dataset]. Version [version number]

In addition, PER DATA PROVIDER REQUIREMENTS, the following notice should be included “in every instance where material from the Licensed Data is reproduced, or referenced, in print or electronic form.”

Can’t Find the College Data You Want in Our Archive?

College surveys are also conducted annually by the National Center of Education Statistics.

Data may be accessed directly from NCES
Some of this data is available in our archive by searching for IPEDS or HEGIS for older data

If you are affiliated with Cornell, you may contact us using this form to inquire about the data you are looking for.

Have Additional Questions About This Data?

Please get in touch with us at socialsciences@cornell.edu for assistance.

How Do I Get Cited When I Use Annual Survey of Colleges Data?

Please inform us of your publication that used this data so we can add it to our bibliography of related articles by submitting the URL or DOI of the publication on this form.

Jones, Todd R., and Ehrenberg, Ronald G. "Are High-Quality PhD Programs at Universities Associated with More Undergraduate Students Pursuing PhD Study?." National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series Issue 22372 (2016-06) https://doi.org/10.3386/w22372.