About the Core Data Service

Higher Education's Trusted Source for Comprehensive IT Benchmarking Data

The EDUCAUSE CORE DATA SERVICE (CDS) is a benchmarking service used by colleges and universities since 2002 to inform their IT strategic planning and management. Eligible colleges and universities participate in a year-round process with two phases: data collection and data access and analysis. Participation is centered in an online hub for data contribution, data download, and analysis.

How Do I Participate?

The annual CDS cycle is comprised of two phases. An institution must contribute data in Phase 1 in order to download data in Phase 2.

 Phase 1: Contributing Your Data:

• Managing Access and Authorizations—Primary representatives (typically the chief information officer or equivalent) authorize Manager, Author, and Reviewer roles for appropriate colleagues on campus.
• Committing to the Appropriate Use Policy—The EDUCAUSE primary representative or designated CDS manager must accept the Appropriate Use Policy (AUP) on behalf of the institution or system office before data entry can begin. All CDS Managers, Authors, and Reviewers are expected to read and comply with the CDS AUP, which sets forth the conditions under which identified—and aggregated—data can be shared with other members of the institution.
• Contributing Data to the Annual Survey—Eligible higher education institutions begin their participation by contributing data in one or more survey modules. For the 2011 survey, module authors entered 2009-2010 Fiscal Year Data to report actuals and 2010-2011 to report current budget. Module One is required for all participants. Modules Two through Ten are optional. Module Eleven is required for multi-campus system offices. Module Twelve is required for institutions outside of the U.S. PDFs of the modules are available, and the glossary provides CDS authors with content definitions. View tools and tutorials for data contribution.

 Phase 2: Accessing Your Data:

• Retrieving and Analyzing Data—Authorized individuals at participating institutions can define peer groups; specify datasets to download or view in CDS Reporting; and analyze. View tools and tutorials for data access and analysis.
• Reviewing EDUCAUSE Analysis—EDUCAUSE researchers and community members produce reports and other publications that summarize and analyze the data. Analysis and reports are featured at the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference each fall.
• Sharing Data and Analysis with Stakeholders—Using their own analysis and EDUCAUSE reports, participants and others are able to better inform, guide, and contribute to strategic planning efforts on campus.

Who is Participating Now?

The names of institutions that have completed the required and any of the optional survey modules for the current year are available in the modules on the Contribute Data tab of the Core Data website.

Who is Eligible to Participate?

CDS content and data access are currently focused on the central IT organizations of EDUCAUSE members. All EDUCAUSE institutional members in the United States with IPEDS unit data and international institutional members are automatically eligible to participate, as well as all campuses in multi-campus systems and community college districts and campuses that have participated in the past. (View eligible participants.) Other institutions of higher education may request to participate by contacting EDUCAUSE at coredata@educause.edu. Only those institutions that have submitted data for the most recent year are enabled to view identified data. Anyone from member institutions, the EDUCAUSE corporate member community, and the general public can view the published reports for the current and past years.

Why Participate?

CDS is a first step in an organization’s larger benchmarking efforts. CDS participants gain access to comparative data from peer institutions. Institutions can increase the value of CDS by identifying their peer group, encouraging their peers to participate to increase the data set, and using the service to compare data. Examples of use cases include:

• Comparing and contrasting IT resource allocation to inform support models
• Evaluating a particular data point (e.g., security risk posture, Internet connectivity, or BI/reporting tools) in comparison to other institutions to inform upcoming initiatives
• Comparing data among groups of peers, such as such as Carnegie classifications, AACC, AASCU, CLAC, Ivy+, and RUCC.

Of course, data are an imperfect measure of complex situations, particularly in higher education. However, the CDS peer group will give institutions a starting point from which to jump into deeper analysis with other information and research particular to their own organization. In addition, the CDS survey data contributes to the rich database that supports EDUCAUSE's service to members and enhances understanding of higher education IT across member campuses, as well as in the corporate community, the media, and the general public. EDUCAUSE researchers and community members collaborate annually to produce analysis, reports and other publications that summarize and analyze the data.

How is Data Disclosure Governed?

Appropriate use policies (AUP) establish how the identified data must be protected by CDS participants, as well as how EDUCAUSE may use the data to communicate the state of IT and to enhance services to its diverse membership. A fundamental tenet of the institutional AUP is that access to identified data is limited to survey participants. The AUP also prescribes how EDUCAUSE may use the survey data and aggregated results.

The EDUCAUSE primary representative or designated CDS manager must accept the Appropriate Use Policy (AUP) on behalf of the institution or system office before data entry can begin. All CDS Managers, Authors, and Reviewers are expected to read and comply with the CDS AUP, which sets forth the conditions under which identified—and aggregated—data can be shared with other members of the institution. In addition, advance approval from EDUCAUSE is required for use of any CDS data, even aggregated data, in public presentations or publications.

The 2010-11 CDS Redesign and Ongoing Improvements to the Service

CDS was established in 2002 and has been used by over 1,400 institutions in the United States and abroad. In 2010, EDUCAUSE established a working group to assess the service and provide recommendations on updating survey content, data access, and policies on appropriate use. The redesigned service was rolled out in spring 2011, with linkages to the historical survey database to support review of multi-year trends. Key aspects of the redesign are a broader, modularized survey; inclusion of multi-campus system and community college district central offices; better integration of institutions outside the United States; and a batch download capability to facilitate local analysis and reporting. Based on community feedback, additional changes were made to the survey content in 2012. Development efforts are also underway to address data reporting challenges. The CDS Advisory Group works with EDUCAUSE staff on these and other ongoing improvements to the service.

How Can I Stay Informed?

Subscribe to the CDS Update e-newsletter for new data analytics resources, upcoming CDS Tutorial webinars and events, new benefits and tools, and information on how to participate in the service.

If you have questions, please contact EDUCAUSE Member Services at

• coredata@educause.edu
• 303-449-4430
• Hours of operation: Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Mountain Time