Data and Reports

Oakland City University Releases an Annual Report each November.

The Department of Institutional Research (IR) collects, organizes, analyzes, and publishes data about many aspects of the operation of OCU, such as admissions and enrollment, student demographics and performance, retention and graduations rates, student life, curriculum, faculty and staff qualifications, financial aid and college expenses, athletics, facilities and resources, and alumni relations.

The Department prepares reports and surveys required by governmental bodies and accrediting agencies, including the Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Schools, and the NCAA.

IR also responds to requests from organizations that publish guides to colleges and universities, such as US News and World Report, Peterson’s, the College Board, the Council of Graduate Schools, and the Princeton Review. IR also provides reports as requested by internal offices and departments of the University and by external constituencies and stakeholders. 

Oakland City University Fact Book

The Oakland City University fact book is published annually and compiles tables and figures of current and historical data reflecting the areas of the University that are asked about most often.  It is distributed to members of the Oakland City University community to serve as a reference guide and planning tool and to provide a single, comprehensive source of key institutional data.

Common Data Set

The Common Data Set (CDS) initiative is a collaborative effort among data providers in the higher education community and publishers as represented by the College Board, Peterson's, and U.S. News & World Report. The combined goal of this collaboration is to improve the quality and accuracy of information provided to all involved in a student's transition into higher education, as well as to reduce the reporting burden on data providers.

This goal is attained by the development of clear, standard data items and definitions in order to determine a specific cohort relevant to each item. Data items and definitions used by the U.S. Department of Education in its higher education surveys often serve as a guide in the continued development of the CDS. Common Data Set items undergo broad review by the CDS Advisory Board as well as by data providers representing secondary schools and two- and four-year colleges. Feedback from those who utilize the CDS also is considered throughout the annual review process.

The CDS is a set of standards and definitions of data items rather than a survey instrument or set of data represented in a database. Each of the higher education surveys conducted by the participating publishers incorporates items from the CDS as well as unique items proprietary to each publisher. Consequently, the publishers' surveys differ in that they utilize varying numbers of items from the CDS.

Those who report data for their colleges are urged to abide by the definitions and the cohorts specified when answering CDS items. They are also urged to use the answers to CDS items when responding to the numerous survey requests they receive, by distributing photocopies of their answers, posting them on their web sites, or by other effective means.

The Indiana Commission for Higher Education is a 14-member public body created in 1971 to define the missions of Indiana's colleges and universities, plan and coordinate the state's postsecondary education system, and ensure that Indiana's higher education system is aligned to meet the needs of students and the state.

Because the ultimate goal of the college experience is graduation, the NCAA has devoted attention to researching student-athlete graduation rates for more than two decades.

All colleges and universities are required by NCAA legislation and federal law (the Student Right-to-Know act from 1990) to report student graduation rates, and those institutions offering athletics aid are required to report for their student-athletes as well. The NCAA acquires student-athlete graduation rate data from the Department of Education’s Integrated Post-Secondary Data System Graduation Rate Survey (IPEDS-GRS).

The student-athlete graduation rate calculated directly based on IPEDS-GRS (which is the methodology the U.S. Department of Education requires) is the proportion of first-year, full-time student-athletes who entered a school on athletics aid and graduated from that institution within six years. This federal rate does not account for students who transfer from their original institution and graduate elsewhere; they are considered non-graduates at both the college they left and the one from which they eventually graduate.  

Institutional Research Request

The Office of Assessment strives to provide the Oakland City University community with data needs.  If you are unable to find the data you are looking for on our main website or the institution's intranet site, please complete all sections of the institutional research request form and submit it along with any supporting documentation.

All information produced by the Office of Assessment are confidential and protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

The Institutional Research Request form is available at https://www.oak.edu/forms/institutional-research-request