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SMART Support Guide for the Spring IPEDS 2026-2027

Creation date: 8/24/2026 10:24 AM    Updated: 10/26/2026 8:59 AM
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IPEDS Spring Reporting Guide (2026-2027)

Use this guide to review, validate, and audit the OnlineSMART reports used for Spring IPEDS reporting.

Reporting Information

Reporting Opens:
December 9, 2026

Reporting Deadline:
April 7, 2027 (Keyholders)
April 21, 2027 (Coordinators)

Location:
Reports (Standard) → Annual → IPEDS → 2026-2027 → Spring


OnlineSMART Generates Data For:
  • Fall Enrollment
  • Finance

Before You Begin
  • Ensure students have:
    • Sex
    • Race
    • Enrollment Status
    • Grade Level
    • Original Start Date
  • Ensure all qualifying courses have a valid CIP Code entered under:

    Administration → Courses

IPEDS Exclusions
  • Students enrolled in courses without a CIP Code.
  • Students who withdraw:
    • Within 4 Days of enrollment in courses under 900 Hours
    • Within 14 Days of enrollment in courses 900+ Hours
If a CIP Code is required, enter the appropriate code under:

Administration → Courses → Select Appropriate Course → CIP Code

If the course should not have a CIP Code, enter:

0

Fall Enrollment

What This Report Measures

Fall Enrollment Parts A-C review students who were active between:

August 1, 2026 - October 31, 2026

Part E uses a different cohort and requires a separate student list export.

Verification Setup (Parts A-C)
  1. Generate the 05 - Fall Enrollment Student List.
  2. Use:
    • Start Date = 8/1/2026
    • End Date = 10/31/2026
    • As Of Date = 8/1/2026
  3. Export the report to Excel.
  4. Click inside Cell A1.
  5. Select:

    Home → Sort & Filter → Filter

01 - Fall Enrollment Part A

What This Report Measures

Part A categorizes students based on enrollment status, grade level, race, and gender.

The highlighted student groups identified in this section are used again in later portions of the Fall Enrollment report.

First-Time, Certificate-Seeking Full-Time Undergraduate Students

  • Filter Enrollment Status (Column G) for FULL and any additional statuses your institution considers Full-Time.
  • Filter Grade Level (Column H) for First Year, Never Attended.
  • Filter Original Start Date (Column I) for August - October 2026.
  • Filter by Sex (Column E) and Race (Column F) as needed.
  • Highlight all qualifying students in Yellow.
Important

Keep the Yellow highlighting intact. It will be used to separate this population from later Full-Time cohorts.

All Other Full-Time Undergraduate Students

  • Filter Enrollment Status (Column G) for FULL and any additional statuses your institution considers Full-Time.
  • Select Column A and choose Filter By Color → No Fill.
  • Filter by Sex (Column E) and Race (Column F) as needed.

First-Time, Certificate-Seeking Part-Time Undergraduate Students

  • Filter Enrollment Status (Column G) for PART.
  • Filter Grade Level (Column H) for First Year, Never Attended.
  • Filter Original Start Date (Column I) for August - October 2026.
  • Filter by Sex (Column E) and Race (Column F) as needed.
  • Highlight all qualifying students in Red.
Important

Keep the Red highlighting intact. It will be used to separate this population from later Part-Time cohorts.

All Other Part-Time Undergraduate Students

  • Filter Enrollment Status (Column G) for PART and any additional statuses your institution considers Part-Time.
  • Select Column A and choose Filter By Color → No Fill.
  • Filter by Sex (Column E) and Race (Column F) as needed.

02 - Fall Enrollment Part B

What This Report Measures

Part B categorizes students by Age, Gender, and Enrollment Status.

Full-Time Undergraduate Students

  • Filter Enrollment Status (Column G) for FULL and any additional statuses your institution considers Full-Time.
  • Filter Sex (Column E) and Age (Column R) as needed.

Part-Time Undergraduate Students

  • Filter Enrollment Status (Column G) for PART and any additional statuses your institution considers Part-Time.
  • Filter Sex (Column E) and Age (Column R) as needed.

03 - Fall Enrollment Part C

What This Report Measures

Part C categorizes First-Time students by state of residence and identifies those who enrolled within 12 months of high school graduation or receiving a GED.

Total First-Time Degree / Certificate-Seeking Undergraduates

  • Filter Grade Level (Column H) for First Year, Never Attended.
  • Filter Original Start Date (Column I) for August - October 2026.
  • Filter Residence State (Column S) for the state being reported.

Students Who Enrolled Within 12 Months of Graduation or GED

  • Maintain the filters above.
  • Filter Start Within 12 Months (Column U) for Y.

04 - Fall Enrollment Part E

What This Report Measures

Part E measures Fall-to-Fall retention for First-Time students.

Because this report uses a different cohort than Parts A-C, a new Fall Enrollment Student List must be generated before validation.

Verification Setup
  1. Generate a new 05 - Fall Enrollment Student List.
  2. Use:
    • Start Date = 8/1/2025
    • End Date = 10/31/2025
    • As Of Date = 8/1/2026
  3. Export the report to Excel.
  4. Click inside Cell A1.
  5. Select:

    Home → Sort & Filter → Filter

First-Time Student Cohort Retention Rates (Full-Time)

E1 - Full-Time, First-Time Fall 2025 Cohort

  • Filter Enrollment Status (Column G) for FULL and any additional statuses your institution considers Full-Time.
  • Filter Grade Level (Column H) for First Year, Never Attended.
  • Filter Original Start Date (Column I) for August, September, and October 2025.

E2 - Exclusions from the Fall 2025 Cohort

  • Maintain the E1 cohort.
  • Filter Exclusions (Column V) for Y.

E4 - Students from the Fall 2025 Cohort Still Enrolled

  • Maintain the E1 cohort.
  • Filter Still Enrolled (Column W) for Y.
  • Record the count of students still enrolled.
  • Return to the E1 cohort.
  • Filter Actual Graduation Date (Column J) to exclude blanks.
  • Record the count of students who graduated.
  • Add the two totals together.

First-Time Student Cohort Retention Rates (Part-Time)

E1 - Part-Time, First-Time Fall 2025 Cohort

  • Filter Enrollment Status (Column G) for PART and any additional statuses your institution considers Part-Time.
  • Filter Grade Level (Column H) for First Year, Never Attended.
  • Filter Original Start Date (Column I) for August, September, and October 2025.

E2 - Exclusions from the Fall 2025 Cohort

  • Maintain the E1 cohort.
  • Filter Exclusions (Column V) for Y.

E4 - Students from the Fall 2025 Cohort Still Enrolled

  • Maintain the E1 cohort.
  • Filter Still Enrolled (Column W) for Y.
  • Record the count of students still enrolled.
  • Return to the E1 cohort.
  • Filter Actual Graduation Date (Column J) to exclude blanks.
  • Record the count of students who graduated.
  • Add the two totals together.

Finance

What This Report Measures

The Finance reports review payments posted during the reporting period:

July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2026

Important
  • If your institution uses a different fiscal year, adjust the report dates to match the fiscal year entered within IPEDS.
  • Verify all ledger transactions contain accurate:
    • Post Dates
    • Amounts
    • Transaction Types
    • Programs
    • Revenue Codes

Verification Setup
  1. Export the Finance Grid List to Excel.
  2. Use:
    • Cohort Start Date = 7/1/2025
    • Cohort End Date = 6/30/2026
  3. Click inside Cell A1.
  4. Select:

    Home → Sort & Filter → Filter
  5. Before validating any line item, clear all filters using:

    Home → Sort & Filter → Clear

06 - Finance Part C

What This Report Measures

Finance Part C categorizes grants, scholarships, discounts, and allowances based on the source of funding.

Line 01 - Pell Grants (Federal)

  • Filter Pell (Column I) for Y.

Line 02 - Other Federal Grants

  • Filter Federal Grants (Column J) for Y.
Note

Do not include Federal Direct Student Loan (FDSL) amounts in this category.

Line 03a - State Grants

  • Filter State Grants (Column K) for Y.

Line 03b - Local Grants (Government)

  • Filter Local Grants (Column L) for Y.

Line 04 - Institutional Grants

  • Filter Institutional Grants (Column M) for Y.

Line 05 - Total Student Grants

  • Add the totals from:
    • Line 01
    • Line 02
    • Line 03a
    • Line 03b
    • Line 04

Line 06 - Allowances Applied to Tuition and Fees

  • Filter Discounts / Allowances (Column N) for Y.

07 - Finance Part D

What This Report Measures

Finance Part D reviews tuition and fee revenue recorded within the reporting period.

Line 01 - Tuition and Fees

  • Filter Revenues by Source (Column O) for Y.
  • The resulting total is reported for:
    • Line 01 - Tuition and Fees
    • Line 09 - Total Revenues and Investment Return

Note

Within OnlineSMART, Line 09 will match the value reported for Line 01.

Need Assistance?

SMART Support is available to assist with IPEDS reporting questions during normal business hours.

Phone: (480) 744-0050
Hours: Monday - Friday, 7:00 AM - 3:30 PM MST

Email: Support@OnlineSMART.net
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