Help – Census Enrollment

What do you need help with? Click on the appropriate link below.

Video Tutorial: Using Student Census Data

When should I use census data vs. regular enrollment data?

Which headcount should I use? (includes some examples of how headcounts work)

Visual: Which Census Count should I use?

General Information about Census Enrollment data:

What it is?
What is the history of census data, how has it changed over time?

Specific tips and explanations for the Census Autumn Enrollment Dashboard, by report tab:

Degree Level and Type
Gender
URM Ethnicity
Gender and URM Ethnicity

Still puzzled by something? Email us at siris-support@lists.stanford.edu.

When should I use census enrollment data vs. regular enrollment data?

Use census data if

You are reporting on historical trends over time
You want/need to match official enrollment statistics
You want/need stable numbers that aren’t going to change from day to day

Use regular plan/term enrollment data if

You need an as-of-yesterday version of who is enrolled
You have a very particular question that involves attributes/information not available in census data

Although sometimes in the last case, you can pull a census population into the regular subject area to pick up other attributes or information.

Which headcount should I use?

Understanding the different headcounts – see also the Headcount Info tab in the Census Autumn Enrollment dashboard, and/or the Data Governance Center, for more detailed information.

These ways of counting students represent traditional ways of counting that have been used for several years. If there are variations or adjustments to these counts that would be of interest to you, let us know. We already know that better ways of counting coterms would be of interest.

UNIVERSITY Student Headcount

An unduplicated count of all individuals, with trumping logic to determine which affiliation is represented.

Trumping logic is used to determine which affiliation is used to represent a student when more than one affiliation exists; for instance, someone pursuing a JD and MD is counted by the MD only. Someone who is pursuing an undergraduate double major is counted by the first one in order alphabetically, by legacy major code. Coterm students are counted once, as either graduate or undergraduate students, depending on their coterm group status. For more information, including the trumping rules, see the Data Governance Center entry: University Student Headcount

This count is especially useful for broad, university-wide statistics, such as how many graduate students are at Stanford?

SCHOOL Student Headcount

Each undergraduate student is counted in all their degree plans (study field + degree), same as MAJOR count.

Each graduate student is counted in their highest degree plan(s) per school; plans in different schools are all counted.

Coterms also count only once, as under the University count.

Students who pursue “equal” degrees (e.g. two MA’s, two MS’s, two Ph.D.’s) within the same school, will be counted twice within the school because both are the “highest” degree for that student. The School headcount is the one that was used in previous census “Directory reports”. For more information, see the Data Governance Center entry: School Student Headcount

This count can be used to get a more accurate, close-to-unduplicated count of grad students within a school, except that some coterm students will count only as an undergrad. A very few grad students may be counted twice (pursuing two equal degrees within the same school), mostly in H&S or Engineering. Note that the School count undercounts the number of grad students pursuing master’s degrees, as master’s/Ph.D. students are counted under the Ph.D. only, and it also undercounts how many School of Medicine students are pursuing PhDs for those doing both Ph.D./MD.

MAJOR Student Headcount

All students are counted in all of their degree plans (study field + degree), except coterms count only once, as above.

The Major headcount is the same as the School headcount, for undergraduates. For graduate students, the Major headcount will increase the count somewhat, as all degree plans will be counted, not just the highest degree plan per school. For more information, see the Data Governance Center entry: Major Student Headcount

This count is helpful for getting the fullest picture of all student academic pursuits; e.g. all students pursuing Linguistics at any level. A notable exception, however, is that only one side of a coterm is represented.

STUDENT PLAN Headcount

An inclusive count of all academic activity, including both sides of coterms, master’s along the way, and minors (MIN, PMN, SEC, IHN).

The Student Plan Headcount can be filtered down to target specific subgroups as needed. For more information, see the Data Governance Center entry: Student Plan Headcount.

For questions about any other terms used in this dashboard, look them up in the Data Governance Center.

Examples of the different headcounts:

Numbers in red are the counts of those students which are sequentially excluded from one column to the next.

General Information about Census Enrollment data

WHAT IS CENSUS DATA

(copied from the Overview tab on the Census Autumn Enrollment dashboard)

The census is particularly useful for comparisons over time, as it represents a stable, consistent, official view of Stanford’s student population.

WHAT: An annual autumn snapshot of the student population.

AVAILABLE YEARS: From the academic year 2002-2003 to the most recently available census year.

WHEN: The census is taken about a week after students have confirmed their study plans (mid to late October).

WHO: This dashboard includes active, degree-seeking students who are registered as of the census date and not on leave. Non-degree-seeking students are also captured in the census; for now, use ad hoc to report on them.

Students are counted in 3 different ways in the census; the numbers will vary depending on which count is used:

WHAT IS CENSUS DATA USED FOR?

Census data is used for required reporting to the Federal Government; it is also used for a wide range of external reporting requests and surveys (e.g. Common Data Set, US News & World Report), as well as internal records (Stanford Facts, Internal Statistics Book, etc.).

THE TIMING OF THE CENSUS

The Federal Government asks institutions of higher learning to take an autumn census as close to Oct. 15th as possible. For accuracy, Stanford waits to take the autumn census until after the Final Study List deadline date (when students must finalize their enrollments for the term), and after the subsequent “Term Cancel” process is run by the Registrar’s Office (which removes students who have chosen not to attend fall quarter). The exact date of the Census is recorded (in an Ad Hoc field) within SIRIS. It is typically the 9th day after the Final Study List deadline; the Final Study List deadline is generally on a Friday, and the census date is as of the Sunday one week and two days later. In the past, the availability of the census data could be several days past the actual snapshot; with the new system, we hope the data can be available within a couple of days of the actual snapshot, or about 11 days after the Final Study List deadline.

WHY IT IS DIFFICULT TO “AUGMENT” CENSUS DATA

There are some aspects of student records where we can go back in time and check information or even add information that was true as of the census date. For instance, we have added in what subplans students were in on the census date, which was not captured in the original census data. We could also potentially go back and add the missing “half” of coterm students, though we have not done that yet. (Only one side of a coterm student is included in the “PS1” era below; both sides are captured in the PS2 era.)

However some aspects of student records get overwritten in PeopleSoft, so for those aspects, we have to rely on what was captured by the census process:

We can’t recapture the basic population – who was term enrolled on the census date, other than what was captured at the time, because that information gets overwritten in PeopleSoft. For instance, if a student withdraws after the census date, you would not be able to tell they were “not withdrawn” on the census date. We can’t go back and start capturing census data on every quarter, for instance.
We can’t recapture biodemo or citizenship data as of the census date, other than what was captured at the time, because PeopleSoft only maintains current info – past info is overwritten.

HISTORY OF CENSUS DATA

This can be relevant because history reflects what kind of information is available. The most recent years have more information, but you have to know how to pull it out properly (e.g. only take one quarter at a time or you will get inflated results).

ERA	IN SIRIS?	DATES	PROCESS	ORIGINAL RESULT	SIGNIFICANCE
NSI	no	1987 through 2000-2001	a complex manual process involving SPIRES, probably SAS	text files, converted and merged into a single table in DSS	We have not yet made these years available, because significant bridging work would need to be done to convert NSI departments and majors and make sure they match up properly to the PeopleSoft ones. In theory, it would be possible though, if there’s enough demand for it.
PS0 – transition year	no	2001-2002	a complex manual process involving Brio Query tool, Excel, SAS	text files, converted and merged into a single table in DSS	The transition to PeopleSoft took more than one year. The very first year of being in PeopleSoft, the data is not that complete/consistent, so we opted not to include it in this release of census data.
PS1 – first 10 years	yes	2002-2003 through 2011-2012	a complex manual process involving Brio Query tool, Excel, SAS	text files, converted and merged into a single table in DSS	Only rows that would be counted in the census were included in the file
PS2 – second era	yes	2012-2013 through now	a mostly automated process involving views & Informatica PowerCenter	single table in DSS	Census file includes all student/plans for students not withdrawn and active on the census date, but only certain ones are tagged for inclusion in the various headcounts. Also, census started being taken every quarter, and the census started having advance runs for error-checking.

Census Autumn Enrollment Dashboard Tips

Here are some tips and explanations for the various report tabs in the Census Autumn Enrollment dashboard. Note that all reports in this dashboard only cover degree-seeking students, undergraduate, and graduate. If you are interested in reporting on non-degree-seeking students, e.g. visiting researchers, for now, you need to use ad hoc reporting.

Drill-to-detail: Whenever a number or label is blue and underlined, it can be drilled into. Some users may only have access to aggregated data; they will not see the drill down links.

Degree Level and Type

Degree level refers to students’ level of degree plan — undergraduate or graduate; bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral. It is the level of degree plan being pursued; this dashboard does not show completed, conferred degrees.

Degree type refers to students’ type of degree plan, academic or professional. There are currently only 3 professional degrees (MBA, JD, MD); all other degrees at Stanford are academic.

There is one option for grouping students that combines the above characteristics, “B-aM-aD-P” (Bachelor’s, Academic Master’s, Academic Doctoral, Professional). This degree grouping groups all professional students together, but then still splits out the remaining students by B-M-D, where the Master’s and Doctoral pursuits are academic only.

Gender

The graphs and charts on this tab provide information on the gender breakdown of students in the census.

URM Ethnicity

The graphs and charts on this tab provide high-level information on student race/ethnicity. International students are separated out; then the US citizen or permanent resident students are categorized into Under-Represented Minority (URM, having at least one race/ethnicity that is considered to be under-represented compared to the US population at large), non-URM, and Unknown.

Gender and URM Ethnicity

The graphs and charts on this tab provide a breakdown of students along both gender and Under-Represented Minority lines.