Education data explorer

Education Data Explorer

Discovers available education data from the Urban Institute Education Data Portal: endpoints, variables, year coverage, and join keys for schools, districts, and colleges (CCD, IPEDS, CRDC, Scorecard, SAIPE, and more). Use during discovery and scoping phases when identifying what data exists, mapping research questions to endpoints, or resolving variable name discrepancies between documentation and actual field names. Load before education-data-query — this skill covers discovery; education-data-query handles the download.

Discover available education data from the Urban Institute Education Data Portal for research planning and query design.

What is the Education Data Portal?

• Comprehensive education data from Urban Institute - free and publicly available
• Three data levels: schools, school-districts, college-university
• Multiple data sources: CCD, IPEDS, CRDC, College Scorecard, EDFacts, SAIPE, FSA, MEPS, PSEO, etc.
• Coverage: 1980-2023 depending on source
• Access: Mirror downloads (parquet/CSV) via education-data-query skill
• Documentation: https://educationdata.urban.org/documentation/
• Curation layer, not a direct pass-through: The EDP standardizes data from original federal sources with lowercase variable names, integer-encoded categoricals, and uniform missing value codes (-1, -2, -3)
• Coverage varies by source: Some sources are fully mirrored; others are partially mirrored with only a subset of variables or datasets available. See individual education-data-source-* skills for source-specific coverage details

Skill Provenance Note: Each *-data-source-* skill includes provenance.skill_last_updated in its frontmatter. When exploring data sources during Stage 2, note the provenance dates of any skills you reference — if more than a few months old, flag this in your findings so the orchestrator can consider re-verifying with data-ingest.

Note: This workflow uses mirror-based file downloads, not paginated API calls. See education-data-query skill for fetch patterns and datasets-reference.md for file paths.

Reference File Structure

File	Purpose	When to Read
schools-endpoints.md	All school-level endpoints and variables	Researching K-12 schools
districts-endpoints.md	All district-level endpoints and variables	Researching school districts
colleges-endpoints.md	All college-level endpoints and variables	Researching higher education
variable-codes.md	Code values for states, grades, race, etc.	Interpreting or filtering data
metadata-api.md	Programmatic endpoint/variable discovery	Dynamic exploration

Decision Trees

What data level do I need?

What entity am I researching?
├─ Individual K-12 schools → schools level
│   └─ See ./references/schools-endpoints.md
├─ School districts / LEAs → school-districts level
│   └─ See ./references/districts-endpoints.md
├─ Colleges / Universities → college-university level
│   └─ See ./references/colleges-endpoints.md
└─ Not sure
    ├─ Need school-specific data (discipline, AP, demographics) → schools
    ├─ Need aggregate district data (finance, poverty) → school-districts
    └─ Need postsecondary data (enrollment, aid, outcomes) → college-university

What topic am I researching?

Research topic?
├─ Enrollment / Demographics
│   ├─ K-12 public schools → CCD enrollment endpoints
│   ├─ Civil rights indicators → CRDC enrollment
│   └─ Colleges → IPEDS enrollment
├─ School Finance
│   ├─ District revenue/expenditure → CCD finance
│   └─ College finance → IPEDS finance
├─ Student Outcomes
│   ├─ K-12 assessments → EDFacts
│   ├─ Graduation rates (K-12) → EDFacts
│   ├─ College completion → IPEDS completions
│   └─ Post-college earnings → College Scorecard
├─ Student Aid / Loans
│   ├─ College financial aid → IPEDS aid
│   ├─ Federal loans/grants → FSA
│   └─ Debt/repayment → College Scorecard
├─ Discipline / Civil Rights
│   └─ K-12 discipline, harassment, restraint → CRDC
├─ Poverty Estimates
│   └─ District-level → SAIPE
└─ Directory / Location
    ├─ K-12 schools → CCD directory
    ├─ Districts → CCD directory
    └─ Colleges → IPEDS directory

How do I find specific variables?

Finding variables?
├─ Know the endpoint → Check reference file for variable list
├─ Know the topic → Use topic index below
├─ Need to search programmatically → See ./references/metadata-api.md
└─ Need code definitions → See ./references/variable-codes.md

Quick Reference: Data Levels

Level	Key Sources	Primary ID	ID Format
schools	CCD, CRDC, EDFacts, MEPS, NHGIS	ncessch	12-char string
school-districts	CCD, SAIPE, EDFacts	leaid	7-char string
college-university	IPEDS, Scorecard, FSA, PSEO, EADA	unitid	6-digit integer

Quick Reference: Data Sources

Source	Level	Description	Years
CCD	Schools, Districts	Public K-12 directory, enrollment, finance	1986-2023
CRDC	Schools	Civil rights indicators, discipline, AP courses	2011-2021
EDFacts	Schools, Districts	Assessments, graduation rates	2009-2020
IPEDS	Colleges	Enrollment, completions, finance, institutional data	1980-2023
College Scorecard	Colleges	Earnings, debt, student outcomes	1996-2020
SAIPE	Districts	Census poverty estimates for school-age children	1995-2023
FSA	Colleges	Federal student aid, loans, grants, 90/10	1999-2021
MEPS	Schools	School poverty measure	2006-2019
NHGIS	Schools	Census geography crosswalks	1990, 2000, 2010, 2020

Quick Reference: Common Endpoints

Schools

Endpoint	Description
/schools/ccd/directory/{year}/	School directory (location, type, enrollment)
/schools/ccd/enrollment/{year}/{grade}/	Enrollment by grade
/schools/crdc/discipline/{year}/	Discipline incidents
/schools/crdc/ap-ib-enrollment/{year}/race/sex/	AP/IB enrollment (requires disaggregation)
/schools/edfacts/assessments/{year}/{grade}/	Assessment results

Districts

Endpoint	Description
/school-districts/ccd/directory/{year}/	District directory
/school-districts/ccd/enrollment/{year}/{grade}/	District enrollment
/school-districts/ccd/finance/{year}/	Revenue and expenditure
/school-districts/saipe/{year}/	Poverty estimates

Colleges

Endpoint	Description
/college-university/ipeds/directory/{year}/	Institution directory
/college-university/ipeds/admissions-enrollment/{year}/	Admissions data
/college-university/ipeds/enrollment-full-time-equivalent/{year}/	FTE enrollment
/college-university/ipeds/fall-enrollment/{year}/{level}/	Fall enrollment
/college-university/ipeds/graduation-rates/{year}/	Graduation rates
/college-university/scorecard/earnings/{year}/	Post-college earnings

Exploration Workflow

Follow these steps to identify data for a research question:

1. Identify data level

   • Schools: individual K-12 school records
   • Districts: school district / LEA records
   • Colleges: postsecondary institution records

2. Identify relevant data source(s)

   • Use the data sources table above
   • Multiple sources may be needed (e.g., CCD + CRDC)

3. Check available endpoints

   • Read the appropriate reference file
   • Note endpoint URL pattern and variables

4. Review variables and filters

   • Check variable lists in reference files
   • Note which variables can be used as filters

5. Check years available

   • Each endpoint has different year coverage
   • Use metadata API to get exact years

6. Understand source context (RECOMMENDED)

   • Load the appropriate education-data-source-* skill for deep context
   • Understand data collection methodology and limitations
   • Review variable definitions and coding schemes

7. Plan query

   • Load education-data-query skill for query construction
   • Or use metadata API to build query programmatically

URL Pattern Structure

All endpoints follow this pattern:

/api/v1/{level}/{source}/{topic}/{year}/[{disaggregation}/]

Examples:

• /api/v1/schools/ccd/directory/2022/
• /api/v1/schools/ccd/enrollment/2022/grade-5/
• /api/v1/schools/ccd/enrollment/2022/grade-5/race/
• /api/v1/school-districts/ccd/finance/2021/
• /api/v1/college-university/ipeds/fall-enrollment/2022/undergraduate/

Filtering

Query Parameters

Parameter	Description	Example
fips	State FIPS code	?fips=6 (California)
leaid	District ID	?leaid=0600001
ncessch	School ID	?ncessch=060000100001
unitid	College ID	?unitid=110635
year	Filter by year	?year=2022

Response Format

{
  "count": 12345,
  "next": "https://educationdata.urban.org/api/v1/...?page=2",
  "previous": null,
  "results": [
    {"ncessch": "...", "school_name": "...", ...},
    ...
  ]
}

Cross-Reference to Related Skills

Skill	Purpose	When to Use
education-data-query	Download data from mirrors	After identifying endpoints/variables
education-data-context	Interpret data, understand limitations	After retrieving data

Deep-Dive Data Source Skills

For comprehensive understanding of each data source beyond the portal documentation, load the appropriate source-specific skill:

Skill	Data Source	Key Topics
education-data-source-ccd	Common Core of Data	K-12 directory, enrollment, finance, staffing surveys
education-data-source-crdc	Civil Rights Data Collection	Discipline, harassment, course access, civil rights context
education-data-source-saipe	Small Area Income & Poverty	District poverty estimates, model methodology
education-data-source-edfacts	EDFacts	State assessments, graduation rates, accountability
education-data-source-ipeds	IPEDS	College enrollment, graduation, finance, completions
education-data-source-scorecard	College Scorecard	Post-college earnings, debt, repayment
education-data-source-nhgis	NHGIS	Census geography, demographic crosswalks
education-data-source-fsa	Federal Student Aid	Pell, loans, financial responsibility, 90/10
education-data-source-nacubo	NACUBO	College endowment data
education-data-source-nccs	NCCS	Nonprofit data for private colleges
education-data-source-meps	MEPS	Model-based school poverty (superior to FRPL)
education-data-source-eada	EADA	College athletics equity data
education-data-source-campus-safety	Campus Safety	Campus crime, Clery Act data
education-data-source-pseo	PSEO	Post-graduation employment outcomes

When to load source skills:

• Need deeper understanding of data collection methodology
• Encountering unexpected values or patterns
• Planning analysis that requires understanding source limitations
• Working with less common data elements not covered in this skill

Topic Index

Topic	Reference File	Section
School directory	schools-endpoints.md	CCD Directory
School enrollment	schools-endpoints.md	CCD Enrollment
Discipline data	schools-endpoints.md	CRDC Discipline
AP/IB courses	schools-endpoints.md	CRDC AP-IB-GT
K-12 assessments	schools-endpoints.md	EDFacts
District directory	districts-endpoints.md	CCD Directory
District finance	districts-endpoints.md	CCD Finance
District poverty	districts-endpoints.md	SAIPE
College directory	colleges-endpoints.md	IPEDS Directory
College enrollment	colleges-endpoints.md	IPEDS Enrollment
College graduation	colleges-endpoints.md	IPEDS Graduation
Financial aid	colleges-endpoints.md	IPEDS Aid, FSA
Post-college earnings	colleges-endpoints.md	Scorecard
Student debt	colleges-endpoints.md	Scorecard, FSA
State FIPS codes	variable-codes.md	State FIPS
Grade codes	variable-codes.md	Grade Codes
Race/ethnicity codes	variable-codes.md	Race Codes
Locale codes	variable-codes.md	Urban-Centric Locale
Programmatic discovery	metadata-api.md	All

Example: Planning a Research Query

Research question: "What is the relationship between school poverty and AP course offerings in California high schools?"

1. Data level: Schools (individual school records)

2. Data sources needed:

   • CRDC for AP course data
   • MEPS or CCD for poverty measure

3. Endpoints:

   • /schools/crdc/ap-ib-enrollment/{year}/race/sex/ - AP enrollment (requires disaggregation)
   • /schools/meps/{year}/ - School poverty measure

4. Key variables:

   • ncessch - school identifier (for joining)
   • fips=6 - California filter
   • AP enrollment variables from CRDC
   • Poverty measure from MEPS

5. Years: Check overlap (CRDC: 2011-2021, MEPS: 2006-2019)

6. Next step: Load education-data-query skill to construct the actual API calls

Common Pitfalls

• Year coverage varies: Always check years available for each endpoint
• Different ID formats: ncessch (12-char), leaid (7-char), unitid (6-digit)
• Disaggregation in URL: Grade, race, sex are often URL path components, not query params
• Missing data codes: -1, -2, -3 have specific meanings (see variable-codes.md)

Pre-Query Validation

CRITICAL: Variable Name Discrepancies

The Education Data Portal API often uses different variable names than documentation suggests. Always fetch a sample first:

# Test query to verify actual column names
response = requests.get(
    "https://educationdata.urban.org/api/v1/college-university/ipeds/directory/2023/"
)
data = response.json()
print("Actual columns:", list(data['results'][0].keys()))

Known discrepancies:

Documented	Actual API Field	Endpoint
inst_level	institution_level	IPEDS Directory
applicants_total	number_applied	IPEDS Admissions
admissions_total	number_admitted	IPEDS Admissions
grad_rate_150pct	completion_rate_150pct	IPEDS Graduation Rates
school_poverty	meps_poverty_pct	MEPS
population_5_17_poverty	est_population_5_17_poverty	SAIPE

See the relevant education-data-source-* skill for comprehensive variable mappings per source.

Metadata API Limitations

The metadata API has undocumented limitations:

• ?section=schools works to filter by data level
• ?source=ipeds does NOT work - filter client-side instead
• Response field names differ: source is actually class_name, source_name is actually label

Data Source Details

Quick summaries below. For comprehensive documentation including methodology, variable definitions, data quality issues, and historical changes, load the corresponding education-data-source-* skill.

CCD (Common Core of Data)

Coverage: All public elementary and secondary schools and districts in the U.S.

Topic	Schools	Districts
Directory	Yes	Yes
Enrollment	Yes (by grade, race, sex)	Yes (by grade, race, sex)
Finance	No	Yes (revenue, expenditure)

Key Variables:

• ncessch: 12-character NCES school ID
• leaid: 7-character NCES district ID
• enrollment: Total enrollment count
• free_or_reduced_price_lunch: FRPL-eligible students (poverty proxy)
• charter: Charter school indicator
• urban_centric_locale: Urban/suburban/town/rural classification

Deep dive: Load education-data-source-ccd for survey components, data collection process, variable coding, state variations, and historical changes (e.g., 2006 locale code revision, 2010 race category changes).

CRDC (Civil Rights Data Collection)

Coverage: Biennial survey of public schools (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2020, 2021)

Topics:

• Discipline (suspensions, expulsions, arrests)
• Chronic absenteeism
• Harassment and bullying
• Restraint and seclusion
• Advanced courses (AP, IB, gifted)
• Course offerings
• Teacher qualifications
• Retention
• COVID impacts (2020 only)

Key Feature: Disaggregation by race, sex, disability, and LEP status

Deep dive: Load education-data-source-crdc for civil rights legal context (Title VI, IX, Section 504), collection methodology, underreporting issues, and year-to-year changes.

EDFacts

Coverage: State assessment and accountability data

Topics:

• Assessment proficiency rates (reading, math)
• Graduation rates (4-year adjusted cohort)

Key Feature: Data available by special populations (disability, economically disadvantaged, LEP, homeless, migrant, foster care)

CRITICAL: State assessment scores CANNOT be compared across states (different tests, cut scores).

Deep dive: Load education-data-source-edfacts for ESSA/NCLB accountability context, why cross-state comparison is invalid, ACGR methodology, and subgroup reporting rules.

IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System)

Coverage: All Title IV-eligible postsecondary institutions

Topics:

• Institutional characteristics and directory
• Admissions and enrollment
• Student charges (tuition, fees, room, board)
• Financial aid
• Finance (revenue, expenditure, assets)
• Graduation rates
• Completions (degrees awarded by CIP code)
• Human resources (salaries, faculty)

Key Variables:

• unitid: 6-digit IPEDS institution ID
• inst_control: 1=Public, 2=Private nonprofit, 3=Private for-profit
• institution_level: 1=Less-than-2-year, 2=2-year, 4=4-year (no code 3)
• hbcu: Historically Black college indicator

Deep dive: Load education-data-source-ipeds for critical graduation rate limitations (first-time full-time only), GASB vs FASB finance accounting, survey components, and identifier changes.

College Scorecard

Coverage: Title IV institutions with outcome data

Topics:

• Post-college earnings (6 and 10 years after entry)
• Student debt and repayment
• Default rates
• Completion rates by income level

Key Feature: Links education to labor market outcomes

CRITICAL: Only covers Title IV aid recipients (selection bias toward lower-income students).

Deep dive: Load education-data-source-scorecard for earnings methodology (IRS data), population coverage limitations, suppression rules, and field-of-study data.

SAIPE (Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates)

Coverage: Census Bureau poverty estimates for school districts

Key Variables:

• population_5_17_poverty: Children 5-17 in poverty
• population_5_17_poverty_pct: Percent in poverty
• median_household_income: District median income

Deep dive: Load education-data-source-saipe for model-based estimation methodology, confidence intervals (not available at district level), and comparison to other poverty measures.

FSA (Federal Student Aid)

Coverage: Title IV institutions receiving federal aid

Topics:

• Pell grants
• Direct loans (subsidized, unsubsidized, PLUS)
• Campus-based aid (Perkins, work-study)
• Financial responsibility scores
• 90/10 revenue (for-profit institutions)

Deep dive: Load education-data-source-fsa for Title IV program details, financial responsibility composite scores, and 90/10 rule compliance.

Additional Data Sources

Source	Coverage	Deep Dive Skill
MEPS	School-level poverty estimates (superior to FRPL for cross-state comparison)	education-data-source-meps
NHGIS	Census geography crosswalks for schools	education-data-source-nhgis
NACUBO	College endowment data	education-data-source-nacubo
NCCS	Nonprofit data for private colleges (Form 990)	education-data-source-nccs
EADA	College athletics equity data	education-data-source-eada
Campus Safety	Campus crime statistics (Clery Act)	education-data-source-campus-safety
PSEO	Post-graduation employment outcomes	education-data-source-pseo

Joining Data Across Sources

School-Level Joins

Join school data across sources using ncessch:

Source 1	Source 2	Join Key	Use Case
CCD	CRDC	ncessch	Enrollment + discipline
CCD	EDFacts	ncessch	Directory + assessments
CCD	MEPS	ncessch	Enrollment + poverty
CRDC	MEPS	ncessch	AP courses + poverty

Note: Match on year when joining (years may not align perfectly)

District-Level Joins

Join district data using leaid:

Source 1	Source 2	Join Key	Use Case
CCD Directory	CCD Finance	leaid	Characteristics + spending
CCD	SAIPE	leaid	Enrollment + poverty
CCD	EDFacts	leaid	Enrollment + outcomes

College-Level Joins

Join college data using unitid:

Source 1	Source 2	Join Key	Use Case
IPEDS Directory	IPEDS Finance	unitid	Characteristics + finance
IPEDS	Scorecard	unitid	Enrollment + earnings
IPEDS	FSA	unitid	Enrollment + aid data

Disaggregation Patterns

URL Path Disaggregation

Some disaggregations are part of the URL path:

/schools/ccd/enrollment/{year}/{grade}/           # By grade
/schools/ccd/enrollment/{year}/{grade}/race/      # By grade and race
/schools/ccd/enrollment/{year}/{grade}/race/sex/  # By grade, race, and sex

Query Parameter Disaggregation

Other filters are query parameters:

?fips=6                    # California only
?charter=1                 # Charter schools only
?school_level=3            # High schools only
?urban_centric_locale=11   # Large cities only

Available Disaggregations by Source

Source	Grade	Race	Sex	Disability	Econ Status	LEP
CCD	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
CRDC	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
EDFacts	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
IPEDS	Level	Yes	Yes	No	No	No

Year Coverage Quick Reference

Source	Earliest	Latest	Update Frequency
CCD Directory	1986	2023	Annual
CCD Finance	1989	2021	Annual (2-year lag)
CRDC	2011	2021	Biennial
EDFacts	2009	2020	Annual
IPEDS	1980	2023	Annual
Scorecard	1996	2020	Annual
SAIPE	1995	2023	Annual
FSA	1999	2021	Annual

Example Research Scenarios

Scenario	Data Sources	Key Variables
Charter vs traditional school outcomes	CCD directory + EDFacts assessments	charter, read_test_pct_prof_midpt
College affordability by income	IPEDS directory + net-price-by-income	inst_control, income_level, avg_net_price
Discipline disparities by race	CRDC discipline + enrollment (by race)	race, oss_one, expulsions_*
Spending and graduation rates	CCD finance + EDFacts grad-rates	exp_current_per_pupil, grad_rate_midpt
School poverty and AP access	CRDC ap-ib-enrollment + MEPS	ap_enrollment, meps_poverty_pct
College earnings by major	IPEDS completions + Scorecard earnings	cip_code, earn_median_wne_p10