Using Rapid Insight to Generate IPEDS Submission Files

This article explains how to use Rapid Insight Construct to generate the fixed-width text files required for IPEDS survey submissions.

The Construct jobs available in the Rapid Insight Collaborative Cloud are designed to simplify the final formatting of IPEDS files. However, they do not prepare, validate, or calculate your survey data. Before using these jobs, your institution is responsible for gathering, calculating, and validating all required survey data.

Step 1: Download the IPEDS Survey Construct Job

Open Construct.
Select the RI CC tab and choose Browse RI Collaborative Cloud.
Search for IPEDS and locate the survey component you are preparing (for example, Fall Enrollment, Graduation Rates, Outcome Measures, etc.).
Double-click the job.
Review and accept the Terms and Conditions, then click Download.
In the Workspace, open the From RI Collaborative Cloud folder and open the downloaded job.

Step 2: Connect the Job to Your Data

Connect the job to the data that will be used to create your IPEDS submission.

Depending on your institution's workflow, this data may come from:

Edify exports
CSV or text files
Excel files
SQL queries
Other institutional data sources

If you are connecting directly to Edify, see Connecting to Edify in Construct for configuration instructions.

Step 3: Prepare Your Survey Data

Before using the output nodes from the downloaded jobs, prepare the data required for your survey.

This preparation typically includes:

Gathering data from one or more institutional systems
Calculating required counts and totals
Aggregating records into the reporting categories required by IPEDS
Creating required fields such as:
- UNITID
- Survey section
- Survey part
- Required blank filler fields
- Other fields defined by the IPEDS specification

Many institutions perform these transformations within Construct. Others may prepare the data in Edify or another reporting environment and simply connect the completed datasets to the IPEDS job.

The Rapid Insight IPEDS jobs assume this preparation has already been completed.

For more information on using Construct to prepare the survey data, watch our Skills and Solutions session or contact RI-Support@eab.com.

Step 4: Configure the Job

Each IPEDS job contains instructions describing how to generate the output files.

Before running the job:

Create the output folder

Create a folder on your Desktop using the survey name (for example, Fall Enrollment).
The generated text files will be written to this folder.

Update the Username parameter

Select Edit Parameters from the toolbar.
Update the Username parameter with your Windows username (the folder name shown under C:\Users\<username>).

Note: If you copy the output nodes into another Construct job, create a Username parameter in that job and assign it the same Windows username.

Step 5: Generate Each Survey Part

Each survey part has its own Output node configured with the required fixed-width layout.

For each prepared dataset:

Connect or copy the corresponding Output node to the end of your workflow.
Verify that it is connected to the correct survey part.
Run the Output node.

The node generates a fixed-width .txt file that matches the IPEDS formatting requirements for that survey part and saves it to the Desktop folder created earlier.

Repeat this process for every survey part included in the submission.

Step 6: Create the Final Submission File

After all survey part files have been generated:

Confirm that each individual .txt file has been created in the output folder.
Run the Script node.

The Script node appends the individual survey part files together in the required order and creates a single upload-ready .txt file for submission to IPEDS.

Result

When the job completes, your output folder will contain:

One fixed-width text file for each survey part
One combined upload-ready IPEDS submission file

The combined file is the file that should be uploaded through the IPEDS Data Collection System.