Why the 8-digit UnitID

Question

In the raw data released with the Scorecard, some institutions have an 8 digit unitid (the one tied to IPEDS not the OPE IDs). Can someone explain why this is? I can see they tend to be branch campuses. So is it a case of the institution has its own 8-digit OPE ID but is not in IPEDS? Thus there is no assigned unique IPEDS ID. But if that is the case, why are these branch campuses not in IPEDS too?

Answer 1

There are different procedures for assigning IPEDS UnitIDs and NSLDS OPE IDs. The unit of analysis identified in Scorecard is based on how data derived from both systems could be presented.The individual institutions presented are based on unique values of IPEDS 8-digit UnitIDs where the first six digits represent the "parent" institution and the last two sequential digits represent "child" entities. For each of these unique values, IPEDS generated data (e.g. institution name, graduation rate, predominant degree, enrollment, etc.) correspond directly to the UnitID. For data derived from the NSLDS and Dept of Treasury (e.g., earnings, repayment rate, debt) data are calculated at the 6-digit OPE ID level. In these cases, IPEDS institutions with different UnitIDs sharing a common 6-digit OPEID are all assigned the (student-weighted) average outcome or median outcome for students across all branches of the institution for NSLDS or tax-data derived measures. While the 8-digit OPE ID is also provided in the raw data files, this is not the unit of analysis for any of the variables.