Background Information

The Common Data Set (CDS) represents a cooperative effort by guidebook publishers, institutional researchers and other interested stakeholders to develop a set of key questions in a single information request survey that will then be used by the publishers to meet their information needs. This initiative came out of the October 1995 meeting at Lafayette College.

The goal is to have each institution complete the CDS once each year and make copies available to the interested publishers, who would then require only a relatively small amount of additional information with a brief publication-specific supplemental survey. In addition to reducing cost and time by institutional researchers to respond to publishers surveys the CDS represents a standardization of data elements and definitions across publications thus minimizing conflicting counts and other data irregularities.

The following parties were instrumental in developing the CDS: the College Board, Wintergreen/Orchard House Inc., Peterson's Guides, and the US News and World Report.

Source: Additional information about the CDS can be found at: 

The Association for Institutional Research
U.S. News
Peterson's
Wintergreen/Orchard House