On April 15, 2009, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) announced the release of a new tool, the QuickStats Data Tool.  According to NCES, “QuickStats allows users to easily create tables by selecting from a list of datasets, then selecting variables contained within as column and row categories, employing a simple drag-and-drop process.  Once the tables are produced, they can choose to view their results in bar graph form, download into MS Excel, create a printer layout, or save them by generating a unique table ID for quick retrieval.”

This tool pulls from data about undergraduate & graduate students, including:

•  general demographics
• types of aid and amounts received
• cost of attending college
• combinations of work, study, and borrowing
• enrollment patterns
• students’ persistence, progress and attainment of a degree
• labor force experiences
• rates of return on investment in education
• graduate and professional program access

In addition, there is also college faculty data that may be accessed with this tool, including:

• work load
• equity issues
• involvement in undergraduate teaching
• relationship between teaching and research
• tenure policies
• union representation
• attrition