Resources for Submitting Data

ERDC maintains two data collection programs – the Public Centralized Higher Education Enrollment System (PCHEES) data system and the Educator Preparation Program (EPP) data system. This page includes resources for agencies that collect and submit data to ERDC.

ERDC maintains these two systems based on responsibilities outlined in statute. Click here to learn more about other statutorily mandated requirements.

EPP Data Submissions:

The Educator Preparation Program data system collects information about students enrolled in Educator Prep Programs throughout Washington State.

2024 Templates for Uploading EPP Data: 

Institution Collection

Use this template for the 2024 INSTITUTION collection. The file columns are preformatted for the data type of each field. Do not delete the row of variable names. Enter your data and save as a .csv file.

Candidate Demographics Collection

Use this file for the 2024 Candidate Demographics collection. The columns are preformatted for the data type required by the field. Do not delete the variable names. Enter your data and save as a .csv file.

Candidate Admissions Collection

Use this file for your 2024 CANDIDATE ADMISSIONS submission. The columns are preformatted for the required data type of each variable. Do not delete the variable names. Enter your data and save it as a .csv file.

Candidate Assessment Collection

Use this file for your 2024 CANDIDATE ASSESSMENT collection. The columns have been preformatted with the required data type for the variables. Do not delete the variable names. Enter your data and save as a .csv file.

Clinical Practice Collection

Use this file for your 2024 CLINICAL PRACTICE collection. The columns have been preformatted with the required data type for the variables. Do not delete the variable names. Enter your data and save it as a .csv file.

Program Collection

Use this file for your 2024 PROGRAM collection. The columns have been preformatted with the required data type for the variables. Do not delete the variable names. Enter your data and save it as a .csv file.

PCHEES Data Submissions:

The PCHEES data system collects information about students enrolled in four-year public colleges and universities throughout Washington State.

PCHEES Data Submission Due Dates:

Submission	Term	Due date
Day 10 Enrollment:
	Summer	Oct 15 of current academic year
	Fall	Oct 31 of current academic year
	Winter	Jan 31 of current academic year
	Spring	Apr 30 of current academic year
Final Enrollment:
	Summer	Oct 15 of current academic year
	Fall	Jan 31 of current academic year
	Winter	Apr 30 of current academic year
	Spring	Jul 31 of current academic year
Final Completion:
	Summer	Oct 15 of subsequent academic year
	Fall	Jul 31 of subsequent academic year
	Winter	Jul 31 of subsequent academic year
	Spring	Jul 31 of subsequent academic year

PCHEES Resources:

Post Secondary Data Collection

PSDC includes student data from private postsecondary institutions and private career colleges in Washington State.

About PSDC

The Postsecondary Data Collection Program (PSDC) is operated by the Education Research Data Center (ERDC). PSDC collects data from private postsecondary institutions and private career colleges to support research, budgeting, and decision making by the Washington State Legislature, state agencies, community-based organizations, and other research entities.

In 2019, the Washington State Legislature added RCW 28B.92.220, stipulating that to be eligible for state student financial aid programs managed by the Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC), postsecondary institutions shall submit student-level data to ERDC. Per the law, ERDC has the following responsibilities:

“determine the appropriate student-level data each postsecondary institution shall report in order to meet the state goals for research and evaluation” and

“enter data-sharing agreements to facilitate the transfer of required data.”

All private postsecondary institutions and private career colleges participating in the Washington College Grant program are expected to contribute data, with the exception of postsecondary institutions that maintain a religious exemption under RCW 28B.85.040.

Public postsecondary institutions participating in financial aid programs managed by WSAC already submit data to ERDC through the Public Centralized Higher Education Enrollment System (PCHEES) or through the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC).

Data to be collected include student demographics (e.g., age, race, veteran status), admissions (e.g., previously attended institutions, grade point average, standardized test scores), enrollment (e.g., courses, credits, course funding sources), and completion (e.g., majors, degrees). This new data collection is consistent with the type of data collected from the public institutions of higher education through PCHEES and SBCTC.

PSDC Meeting Materials

PSDC Meeting	Materials	Updated
PSDC 2025 Kickoff	Slides from Kickoff Meeting Meeting Recording	4/7/2025
Initial Data Submission	Slides from Initial Data Submission Meeting Meeting Recording	4/29/2025

 

PSDC FAQ

The following are a list of frequently asked questions regarding the postsecondary data collection.  If you have questions that aren't addressed below, please reach out to psdc@ofm.wa.gov.

Question	Response	Updated
1. How will ERDC “determine the appropriate student level data?”	We will work with submitting institutions and with WSAC, guided by our experience in collecting postsecondary student level data through the Public Centralized Higher Education Enrollment System (PCHEES) and our partnership with the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC). We will employ best practices around education data collections, including ensuring that the data are necessary, not redundant, and will be collected in a manner that allows effective use and interoperability.	5/15/2025
2. We already submit the Unit Record Report (URR) to WSAC. How is this different?	The URR mostly contains information about student financial aid and factors that are used to determine the amount of financial aid provided to students. URR includes elements like institution ID, award year, and enrollment status, but lacks sufficient detail about student postsecondary enrollment and degree attainment history to allow for analysis and evaluation of our education system in Washington state. ERDC and WSAC often use postsecondary enrollment and completions data in conjunction with URR data in evaluation and research projects, to better understand the education system in Washington.	5/15/2025
3. How could my institution, and the private postsecondary sector as a whole, benefit from this work?	Data from private postsecondary institutions will be included in statewide reporting, bringing more visibility to this sector in WSAC & ERDC reports. ERDC can enhance existing dashboards and reports, with this data, providing a more comprehensive picture of postsecondary access and credential attainment in Washington State. We will be able to link data from this sector to state employment outcomes data, allowing us to answer questions about post-credential employment. Information in dashboards and reports can be used by institutions for comparisons to other institutions, strategic planning, and marketing. Students can make use of these dashboards for making decisions about which institutions to attend, and how various programs can lead to different post-graduation outcomes.	5/15/2025
4. How are students told about how their data is being collected and shared? Is there a way for students to opt out?	Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) schools and institutions of higher education must notify parents and eligible students of their rights under FERPA, which includes the right to opt-out of the sharing of directory data. Under FERPA directory data can be shared without student consent. The data collected and used by ERDC falls under the Audit and Evaluation 34 CFR §§99.31(a)(3) and 99.35, and Studies 34 CFR §99.31(a)(6) exceptions of FERPA, which allow for the data to be used for specific purposes and does not require consent.	4/7/2025
5. Which students do you want data about? All students, or only those who receive state financial aid?	ERDC is collecting data about all students, regardless of financial aid recipient status. To use the data for research and evaluation purposes it is critical to have data on all students who are enrolled.	4/7/2025
6. We have students at our institution who reside in other countries and are enrolled remotely from their home countries. They are subject to data privacy laws of their home countries. Will we need to share their data with ERDC/OFM?	ERDC will not collect personally identifiable information about students who reside in other countries and who are enrolled remotely in this data collection. The effort to understand the different data privacy laws across different countries significantly outweighs the value of including these students. We may request aggregate data about these students.	5/15/2025
7. What method is used for transferring data to OFM/ERDC?	We will not have access to data systems at the institutions. File transfers will be initiated by staff at the institutions, with data transferred via encrypted channels (Secure File Transfer Protocol—SFTP) to secure servers at OFM. This process and the content of the files will be documented in the PSDC submission manual, which is under development and will be posted on ERDC’s website once it is finalized.	5/15/2025
8. When will data be due? Will data be due in the Fall? URR and IPEDS data are due in the Fall, and that keeps us really busy.	The external data workgroup will help us develop the data collection schedule. We would like to make collection and transfer as easy as possible, and create a schedule that works for all institutions and to the extent possible is in alignment with other submission or reporting timelines. We do not plan on asking institutions to deliver PSDC data in Fall 2025.	5/15/2025
9. How is this data different from the Educator Prep Program (EPP) data collection?	ERDC also manages the EPP data collection. This is only for educator prep programs and collects additional data that is specific to this program, such as assessment results. PSDC collects data for all students enrolled at the college.  EPP requires more program-level detail from data submitters. While there is some overlap in terms of student identifiers, these are two separate data collections and will be managed as such.	5/15/2025
10. The initial data dictionary indicates that Social Security Numbers (SSN) may be left blank. Is leaving this field blank an option?	You may leave this field blank when a student’s SSN is not recorded. At minimum, we need the last four of a student’s SSN for matching purposes so that we can report on things like employment outcomes.	5/15/2025
11. Our institution does not base tuition rates on residency status, so we typically do not need to collect this aside from what we collect for the Unit Record Report. If we don’t collect student residency outside of this, and the student is not a state aid recipient and did not apply for financial aid, how should we report this?	For this initial data collection, you may report student residency status the same way you do for the Unit Record Report. “Unknown” is a valid entry for this field. We will likely revise how we collect this for future data collection.	5/15/2025
12. Should we include summer term? It’s an optional term for our institution.	Please submit summer term data as part of the academic year if your institution runs a summer term. For example, for an institution that uses quarters, academic year 2023-24 would include summer 2023, fall 2023, winter 2024, and spring 2024.	5/15/2025
13. Is the initial data collection only to develop the data structure that will eventually be required?	Not entirely. We need data in order to start developing standardized data collection models. We’d like to base our model on existing data sources, so we can make sure what we’re collecting reflects what institutions have.	5/15/2025

 

Data Submission Guidelines

For all institutions that have a completed DSA, the first data submission is due on July 1, 2025.

Download the initial set of guidelines for the PSD file submission: