Office of Planning, Assessment, and Institutional Research
Distribution Level: Community
www.opair.psu.edu
Administrative Data Sources at Penn State, April 2022
This document provides information to new administrators, managers, and analysts about what
data sources are available at Penn State. It focuses on sources of administrative data but
sources for survey data are also mentioned.
Contents
What is Administrative Data? ...................................................................................................... 2
Student ....................................................................................................................................... 3
Human Resources ....................................................................................................................... 9
Financial ................................................................................................................................... 10
Facilities .................................................................................................................................... 10
Research-Related ...................................................................................................................... 11
Other ........................................................................................................................................ 11
Less Readily Available Data ....................................................................................................... 12
A Note about Privacy and Data Use ........................................................................................... 13
Appendix A: Finding Information in iTwo .................................................................................. 14
Appendix B: iTwo Security ........................................................................................................ 16
Administrative Data Sources at Penn State
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What is Administrative Data?
The institution generates administrative data through the day-to-day transactions of its enterprise
systems. Student data can include student biographical, enrollment, course, grades, and advising
information. Human Resources data can include job profile, location, rank, and whether the position is
considered full or part-time. Financial data can include purchase details, budget allocations, and grant
expenditures.
Data from daily transactions are transferred into non-operational systems for reporting. This document
covers data from reporting systems such as iTwo or the Data Digest and not what is available in the
operational business systems (e.g. Workday or SIMBA).
Several summary facts and figures reside in the Data Digest (https://datadigest.psu.edu/
) while more
specific information can often be found in iTwo (Institutional Insight). If you go to http://itwo.psu.edu
and enter your Access ID and password, you may automatically have access to certain things based on
your job family and title. Appendix A provides more information about navigating dashboards within
iTwo. Appendix B outlines how to request access if you do not already have it.
A Note about the iTwo and Upcoming Reporting Systems Changes
After little over a decade of use at Penn State, iTwo has become a major source for creating and viewing
reports and dashboards. Technology continues to change, however, and the platform that iTwo runs on,
Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition, is reaching the end of its lifecycle. Through the
University’s RFP process, Azure Modern Data Platform was identified as the solution to support an
enterprise-wide institutional data repository (IDR). OBIEE will be retired no later than June 2024.
The progress to bring up the IDR started in 202021 and is ongoing. At the time of this document’s
publication, the project does not yet have a public website for additional information but one is
anticipated within the course of the year. Interested parties are encouraged to monitor the iTwo
website at https://opair.psu.edu/institutional-research/resources/itwo/
as more information will be
posted as it becomes available.
iTwo Access
iTwo has two levels of information available. The top level contains pre-created dashboards where
users can filter for the criteria they need, such as college, campus, year, etc. The second information
level involves subject models such as Term Enrollment, Course Enrollment, or Human Resources. These
subject areas allow users to build their own queries. Information regarding how to view dashboards is
available in Appendix A while an overview of the security or these models is described in Appendix B.
The Interactive Data Dictionary (https://www.warehouse.ais.psu.edu/datadictionary/
) contains a list of
all generally available models as well as their field definitions.
Administrative Data Sources at Penn State
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Student
The University transitioned from its old student system (ISIS) to the new student system (LionPATH) in
2016. The old and new data formats are somewhat incompatible and are usually split between sources
containing either the old or the new formats. Resources containing current data are provided first within
each category. Resources for older information are marked as (Legacy).
Admissions
Admissions decisions are handled separately by student career (graduate, undergraduate, medical, etc.)
Admissions data is also generated and processed separately by the associated offices. The information
below pertains to undergraduate and graduate admissions. The College of Medicine and the Law
Schools maintain their own information.
iTwo
The following dashboards are available in iTwo:
• Student – Admissions: Information about graduate and undergraduate applicants, offers,
and admits.
• Student – Sample Reports > Admissions: Additional graduate and undergraduate
information.
• Commonwealth Campuses > Admissions: Arranged for campus-centric viewing.
• Dean Dashboards > Admissions: Arranged for college-centric viewing.
• Undergraduate Admissions and Enrollment: Includes a two-year comparison as well as a
year-to-year trend view with options that include flex-start campus, ALEKS, NSO, and
housing assignment.
Note: Individual detail-level information is also available on iTwo for those with appropriate
access (see Appendix B below for additional security information).
Undergraduate Admissions Intranet
Week by week admissions information is available via the Admissions Intranet at
http://intranet.uao.psu.edu
. Access can be requested from this page via the Service Desk
Request Forms link.
At the UAO site, go to Reports & Data.
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• Data Distribution: Week by week statistics at various stages of the application process by
common categories such as campus, college, and degree.
• NSC Competitor Reports: Shows where applicants went if they did not choose Penn State.
• Offer Decline Survey: Browse the results of a questionnaire sent to those declining an offer.
• Application Reports: Additional reports.
Graduate School Executive Suite
Contact the Graduate School at gradschoolasr@psu.edu for more information.
Common Data Set
The Common Data Set was developed as a collaborative effort among the College Board, U.S.
News and World Report, publishers Wintergreen/Orchard House, and several colleges and
universities. A link to the files for each year can currently be found at
https://opair.psu.edu/project/common-data-set/
. The admissions statistics for each
undergraduate Penn State campus are reported separately.
• Section C: First-time, first-year admissions- includes counts, demographics, admissions
requirements, and average test scores.
For additional information regarding admissions sources, contact the following offices:
• Graduate Admissions (gradschoolhelp@psu.edu or gradschoolasr@psu.edu
for access-
related questions)
• Undergraduate Admissions (admissions@psu.edu)
• Dickinson Law (dickinsonlaw@psu.edu)
• Penn State Law (admissions@pennstatelaw.psu.edu)
• College of Medicine (https://med.psu.edu/contact)
Administrative Data Sources at Penn State
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Enrollment (Term and Class)
iTwo
The following dashboards are available on iTwo:
• Student – Enrollment and Instruction: All student-related topics built from the Student
Records (SR) portion of the data.
o Adult Learners (Graduate and undergraduate by campus)
o Class Meeting Patterns (statistics on meeting times and days)
o Course Enrollment (includes Course Enrollment, Class Section Information, and Under-
Enrolled Classes)
o Scholar Grade Information (requires additional access)
o Scholar Term information (includes Scholar Enrollment Counts, Scholar Completed
Plan Counts, Scholar Units and FTE, Student Enrollment, Term Enrollment, and
Operational Analyses)
o Scholar Transfer Credit (For all careers for all active, activated students with posted
transfer credits for the articulated term)
o Scholar Year over Year (Enrollment, FTE, and Unit comparisons)
o Student Credit Hours (unofficial)
• Additional information is available at
o Canvas > Enrollments in Active Canvas Courses
o Commonwealth Campuses > Chancellor Dashboard
o Commonwealth Campuses > Commonwealth Campuses
o Commonwealth Campuses > Course Enrollment
o Commonwealth Campuses > Student Enrollment
o Commonwealth Campuses > Term Enrollment
o Dean Dashboards > Course Enrollment
o Dean Dashboards > Dean Dashboard
o Dean Dashboards > Student Enrollment
o Dean Dashboards > Term Enrollment
o Graduate School > Enrollment
o Student – Sample Reports > Course Enrollment
o Student – Sample Reports > Instructor
o Student – Sample Reports > Official Subject Areas
o Student – Sample Reports > Student Advisor
o Student – Sample Reports > Student Enrollment
o Student – Sample Reports > Term Enrollment
o University Budget Office > Official Enrollment (current and legacy data)
• Student and Instruction (Legacy): Provides student and course information from the legacy
pre-2016 system (ISIS).
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Data Digest
Publicly available university numbers are at http://datadigest.psu.edu. These numbers are
reported externally to various reporting agencies and are also used internally for benchmarking
and strategic planning.
• Summary > Degree Level, Campus, and Historic Enrollment
• Demographics > Demographics, Perm. Address, and International
• Academic Plans
• Penn College
IPEDS Fall Enrollment
Lists each question on the IPEDS (Integrated Post-Secondary Education Survey) and how they
were reported.
https://opair.psu.edu/institutional-research/publications-and-
reports/ipeds/fall-enrollment/.
• Part A - Fall Enrollment
• Part B – Fall Enrollment by Age and Gender
• Part C – Residence of First-time Undergraduates
• Part D – Total Undergraduate Entering Class
• Part E – First-Time Bachelors Cohort Retention Rates
• Part F – Student to Faculty Ratio
Common Data Set
The Common Data Set is a reporting standard used by publishers of admissions guides and
others seeking basic information about colleges and universities. Each campus is reported
separately. https://opair.psu.edu/project/common-data-set/
• Section B-- Enrollment and Persistence: Counts, demographics, federal aid numbers,
and graduation rates
• Section E-- Academic Offerings and Policies: Types of programs (e.g. first year, honors)
• Section F -- Student Life: Greek and ROTC counts, co-curricular activities and housing.
• Section H – Financial Aid
• Section I -- Instructional Faculty and Class Size
Graduation, Degrees, and Time to Degree
iTwo
• Student – Enrollment and Instruction > Student Enrollment
Data Digest
• Degrees Awarded: https://datadigest.psu.edu/dashboards/degrees-awarded/
o Degree Type
o Demographics
o Campus & Plan
o Historic
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Graduation and Retention:
https://datadigest.psu.edu/dashboards/graduation-and-
retention/
o Summary
o Campus
o Demographics
o Federal Aid (starting campus/college only)
IPEDS Graduation Rates
Lists each question on the IPEDS (Integrated Post-Secondary Education Survey) and how they
were reported.
https://opair.psu.edu/institutional-research/publications-and-
reports/ipeds/graduation-rates/
• Section I – Establishing Cohorts
• Section II Bachelor’s or equivalent degree-seeking subcohort
• Section III Other degree/certificate-seeking subcohort
• Graduation and transfer-out rates
• 4-year average rates
• Summary
Common Data Set
https://opair.psu.edu/project/common-data-set/
• Section B-- Enrollment and Persistence: Counts, demographics, federal aid numbers, and
graduation rates
Other Student
iTwo
Post-Graduation Survey
All graduating students within a term are surveyed regarding post-graduation plans. The results
of this survey are available in iTwo under Post-Graduation Survey > First Destination Post-Grad
Survey.
Outreach and Online Education
Outreach maintains an extensive set of dashboards for World Campus-specific topics, students,
and courses. These require additional security. They can be accessed at Outreach and Online
Education > OOE Landing Page. Contact Outreach Analytics and Reporting
(oarsupport@outreach.psu.edu
) for additional information.
Student Tutoring
Student Tutoring tracks number and types of visits to the learning centers. Class information for
relevant courses is brought over so associated course statistics and grades can be tracked. For
more information or to request access, contact Neil Johnson at rnj1@psu.edu
.
Administrative Data Sources at Penn State
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Graduate School Executive Suite
The Graduate School also maintains placement information for their PhD students. Contact
gradschoolasr@psu.edu
for more information.
Office of Planning, Assessment, and Institutional Research
The website houses several other reports of possible interest, including the following:
• Peer Comparisons: Comparisons with Big 10 and AAU Institutions on a variety of measures
including students, faculty, financial stability, and US News Rankings.
https://opair.psu.edu/institutional-research/peer-comparisons/
• We Earn: Summarized longitudinal earnings information for Penn Staters since 2001 as well as
industry and major. https://weearn.psu.edu/
National Results
o Median Year 1, 5, and 10 National Earnings of Alumni
o Earnings Percentiles of Alumni Working in the United States
o Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes Explorer
Pennsylvania Results
o Median Year 1, 5, & 10 Pennsylvania Earnings of Alumni
o Earnings Percentiles of Alumni Working in Pennsylvania
o Ratio of Alumni Student Loan Debt to Earnings
o International STEM Alumni Outcomes
• Weekly Enrollment Reports: Going back to Fall 2020, these provide weekly snapshots for a term
o Penn State Overall
o Year over Year summary, UP, and CWC
o Campus Summary
o Campus Diversity
o Year over Year Weekly Trend
Office of Student Aid
Much of the Financial Aid data are confidential and not available to the University community
except in aggregate form. For additional information contact Bob Quinn (req1@psu.edu
) or
Fawn Patchell (fsp5002@psu.edu).
Student Affairs Research and Assessment (SARA)
Student Affairs Research and Assessment (SARA) seeks to evaluate and improve the student
experience and their educational outcomes by providing data relevant to Student Affairs, the
academic colleges, and the Commonwealth Campuses. Additional information is found at
https://studentaffairs.psu.edu/assessment
.
Starfish
No data source information available.
Administrative Data Sources at Penn State
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University Survey Coordinating Committee (USCC)
This committee was formed to coordinate large-scale survey efforts across Penn State to reduce
the survey burden on students, faculty, and staff as well as improve the quality of the
information gathered. Additional information, a schedule of surveys, and contact details can be
found at https://pennstatesurvey.psu.edu/.
Human Resources
Penn State transitioned from its legacy HR system to Workday in January 2018. Like student data, HR
data is split between the old format and the new format. Resources containing current data are
provided first within each category. Resources for older information are marked as (Legacy).
For information on reporting from within Workday, submit an inquiry to the WorkLion Maintenance
Office at through the WorkLion portal at https://worklion.psu.edu/
.
iTwo
• Human Resources: Links to current and legacy HR information within various reports.
Data Digest
Data Digest’s Faculty and Staff dashboard contains officially reported human resource data by
categories such as headcount, gender, employee classification, race/ethnicity, rank, and age.
https://datadigest.psu.edu/dashboards/faculty-and-staff/
IPEDS Reporting Dashboard: Human Resources
Contains what was reported to the federal government via the IPEDS surveys for Human
Resources.
https://opair.psu.edu/institutional-research/publications-and-reports/ipeds/human-
resources/
• Part A1-A3: Full-time instructional staff
• Part B1-B2: Full-time non-instructional staff
• Part C: Medical School staff
• Part D: Graduate assistants
• Part E and F: Part-time staff
• Part G1-G4: Salaries
• Part H: New hires
• HR Summary
Common Data Set
Common Data Set contains officially reported human resource data by campus.
• Section I -- Instructional Faculty and Class Size
Administrative Data Sources at Penn State
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Financial
Penn State transitioned from its legacy system (IBIS) to a new financial system for Integrated
Management, Budgeting, and Accounting (SIMBA) starting July 1, 2020. Like student and HR data,
financial data is split between the old format and the new format. Resources containing current data
are all housed within the SIMBA system. Resources for older information are marked as (Legacy).
SIMBA
The SIMBA project implemented the SAP S/4HANA business system (ERP) to replace its financial
and other integrated systems, including Penn State’s legacy Integrated Business Information
System (IBIS).
• All university wide financial reporting as of 7/1/2020 and after can be accessed at
https://www.simba.psu.edu/
.
• Additional information regarding security access to the SIMBA financial system can be found
at: https://www.simba.psu.edu/faqs/faqssecurity/
• The SIMBA Reporting Resources Page is a one-stop shop that works as a navigation portal to
the training and resource materials related to SIMBA reporting. This includes related
courses, simulations, Snip-its, and more.
(https://www.simba.psu.edu/support/supportresourcesreporting/
)
University Budget Office
The Budget Office serves as the steward for the University Budget. Information about the
operating budget, tuition, and various reports for public accountability can be found at
https://budget.psu.edu/
.
Common Data Set
Common Data Set contains officially reported financial data by campus.
• Section G – Annual Expenses
• Section H – Financial Aid
iTwo (legacy)
• Financial Information: Several historical financial reports used by many in the financial
community.
Facilities
25Live Room and Event Scheduling
Penn State uses collegeNET 25Live for scheduling at https://25live.collegenet.com/psu/.
Faculty, staff, and students can log in and search for events or perform other basic actions.
Scheduling-related reports are available if you have appropriate access. More information can
be found on the Registrar’s site at
http://www.registrar.psu.edu/collegenet/ .
Administrative Data Sources at Penn State
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LionspaceFIS
Facilities Resources and Planning within the Office of the Physical Plant maintains an online
facilities application at http://lionspacefis.psu.edu
. Anyone with a Penn State Access ID can log
in and view campus maps and building information. With additional access, you can view room
assignments, square footage, or room usage information. More information can be found at
https://opp.psu.edu/facilities-information-system-lionspace-fis.
Research-Related
Research applications and their data are beyond the scope of this document but here are some good
sources to get started.
• Senior Vice President for Research website: https://www.research.psu.edu/
• Annual Report of Research Activity: https://www.research.psu.edu/ovpr
• Penn State College of Medicine Research Concierge: https://research.med.psu.edu/research-
support/concierge/
• Strategic Information Management System (SIMS): Michael Stedelin ([email protected]), Office
of Research Information Systems https://www.research.psu.edu/oris
• SciVal is a research metrics benchmarking platform: Michelle Hutnik (mzh17@psu.edu),
http://scival.com
• Pure Research Portal: Michelle Hutnik (mzh17@psu.edu), https://pennstate.pure.elsevier.com
• Institute for Research on Innovation and Science (IRIS) is a member consortium of universities
anchored by an IRB-approved data repository hosted at the University of Michigan’s Institute for
Social Research. Penn State Contact: Michelle Hutnik (mzh17@psu.edu), website:
https://iris.isr.umich.edu/about/
• Research and Development Expenditures Dashboard: https://datadigest.psu.edu/research/
o Penn State Fiscal Year 2020--Research and development expenditures for all Penn State
business areas
o NSF HERD Survey Fiscal Year 2020—Comparison of Penn State UP/Hershey/ARL to
other institutions in the Higher Education Research and Development Survey
Other
Activity Insight
An online software tool to help faculty members collect, organize, and display their data for the
purposes of annual reviews, promotion and tenure, and more. https://activityinsight.psu.edu/
Data Digest
• Community Survey—This University-wide survey was launched in February 2020 as part of
ongoing efforts to promote equity, inclusion, and diversity on campus. The results are
shared on a dashboard accessible via https://opair.psu.edu/community-survey/
.
Administrative Data Sources at Penn State
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• Penn State Voters by PA County & Legislative District—Shows counts of students,
employees, and alumni in each district and county as well as research-related expenditures
in FY 2020 and combined FY 2016-2020. https://datadigest.psu.edu/voters/
eSteward
Brings together data needed for the management and stewardship of donor gifts with the
scholarship and program endowments/accounts that the gifts support.
http://ais.its.psu.edu/services/esteward/
Nuventive
An online tool supporting both the assessment and strategic planning functions at Penn State.
Log in credentials and data access are provided to faculty, staff, students, and administrators
based on their roles and responsibilities. However, many reports are publicly available.
• Assessment —Assessment reports are available on unit websites. Contact Betty Harper
(bjh17@psu.edu
) for additional information.
• Planning –Reports are posted to the University strategic plan website
https://strategicplan.psu.edu/
. The Nuventive planning portal has two major levels – 1) the
unit strategic plan data (list of units here: https://strategicplan.psu.edu/implementing-the-
strategic-plan/unit-planning/ and 2) the institutional strategic plan dataset, which allows
Nuventive users to see how the unit plans support the progress of the Penn State’s strategic
plan. Contact OPAIR strategic planning team (
strategicplan@psu.edu) for more information.
Terra Dotta (formerly Studio Abroad)
Study abroad programs and data at https://ea.psu.edu/.
Less Readily Available Data
The data sources listed in this section are one level closer to the source data and require additional
knowledge about each data element. Decision makers should not worry about having to use these
sources but should be aware of their existence.
LionPATH PS Queries
These use operational data directly from the production system so they are less suitable for
reporting requiring duplication of results across times. However, being from the live system, the
data are very up-to-date. Certain data elements, such as veteran information, are also available
here and not yet via the iTwo dashboards. If you have a reporting need not being met by the
iTwo dashboards, contact LionPATH Support and submit a Faculty/Staff Enhancement Request
Data warehouse (Legacy)
The data warehouse contains mostly legacy data. It requires more technical knowledge to access
but it was a powerful and flexible tool for those who knew how to use it.
Institutional Research Repository (IRR)
This repository houses an enhanced set of PS Queries taken at four snapshot points each
semester. Official Student Enrollment data for some LionPATH terms is also available in the IRR.
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Data exist in SQL tables and must be joined together as needed. SQL query skills are needed to
use the IRR.
Access to the IRR must be requested in two steps. First, access to the SR_DATA_ANALYST
queries within LionPATH must be obtained. Requests can be made through IIQ
(https://identityiq.psu.edu
).
For instructions see on how to do this, see https://pennstate.service-
now.com/sp?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0017954&sys_kb_id=94fb3830db0a41107
fb5266e139619d1&spa=1.
Next, the Office of Planning, Assessment, and Institutional Research is the steward for the IRR.
Send a request email to opair@psu.edu
to be sent the IRR request form.
A Note about Privacy and Data Use
With the varying needs/purposes for data collection and dissemination, we should mention the
University Privacy Office https://security.psu.edu/privacy/
and the importance of maintaining
confidentiality for the collection, storage, and sharing of many data elements, specifically including,
identifiable or personal information. The Privacy Office can help you navigate the different types of
regulated data (e.g., HIPAA, PCI, GLBA, etc.), as well as advise on established requirements when
working with non-regulated, but sensitive data elements. Contact them at
privacy@psu.edu.
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Appendix A: Requesting Access to Systems
Penn State is using IdentityIQ (IIQ) to provide a centralized mechanism for managing and governing
various types of identity and access management-related information and processes across multiple
systems. This may include information associated with user accounts; rules and processes for
requesting, approving, and granting access to various systems; and tools and information used to
review, audit, and revoke user access.
Administrative Data Sources at Penn State
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Appendix B: Finding Information in iTwo
iTwo houses much of the student, human resources, and financial data in a convenient format for
reporting. In many cases, security has also been streamlined so that individuals within certain job
families are granted automatic access based on their job descriptions. The following steps will walk you
through getting started on iTwo.
1. Open your browser and go to http://itwo.psu.edu
.
2. Log in with your Access ID and password. All full-time faculty and staff should have login access.
3. You will be taken to the Information Desk landing page.
4. Go to the Dashboards menu item (circled below) and click on it to get the drop down menu.
5. Use the scroll arrow at the menu bottom if the drop down is too small.
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Appendix C: iTwo Security
iTwo access is differentiated by access to the iTwo tools and access to the data. The former allows you
to view dashboards, create your own reports, or create dashboards. Access to the data depends on data
type and whether it is at the summary or individual detail level.
All users with access to iTwo can see their iTwo security profiles through the following box (outlined in
red) on the General Information landing page below.
Obtaining Access Tab
To see the available data and the different types of access associated with each, click on the Obtaining
Access tab at the top of the Information Desk (the screen appearing by default when you first log in).
Accesses are all listed on this page but the major ones are listed below for convenience. Access to most
data can be requested through https://prod.apps.psu.edu/workflow-bi/
.
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Student
Summary-level student information allows access to most student dashboards. These have
counts of students by various attributes but you cannot drill down to see student names or
other individually identifying information. Many job families, such as registrars or deans, have
automatic summary-level access to student dashboards.
Detail/Identity level student information includes name, address, email, race/ethnicity, and
number of credits.
Academic/Restricted-level: Some information, such as grades, are covered under FERPA law or
are deemed by the institution to be otherwise sensitive (e.g. military, adult learner, or athletic
information).
Human Resources
Basic count information is available for the entire university but access to individually-identifying
fields, affirmative action fields, or salary is further controlled by business area and can be
requested through the link shown above.
Version 3.1 April 18, 2022
Office of Planning, Assessment, and Institutional Research
The Pennsylvania State University Phone: (814) 863-8721
203 Rider Building Email: opair@psu.edu
University Park, PA 16802-4819 Web: www.opair.psu.edu
