Here are a few projects I’ve worked on.

 

1. IPEDS Explorer: Understanding the Higher Education Landscape

Contemporary Higher Education poses a classic case of too much data but not enough information: the data that do exist are in disparate locations, have different definitions, are not all publicly available, and when public, require technical skills to access. In an attempt to help prospective students evaluate their college options, the Department of Education released the College Scorecard, which is an updated version of the earlier College Navigator, but incorporates additional data on graduate earnings and has a much more modern interface.

What appears to be missing is the capability to:

1. Compare a college with peer institutions,
2. Understand relationships between institution characteristics,
3. Follow trends over time: is an institution growing or shrinking? Has it done a better job in providing need-based aid? etc.

In an attempt to fill this gap, I have built a Shiny App using publicly available data from IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System). The tool is a work in progress, so let me know if you’d like to see any additions or changes.

Here’s the link: IPEDS Explorer.