Fact Books Contain Details About UM Higher Education

Wednesday, September 29, 2010 - 19:00
Vicki Brown

How many students attend United Methodist-related colleges and universities?

The answer – 337,221 students in 2008 – and other useful information is contained in three fact books now available on the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry’s Web site.

The three books use data obtained from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) of the National Center for Education Statistics for academic years 2005-2006 through 2008-2009. The three books provide statistical snapshots of UM-related two-year colleges, four year colleges and universities, and the historically Black colleges and universities.

“We often get questions about the nature, scope, and extent of education at United Methodist-related institutions. These fact books are meant to be a resource for the church to assist in answering these questions,” said Michelle Pederson, GBHEM’s director of Research and Data Management. The IPEDS data was analyzed and compiled by Sarah Coombs, a research intern at GBHEM, and Dr. Pederson.

The fact books are divided into two sections – student characteristics and institutional characteristics – including descriptive summaries of the data, charts and tables to visually depict the data, and definitions to explain each variable. Not all the colleges and universities answered each of the questions asked by IPEDS, so the number of institutions included in the data is also provided. Information covers admittance tests, student and faculty demographics, retention and graduation rates, and more.

To download the fact books, visit the GBHEM Research page.

*Brown is associate editor and writer, Office of Interpretation, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry.