Reporting & Analytics: articles for IR teams
Benchmarking, reporting, and analytics practices for IR and IE professionals in higher education.
The IR Team's Year: When Each Season Hits and What to Prepare
A when/lifecycle guide for IR teams: which months are peak, moderate, and low for ad-hoc requests, what reports and accreditations hit each season, and what to prepare ahead of time.
Clema Research Team · 6 mins readHow a Large IR Team Uses Clema to Manage Breadth Across Schools
How a large IR team (8+ staff) uses Clema's analytics, peer benchmarking, and predictive analytics to scale analyses across schools instead of pulling data one school at a time.
Clema Research Team · 5 mins readIR Capacity Benchmarks: The Real Cost of Ad Hoc Data Requests
Quantified IR capacity benchmarks from 50+ interviews: 40 to 60% of team capacity consumed by ad hoc requests, 2 to 5 clarification cycles per request, and 220 to 3,200 hours annually reclaimable. By team size.
Clema Research Team · 7 mins readHow to Ask an IPEDS Question in Clema
A procedural guide for asking IPEDS questions in Clema: the prompt structure, the cohort and year disambiguation, the source check, and four worked examples.
Clema Research Team · 5 mins readHow to Build a Peer Group in Clema
A procedural guide for building a peer group in Clema by Carnegie class, control, region, or designation, and pulling the same metric for each peer in one conversation.
Clema Research Team · 5 mins readHow to Set Up SSO With Clema (SAML and OAuth)
A procedural walkthrough for configuring SSO with Clema using SAML 2.0 or OAuth 2.0, including metadata exchange, attribute mapping, MFA, and the test login that confirms it works.
Clema Research Team · 5 mins readClema Onboarding: A Four-Week Setup Checklist
A week-by-week onboarding checklist for Clema: who does what, what gets signed, what gets connected, and what success looks like at each phase over 2 to 4 weeks.
Clema Research Team · 6 mins readGet Started With IPEDS in Plain English
A quick start for querying IPEDS in plain English with Clema: enrollment, graduation rates, peer comparison, finance, and faculty figures, with the federal source on every answer.
Clema Research Team · 5 mins readFirst Five Questions to Ask Clema
Five plain-English questions to ask Clema in the first session, what each one demonstrates, and how to interpret the sourced answer.
Clema Research Team · 5 mins readClema vs HelioCampus: A Cost Comparison for IR Teams
A side-by-side cost comparison of Clema and HelioCampus Theia Analyst for IR and IE teams, covering published pricing, implementation, and what is included.
Clema Research Team · 6 mins readClema vs EAB Edify: A Cost Comparison for IR Teams
A side-by-side cost comparison of Clema and EAB Edify for IR and IE teams, covering published pricing, implementation fees, and what is included at each tier.
Clema Research Team · 6 mins readA Calendar of Federal Data Releases Higher Ed IR Teams Should Track in 2026
A practical release calendar for the 11 federal datasets IR and IE teams depend on: IPEDS, College Scorecard, Pell, loans, cohort default rates, Clery, EADA, PSEO, PPD, and DAPIP.
Clema Research Team · 11 mins readInside 8,796 comments on the STATS rule: what higher ed actually told the Department
A deep-dive atlas of every public comment on the Department of Education's "Do No Harm" / STATS earnings-accountability proposal. Counts, themes, campaigns, pull-quotes, emotional register, and the implementation changes the sector is asking for before the first February 2027 results.
Wilson Bright · 16 mins readFVT/GE is ending: what the final 2026 reporting year means for your STATS transition
October 1, 2026 is the last FVT/GE submission under the old regime. Here is exactly what carries over to STATS, what does not, and the four things IR teams should do between now and the first Earnings Premium results.
Wilson Bright · 10 mins readFrom OBBB to Earnings Premium: how the new Workforce Pell accountability math actually works
The One Big Beautiful Bill created a new earnings-accountability regime for higher ed. Here is the line from OBBB to STATS to the Earnings Premium formula, and the 2-of-3 eligibility math, in plain English, with a worked example.
Wilson Bright · 10 mins readYour STATS exposure map: triage your programs before February 2027
ED publishes the first official Earnings Premium results in February 2027. Here's how to map your program-level exposure now, score, stress-test the two-of-three-years window, and plan substitution paths, before the results land in public.
Wilson Bright · 10 mins readThe 50% rule: how a handful of weak certificates can put your whole institution on provisional status
STATS introduced an institutional-level consequence that didn't exist under FVT/GE: if more than 50% of an institution's Title IV funds or recipients sit in failing programs, the entire institution goes on provisional status. Here's how to model your exposure before the cabinet asks.
Wilson Bright · 9 mins readSTATS vs FVT/GE vs PPD: What's the Difference?
STATS, FVT/GE, and PPD all describe pieces of the same federal accountability regime under OBBBA. Here's a plain-English explainer of what each term means and how they fit together.
Wilson Bright · 8 mins readWho's Growing Through Dual Enrollment? A Side-by-Side Benchmark of Community Colleges and Four-Year Institutions
IPEDS 2023–2024 data reveals four-year institutions growing 3x faster in dual enrollment than community colleges, while community colleges carry 32.4% structural reliance. A full side-by-side benchmark.
Clema Research Team · 8 mins readWhat IR Teams Really Benchmark: Evidence from 50 Interviews
Discover what IR teams actually benchmark most often, from student outcomes and faculty metrics to aspirational peer lists, based on evidence from 50 institutional research interviews.
Clema Research Team · 10 mins read