In the course data file, you should include three kinds of information:

• Identifying information about the student
• Information about the student’s progress during the academic term
• Information about courses taken by the student

The identifying information is similar to what you include in the cohort data file, but there are important differences. Be sure to read the tables below to ensure you include the right data.

The following tables list all of the variables required in each detail record in the course data file. We recommend listing the variables in the order in which they are listed in the tables.

Values are either required, not required, or required based on certain conditions. For any values that are not required, you may either populate the fields or leave them blank.

Course Data File Variables

Identifying Information

#	Variable	Variable Type	Format	Required	Description
1	CH1	Enumerated		Yes	Indicates the type of data record. Enter D1 for detail records.
2	Cohort	Date	YYYY-YY	Yes	Academic year in which the student first enrolled in at least one course. Must match the Cohort value in the cohort data file. Must be 2 consecutive years between 2000 and today. For example, 2019-20
3	Cohort Term	Enumerated		Yes	Term in which student first enrolled in at least one course. Must match the Cohort Term value in the cohort data file. Valid codes: Fall Winter Spring Summer Note: The PDP considers summer a lagging term. Be sure to align your terms accordingly.
4	Academic Year	Date	YYYY-YY	Yes	Academic year to which the record belongs. Enter 2 consecutive years between 2000 and today.
5	Term	Enumerated		Yes	Academic term to which the record belongs. Valid Codes: Fall Winter Spring Summer Note: The PDP considers summer a lagging term. Be sure to align your terms accordingly.
6	Institution ID Type	Enumerated		Yes	Originating system of the institution ID (OPEID, FICE, NCES, ACT, etc.). Currently, you can only enter OPEID.
7	Institution ID	Alphanumeric	8 characters	Yes	Your institution’s ID (currently you can only enter an 8-character OPEID).
8	SSN	Numeric	9 digits	Conditional	Student’s Social Security number. If not available, leave blank and enter the Student ID instead. Required if Student ID is blank. Cannot be the same as Student ID.
9	ITIN	Numeric	9 digits	No	Individual Tax Payer Identification Number. Cannot be the same as SSN.
10	Student ID	Alphanumeric	3 – 20 characters	Conditional	Your institution’s ID number for the student. Required if SSN is blank. Cannot be the same as SSN or ITIN. Can include: period, apostrophe, hyphen, underscore
11	First Name	Alphanumeric	Up to 60 characters	Yes	Student’s first name. Can include: space, period, apostrophe, hyphen
12	Middle Name	Alphanumeric	Up to 60 characters	No	Student’s middle name. Can include: space, period, apostrophe, hyphen
13	Last Name	Alphanumeric	Up to 60 characters	Yes	Student’s last name. Can include: space, period, apostrophe, hyphen
14	Suffix	Alphanumeric	Up to 10 characters	No	Student’s suffix (such as Jr., II, III). Can include a period.
15	Current Street 1	String	2 – 30 characters	Yes	Student’s current street address. If unknown, enter UK.
16	Current Street 2	String	Up to 30 characters	No	Second line of student’s address, if needed.
17	Current City	String	2 – 20 characters	Yes	Student’s current city of residence. If unknown, enter UK.
18	Current State	Alphabetic	2 characters	Yes	Student’s current state of residence. For US students, enter a valid state code (see Valid State Codes). For students outside the US, enter any other two characters. If unknown, enter UK.
19	Current Zip/Postal Code	Alphanumeric	1 – 10 characters	No	Student’s permanent zip/postal code. Must include at least one number. Can include a hyphen. Cannot include spaces. For postal codes with spaces, you can remove the spaces or replace them with hyphens.
20	Current Country	Enumerated	2 characters	Yes	Student’s current country of residence (see Valid Country Codes). If unknown, enter UK.
21	Date of Birth	Date	YYYYMMDD	Yes	Student’s date of birth. Year must be between 1900 and 10 years ago. If unknown, omit the student from the data file.
22	Student Phone Number	String	Up to 20 digits	No	Student’s phone number US and international phone numbers are accepted.
23	Pell Recipient	Enumerated		Yes	Whether the student received a Pell grant during the term. Enter Y for yes, N for no, or UK for unknown. If you enter UK in this field, the PDP will attempt to populate the field using The Clearinghouse’s enrollment reporting data. This field is used to populate the Pell Grant Recipient dashboard filter.
24	Student Email	String	Up to 255 characters	No	Student’s email address.

Academic Term Information

#	Variable	Variable Type	Format	Required	Description
25	CompleteDevMath	Enumerated		Yes	For developmental math students, whether the student completed all developmental math requirements during the term. Valid codes: C = Completed D = Did not complete NA = Not applicable
26	CompleteDevEnglish	Enumerated		Yes	For developmental English students, whether the student completed all developmental English requirements during the term. Valid codes: C = Completed D = Did not complete NA = Not applicable
27	TransferIntent	Enumerated		No	Student's educational objective. Report term-by-term if possible. If you collect student intent once per year or only on entry, enter the intent for the student’s initial entry term. Enter I for intent to transfer or N for no intent to transfer.
28	Degree Type Sought	Enumerated		Yes	Degree that the student is currently seeking. If unknown, enter UK. This field is used to populate the Credential Seeking Status dashboard filter and the Degree Type Sought field in the Analysis Ready file. If you enter UK in this field for all students, it will seriously impact your ability to filter and analyze data in the dashboards and Analysis Ready file. Valid codes: C1 = Less than 1-year certificate, less than associate’s degree C2 = 1-2 year certificate, less than associate’s degree C4 = 2-4 year certificate, less than bachelor’s degree A = Associate's degree B = Bachelor's degree PB = Post Baccalaureate Certificate M = Master's degree D = Doctoral degree FP = First professional degree PC = Graduate/professional certificate NC = Non-credential program (preparatory coursework/teach certification) UK = Unknown
29	Semester/Session GPA	Numeric	X.XX	Yes	Student’s GPA for the current term on a 4-point scale. Count pass/fail classes, Ds, and retakes. Must be a number between 0 and 4 with up to two decimal places. If not available, enter Missing.
30	Overall GPA	Numeric	X.XX	Yes	Student’s cumulative GPA up to and including the current term on a 4-point scale. Count pass/fail classes, Ds, and retakes. Must be a number between 0 and 4 with up to two decimal places. If not available, enter Missing.

Course Information

#	Variable	Variable Type	Format	Required	Description
31	Course Prefix	Alphanumeric	Up to 50 characters	Yes	Course prefix as it appears in your institution’s catalog. For example, ENG 101 Composition I = ENG. Can include: period, hyphen, underscore, ampersand
32	Course Number	Alphanumeric	Up to 20 characters	Yes	Course number as it appears in your institution’s catalog. For example, ENG 101 Composition I = 101. Can include: period, hyphen, underscore, ampersand
33	Section ID	Alphanumeric	Up to 20 characters	Yes	Section ID as it appears in your institution’s catalog. If not available, enter Missing. Can include: period, hyphen, underscore, ampersand
34	Course Name	String	Up to 50 characters	Yes	Course name as it appears in your institution’s catalog. For example, ENG 101 Composition I = Composition I.
35	Course Description	String	Up to 255 characters	Conditional	Course description as it appears in your institution’s catalog. Required if Purpose of Course Exchange = 1. Used for reverse transfer.
36	Course CIP	Enumerated		Yes	Course Classification of Instructional Programs code. Must include a period after the first two digits (e.g. 03.0201). See https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cipcode for a list of valid codes. If not available, enter Missing. We accept the 2010 and 2020 CIP codes.
37	Course Type	Enumerated		Yes	Type of course. Valid codes: CU = College-level, undergraduate (credit towards certificate, associate’s, or bachelor's degree) CG = College level, graduate (credit towards graduate degree) CC = College developmental, remedial or preparatory credit towards credential completion requirements CD = College developmental, remedial or preparatory credits not applicable towards credential completion requirements EL = ESL (non-credit adult basic skills courses supported by WIA Title II) AB = Adult basic education GE = Adult secondary education/GED NC = Non-credit vocational (courses that lead to an occupational certificate, industry certificate, or other type of credential) O = Other
38	MathOrEnglishGateway	Enumerated		Yes	Course is a gateway math or English course, the first course for any program. Students in major fields can sometimes choose from one of several math courses to fulfill the single-course college-level math requirement. These courses count as gateway courses. You may classify more than one course as a math or English gateway course. This field is used to determine if a student has completed gateway courses in order to populate the Gateway dashboard. Valid codes: M = Math gateway E = English gateway NA = Not applicable
39	Co-requisite Course	Enumerated		No	Whether the course is a co-requisite course, which enrolls students in developmental (remedial) education and college-level courses in the same subject at the same time. Enter Y for yes or N for no.
40	Course Begin Date	Date	YYYYMMDD	Yes	Date the course began. Year must be between 1900 and today.
41	Course End Date	Date	YYYYMMDD	Yes	Date the course is scheduled to end. Year must be after 1900.
42	Grade	String	Up to 20 characters	Yes	Student’s grade for the term on a 4-point scale. If you use letter grades, convert them to numeric grades. If a numeric grade does not apply to the course, enter one of the following codes: P = Pass F = Fail I = Incomplete W = Withdraw A = Audit M = Missing O = Other
43	Number of Credits Attempted	Numeric	XX.XX	Yes	Number of credits the student attempted for the individual course. Cannot be greater than 20. You must enter a value in this field. If this field is not populated, it will seriously impact your dashboards and Analysis Ready file.
44	Number of Credits Earned	Numeric	XX.XX	Yes	Number of credits the student earned for the individual course. Cannot be greater than Number of Credits Attempted. You must enter a value in this field. If this field is not populated, it will seriously impact your dashboards and Analysis Ready file.
45	Delivery Method	Enumerated		No	Delivery method of the course. Valid codes: O = Online F = Face-to-face H = Hybrid If the course is delivered by another method not included in the valid codes, leave blank.
46	Core Course	Enumerated		No	Course is part of core competency/general education courses at your institution. Enter Y for yes or N for no. Leave blank if not applicable. Used for reverse transfer.
47	Core Course Type	String	Up to 20 characters	Conditional	Type of core competency. For example, the core competency for Introduction to Art 101 is Humanities. Required if Core Course = Y. Used for reverse transfer.
48	Core Competency Completed	Enumerated		No	Core/general education course has been completed. Used for reverse transfer. Valid codes: Y = Core requirements evaluated and satisfied N = Core requirements evaluated but not satisfied
49	Total Combined Earned and Transferred Credits	Numeric	Up to 10 digits	Conditional	Total credits the student has earned at your institution plus transferred earned credits. Must be a whole number up to 10 digits with no decimal places. Required if Purpose of Course Exchange = 1. Used for reverse transfer.
50	Purpose of Course Exchange	Enumerated		Yes	Reason the course is being submitted to The Clearinghouse. Used for reverse transfer. Valid codes: 1 = Reverse Transfer (RT): Course will be sent to the corresponding degree granting institution as indicated in the DGI Institution ID field. 2 = General Reporting: Any other purpose besides RT. If the purpose is RT and another purpose, enter 1.
51	Certification Endorsed Curriculum/Program	Enumerated		No	Indicates if your institution is teaching curriculum provided by or endorsed by an industry-recognized credentialing body (the credentialing body has reviewed and endorsed the curriculum to prepare students to sit for and pass a certification exam). Enter Y for yes or N for no.
52	Certificate Endorsing Industry	String		No	Name of the credential provider endorsing the curriculum. Valid codes: AWS = American Welding Society NIMS = National Institute of Metalworking Skills MSSC = Manufacturing Sills Standard Council Other
53	Grade Effective Date	Date	YYYYMMDD	No	The date the grade was effective or the date the grade was entered in the system. Must be between the Course Begin Date and today. Leave blank if not applicable.
54	DGI Institution ID Type	Enumerated		Conditional	Originating system of the DGI ID (OPEID, FICE, NCES, ACT, etc.). Currently, you can only enter OPEID. Required if Purpose of Course Exchange = 1. Used for reverse transfer.
55	DGI Institution ID	Alphanumeric	8 characters	Conditional	DGI ID (currently you can only enter an 8-character OPEID). Required if Purpose of Course Exchange = 1. Used for reverse transfer.
56	DGI Student ID	Alphanumeric	3 – 20 characters	No	Student ID of the DGI. Cannot be the same as SSN or ITIN. Used for reverse transfer. Can include: period, apostrophe, hyphen, underscore

Optional Version 2.0 Data Elements

If you choose to submit any of the optional version 2.0 data elements, you must include all of the version 2.0 variables in the column header record, even if you are only populating some of them. If you choose to submit only some of the optional version 2.0 data elements, leave the rest of the version 2.0 variables blank. You must enter 2.0 in the Version field of the Header Record. See Formatting the Header Record for details.

#	Variable	Variable Type	Format	Required	Description
57	Credential Engine Identifier	Alphanumeric	39 characters	No	Course credential registry number. CTID follows a standard format and serves as the primary, unique identifier for all major objects in the Credential Registry.
58	Course Instructor Employment Status	Enumerated		No	Employment status of the course instructor of record (only one instructor). PT = Part-time FT = Full-time
59	Course Instructor Rank	Enumerated		No	Academic rank of the course instructor of record (only one instructor). 1 = Instructor 2 = Lecturer 3 = Sr. Lecturer 4 = Assistant Professor 5 = Associate Professor 6 = Professor 7 = Other
60	Foreign Language Completion	Enumerated		No	Student has completed core/general education requirement for foreign language, if required. Valid codes: Y = Evaluated and satisfied N = Evaluated but not satisfied

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