Formatting the Course Update File Detail Records

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 Update File Variables

# Variable Variable Type Format Description Required for Update Can Be Updated
1 CH1 Enumerated Indicates the type of data record. Enter D1 for detail records. Yes No
2 Cohort Date YYYY-YY 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 Example: 2019-20 Yes No
3 Cohort Term Enumerated 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
 Yes No
4 Academic Year Date YYYY-YY Academic year to which the record belongs. Enter 2 consecutive years between 2000 and today. Yes No
5 Term Enumerated Academic term to which the record belongs. Valid Codes:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Spring
  • Summer
 Yes No
6 Institution ID Type Enumerated Originating system of the institution ID (OPEID, FICE, NCES, ACT, etc.). Currently you can only enter OPEID. Yes No
7 Institution ID Alphanumeric 8 characters Your institution’s ID (currently you can only enter an 8-character OPEID). Yes No
8 SSN Numeric 9 digits 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. Conditional No
9 ITIN Numeric 9 digits Individual Tax Payer Identification Number. Cannot be the same as SSN. No No
10 Student ID Alphanumeric 3 – 20 characters 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 Conditional No
11 First Name Alphanumeric Up to 60 characters Student’s first name. Can include: space, period, apostrophe, hyphen Yes No
12 Middle Name Alphanumeric Up to 60 characters Student’s middle name. Can include: space, period, apostrophe, hyphen No No
13 Last Name Alphanumeric Up to 60 characters Student’s last name. Can include: space, period, apostrophe, hyphen Yes No
14 Suffix Alphanumeric Up to 10 characters Student’s suffix (such as Jr., II, III). Can include a period. No No
15 Current Street 1 String 2 – 30 characters Student’s current street address. If unknown, enter UK. Yes No
16 Current Street 2 String Up to 30 characters Second line of student’s address, if needed. No No
17 Current City String 2 – 20 characters Student’s current city of residence. If unknown, enter UK. Yes No
18 Current State Alphabetic 2 characters 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. Yes No
19 Current Zip/Postal Code Alphanumeric 1 – 10 characters 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. No No
20 Current Country Enumerated 2 characters Student’s current country of residence (see Valid Country Codes). If unknown, enter UK. Yes No
21 Date of Birth Date YYYYMMDD Student’s date of birth. Year must be between 1900 and 10 years ago. If unknown, omit the student from the data file. Yes No
22 Student Phone Number String Up to 20 digits Student’s phone number US and international phone numbers are accepted. No No
23 Pell Recipient Enumerated Whether the student received a Pell grant during the term. Enter Y for yes, N for no, or UK for unknown. No Not required. Leave blank.
24 Student Email String Up to 255 characters Student’s email address. No No
# Variable Variable Type Format Description Required for Update Can Be Updated
25 CompleteDevMath Enumerated For developmental math students, whether the student completed all developmental math requirements during the term. No Not required. Leave blank.
26 CompleteDevEnglish Enumerated For developmental English students, whether the student completed all developmental English requirements during the term.
27 TransferIntent Enumerated Student's educational objective.
28 Degree Type Sought Enumerated Degree that the student is currently seeking.
29 Semester/Session GPA Numeric X.XX Student’s GPA for the the term for which you are submitting data on a 4-point scale.
30 Overall GPA Numeric X.XX Student’s cumulative GPA up to and including the term for which you are submitting data on a 4-point scale.
# Variable Variable Type Format Description Required for Update Can Be Updated
31 Course Prefix Alphabetic Up to 50 characters Course prefix as it appears in your institution’s catalog. For example, ENG 101 Composition I = ENG. Can include: period, hyphen, underscore, ampersand Yes No
32 Course Number Alphanumeric Up to 20 characters Course number as it appears in your institution’s catalog. For example, ENG 101 Composition I = 101. Can include: period, hyphen, underscore, ampersand Yes No
33 Section ID Alphanumeric Up to 20 characters Section ID as it appears in your institution’s catalog. If not available, enter Missing. Can include: period, hyphen, underscore, ampersand Yes Yes
34 Course Name String Up to 50 characters Course name as it appears in your institution’s catalog. For example, ENG 101 Composition I = Composition I. Yes No
35 Course Description String Up to 255 characters Course description as it appears in your institution’s catalog. Required if Purpose of Course Exchange = 1. Used for reverse transfer. No No
36 Course CIP Enumerated Course Classification of Instructional Programs code. 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. Yes Conditional: Will only be updated if the original value was Missing.
37 Course Type Enumerated 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
 No Yes
38 MathOrEnglishGateway Enumerated 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. Valid codes:
  • M = Math gateway
  • E = English gateway
  • NA = Not applicable
 No Yes
39 Co-requisite Course Enumerated 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. No Yes
40 Course Begin Date Date YYYYMMDD Date the course began. Year must be between 1900 and today. Yes No
41 Course End Date Date YYYYMMDD Date the course is scheduled to end. Year must be after 1900. Yes No
42 Grade String Up to 20 characters Student’s grade for the term on a 4-point scale. 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
 No Yes
43 Number of Credits Attempted Numeric XX.XX Number of credits the student attempted for the individual course. Cannot be greater than 20. Yes No
44 Number of Credits Earned Numeric XX.XX Number of credits the student earned for the individual course. Cannot be greater than Number of Credits Attempted. No Yes
45 Delivery Method Enumerated 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.		 No Yes
46 Core Course Enumerated 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. No No
47 Core Course Type String Up to 20 characters 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. No No
48 Core Competency Completed Enumerated 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
 No No
49 Total Combined Earned and Transferred Credits Numeric Up to 10 digits 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. No No
50 Purpose of Course Exchange Enumerated Reason the course is being submitted to The Clearinghouse. Value must be 2 for course update file. Yes No
51 Certification Endorsed Curriculum/Program Enumerated 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. No No
52 Certificate Endorsing Industry String Name of the credential provider endorsing the curriculum. No No
53 Grade Effective Date Date YYYYMMDD 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. No Yes
54 DGI Institution ID Type Enumerated 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. No No
55 DGI Institution ID Alphanumeric 8 characters DGI ID (currently you can only enter an 8-character OPEID). Required if Purpose of Course Exchange = 1. Used for reverse transfer. No No
56 DGI Student ID Alphanumeric 3 – 20 characters Student ID of the DGI. Cannot be the same as SSN or ITIN. Used for reverse transfer. Can include: period, apostrophe, hyphen, underscore No No
# Variable Variable Type Format Description Required for Update Can Be Updated
57  Credential Engine Identifier Alphanumeric 39 characters Course credential registry number. CTID follows a standard format and serves as the primary, unique identifier for all major objects in the Credential Registry. No Yes
58  Course Instructor Employment Status Enumerated   Employment status of the course instructor of record (only one instructor).
  • PT = Part-time
  • FT = Full-time
 No Yes
59  Course Instructor Rank Enumerated   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
 No Yes

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