The Postsecondary Data Partnership (PDP) submission includes 89 unique variables across two files — but you can get started with an initial submission of just 28. This checklist breaks down what you need for a minimum viable submission, the priority variables to update next, and the students you should exclude for better dashboard accuracy.
Must Upload Now - 0 of 28 complete
Common Variables (14 - must match between Cohort and Course files)
Column headers differ between files. Cohort header shown first, Course header in parentheses where different.
Var
Cohort Header
Course Header
Format
Notes
V1
Data record type (Col: CH1)
Data record type (Col: CH1)
Enumerated
Fixed: D1
V2
Cohort
Cohort
YYYY-YY
Must match between files
V3
Cohort Term
Cohort Term
Enumerated
Fall, Spring, Summer, Winter
V6/V8
SSN
SSN
9 digits
A/B: submit SSN or Student ID
V8/V10
Student ID
Student ID
3-20 chars
A/B: submit SSN or Student ID
V9/V11
First Name
First Name
Up to 60 chars
A-Z, hyphens, apostrophes, spaces, periods only. No accented characters — transliterate to ASCII.
V11/V13
Last Name
Last Name
Up to 60 chars
A-Z, hyphens, apostrophes, spaces, periods only. No accented characters — transliterate to ASCII.
V12/V15
Street Line 1
Current Street 1
2-30 chars
UK if unknown
V14/V17
City
Current City
2-20 chars
UK if unknown
V15/V18
State
Current State
2 chars
UK if unknown
V17/V20
Country
Current Country
2-char ISO
UK if unknown
V18/V21
Date of Birth
Date of Birth
YYYYMMDD
Exclude student from BOTH files if unknown
V21/V6
Institution ID Type
Institution ID Type
Enumerated
Fixed: OPEID
V22/V7
Institution ID
Institution ID
8 chars
Cohort-Only Variables (4)
Var
Column Header
File
Format
Notes
V4
Cohort Term Begin Date
Cohort
YYYYMMDD
Cannot be same as or after End Date
V5
Cohort Term End Date
Cohort
YYYYMMDD
Cannot be same as or before Begin Date
V19
Ethnicity
Cohort
Enumerated
H, N, UK
V29
Enrollment Type
Cohort
Enumerated
F, R, T — derived variable
Course-Only Variables (10)
Var
Column Header
File
Format
Notes
V4
Academic Year
Course
YYYY-YY
Year the course belongs to (not Cohort year)
V5
Term
Course
Enumerated
Fall, Spring, Summer, Winter
V31
Course Prefix
Course
Up to 50 chars
e.g., ENGL, MATH
V32
Course Number
Course
Up to 20 chars
e.g., 101, 200A
V34
Course Name
Course
Up to 50 chars
e.g., College Algebra
V36
Course CIP
Course
Enumerated
Enter "Missing" if unavailable
V40
Course Begin Date
Course
YYYYMMDD
V41
Course End Date
Course
YYYYMMDD
V43
Number of Credits Attempted
Course
XX.XX
CRITICAL: never leave blank. Use 0.00 for non-credit
V50
Purpose of Course Exchange
Course
Enumerated
Exclusions - 0 of 4 complete
Rule
Applies To
Notes
Exclude students with unknown Date of Birth
Both
Remove ALL
Exclude CCAP students
Both
College and Career Access Pathways
Exclude Dual Enrolled students
Both
Concurrently Enrolled High School Students
Exclude Statewide Virtual Campus Exchange students