Creating Custom Panel

Custom Panel Guide

Use this guide to export only variables you need.

Inputs You Can Use

Pick one input panel:

• Analysis-ready (recommended): Panels/panel_wide_analysis_2004_2023.parquet
• Broad full panel (includes 2024): Panels/2004_2024_IPEDS_clean_Panel_DS.parquet

Variable Selection

Before selecting variables, check the dictionary to confirm exact varName, meaning, and year coverage.

Dictionary files

• Full workbook: Variable references/panel_var_reference.xlsx
• Build script: Variable references/panel_var_reference.py

Rebuild dictionary workbook (optional)

export IPEDS_ROOT="/path/to/IPEDS_Paneling"
python3 "$IPEDS_ROOT/Variable references/panel_var_reference.py"

You can provide variables in two ways:

• File-based: Customize_Panel/selectedvars.txt (included in this repo)
• Inline list: --vars "INSTNM,SECTOR,TUITION1,PELL_RECP"

UNITID and year are always included automatically.

Exporting

Export Custom Panel as Parquet

export IPEDS_ROOT="/path/to/IPEDS_Paneling"

python3 Scripts/06_build_custom_panel.py \
  --input "$IPEDS_ROOT/Panels/panel_wide_analysis_2004_2023.parquet" \
  --vars-file "$IPEDS_ROOT/Customize_Panel/selectedvars.txt" \
  --years "2004:2023" \
  --format parquet \
  --output "$IPEDS_ROOT/Panels/custom_panel_2004_2023.parquet"

Export the Same Custom Panel as CSV

export IPEDS_ROOT="/path/to/IPEDS_Paneling"

python3 Scripts/06_build_custom_panel.py \
  --input "$IPEDS_ROOT/Panels/panel_wide_analysis_2004_2023.parquet" \
  --vars-file "$IPEDS_ROOT/Customize_Panel/selectedvars.txt" \
  --years "2004:2023" \
  --format csv \
  --output "$IPEDS_ROOT/Panels/custom_panel_2004_2023.csv"

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Common Issues

Missing variables: use --strict to fail immediately and identify bad names.

Wrong path: confirm IPEDS_ROOT points to your local project/data root.