Institutional research is a broad category of work done at schools, colleges and universities to inform campus decision-making and planning in areas such as admissions, financial aid, curriculum assessment, enrollment management, staffing, student life, finance, facilities, athletics, and alumni relations.
They are involved in collecting and reporting information to government bodies (for example, in the US, the United States Department of Education's Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System), to the public (e.g., Common Data Set, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities's University-College Accountability Network), and various college guide publishers (e.g., U.S. News & World Report and College Board).
In addition to reporting, institutional researchers often engage in data analysis, ranging from simply testing whether differences in reported data are statistically significant to developing and using causal and predictive statistical models.
At some colleges and universities this function is centralized in a single office of institutional research, while at others it is more de-centralized.
Other important assets are strong written and oral communications skills, attention to detail, and knowledge about how institutions of higher education operate.