Director of Institutional Research
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Director of Institutional Research oversees institutional research and studies for a college or university. Designs and leads studies evaluating the effectiveness of the institution's programs and policies. Manages data collection and analysis with regards to these questions, and directs formulation of research reports.
Job Outlook
There were 49 Director of Institutional Research job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 872 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Researcher / Research Associate industry, which includes the Director of Institutional Research career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2016:
Salary
Many new Director of Institutional Research jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $114,582.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $105,168.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Director of Institutional Research postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $96,943.
Education and Experience
Posted Director of Institutional Research jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 43.69% |
| Master's Degree | 75.69% |
| Doctoral Degree | 32.11% |
| Other | 2.18% |
Posted Director of Institutional Research jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 9.72% |
| 3 to 5 years | 68.67% |
| 6 to 8 years | 17.28% |
| 9+ years | 4.32% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Director of Institutional Research positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Research (77.29%)
- Leadership (67.2%)
- Planning (64.56%)
- Decision Making (55.28%)
- Communication (54.01%)
- Strategic Planning (49.43%)
- Management (48.17%)
- Coordinating (30.96%)
- Writing (29.13%)
- Operations (25.69%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Statistical Analysis (19.9%)
- Continuous Improvement Process (26.62%)
- Data Analysis (56.12%)
- Data Management (26.62%)
- Dashboard (32.61%)
- Data Collection (43.88%)
- Data Governance (21.58%)
- R (Programming Language) (23.02%)
- Data Visualization (29.74%)
- Research Methodologies (17.63%)
- Institutional Research (74.1%)
- SPSS (Statistical Software) (34.89%)
- SAS (Software) (24.82%)
- Tableau (Business Intelligence Software) (31.77%)
- SQL (Programming Language) (28.54%)
- Project Management (23.86%)
- Power BI (23.38%)
- Statistics (41.97%)
- Social Sciences (22.42%)
- Surveys (30.7%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Compliance Reporting (11.03%)
- Student Services (9.23%)
- Strategic Decision Making (7.43%)
- Educational Assessment (10.19%)
- Policy Development (7.91%)
- Student Learning Outcomes (12.11%)
- Academic Affairs (19.06%)
- Strategic Prioritization (6.12%)
- Relational Databases (12.11%)
- Microsoft Access (11.03%)
- Business Intelligence (9.59%)
- Data-Driven Decision Making (9.23%)
- Computer Science (9.59%)
- Data Integrity (20.02%)
- Data Quality (9.11%)
- Data Warehousing (14.87%)
- Performance Management (3.84%)
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) (14.39%)
- Finance (11.39%)
- Enrollment Management (13.43%)
- Information Systems (9.95%)
- Educational Research (9.59%)
- Python (Programming Language) (10.07%)
- Microsoft SQL Servers (2.76%)
- Program Evaluation (13.55%)
- Higher Education (13.91%)
- Reporting Tools (5.28%)
- Program Assessment Rating Tool (7.31%)
- Quantitative Research (9.95%)
- Student Information Systems (9.83%)
- Statistical Software (14.63%)
- Process Improvement (4.08%)
- Qualitative Research (8.75%)
- Resource Allocation (8.03%)
- External Reporting (18.59%)
- Strategic Leadership (4.08%)
- Research Design (14.51%)
- Qualtrics (9.47%)
- Internal Reporting (9.95%)
- Data Science (17.15%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Statistical Analysis (24.89%)
- Continuous Improvement Process (33.28%)
- Data Governance (26.99%)
- Data Visualization (37.18%)
- R (Programming Language) (28.79%)
- Project Management (29.84%)
- Power BI (29.24%)
- SAS (Software) (31.03%)
- SQL (Programming Language) (35.68%)
- Tableau (Business Intelligence Software) (39.73%)
- Surveys (38.38%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Director of Institutional Research skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Director of Institutional Effectiveness
- Director of Institutional Research and Assessment
- Director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness
- Institutional Researcher
- Director of Accreditation
- Associate Director of Institutional Research
- Institutional Research Analyst
- Director of Research Administration
- Institutional Sales Representative
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Research Analyst
- Data Analyst
- Data Specialist
- Statistician
- Business Intelligence Analyst
- Survey Researcher
- Decision Support Analyst
- Healthcare Analyst
- Data Manager
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Director of Institutional Research jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- CUNY (10)
- St. John's University-New York (9)
- University of Arkansas (9)
- City Colleges of Chicago-District Office (8)
- George Mason University (8)
- University of Cincinnati (8)
- University of North Carolina Wilmington (7)
- Community College of Allegheny County (7)
- University of Hawaii System Office (7)
- Alamo Colleges District (6)
North Carolina
- University of North Carolina Wilmington (7)
- North Carolina State University (5)
- University of North Carolina (4)
- Wake Forest University (3)
- Elon University (3)
- East Carolina University (2)
- Brunswick Community College (2)
- Pitt Community College (2)
- North Carolina State Of (2)
- University of Arkansas (2)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
- Adult and Community College Education Master's Degrees
- Community College Leadership Doctoral Degrees
- Educational Leadership Doctoral Degrees
- Teaching and Learning Statistics and Data Science Graduate Certificates
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.