Benchmark data for this report were compiled from the following sources:

• US News and World Report 's Americas Best Colleges 2003
  
  
• NCES IPEDS Peer Analysis System
  
  (NCES=National Center for Education Statistics)
  (IPEDS=Integrated Postsecondary Educational Data System)
  
  
• 2002 NACUBO Endowment Study
  
  (NACUBO=National Association of College and University Business Officers)
  
  
• CAE VSE Data Miner
  
  (CAE=Council for Aid to Education)
  (VSE=Voluntary Support of Education)
  
  
• Facilites Inventory and Utilization Study, Fall of 2001, for the state of North Carolina , 35th Ed., Dec. 2002.
  
  
• 2002 NCAA Graduation Rates Report
  
  
• Common Data Sets as individual institution Web sites
  
  
• NCES Academic Library Peer Comparison Tool
  
  
• National Science Foundation Web CASPAR (Survey of Research and Development Expenditures at Colleges and Universities)




• Institute of International Education (Open Doors data source)