The Common Data Set (CDS) is a collaborative effort between publishers and the educational community to improve the quality and accuracy of information provided to all involved in a student's transition into higher education, as well as to reduce the reporting burden on data providers of the educational community. The CDS contains a set of standards and definitions of data items rather than a survey instrument or set of data represented in a database. Questions and definitions used by the U.S. Department of Education in its higher education surveys often serve as a guide in the continued development of the CDS. For further information, visit  www.commondataset.org .