The Higher Education Arts Data Services (HEADS) Project is a joint effort of the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST), and the National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD). The HEADS Project is designed to provide comprehensive management data on the arts in higher education. The HEADS Project, officially established in 1982, is a statistics system that collects, compiles, and reports data from member and non-member institutions. Participation in the Project is mandatory for accredited institutional members of NASM, NASAD, NAST, and NASD.
HEADS Data Surveys
The HEADS Data Survey for accredited institutional members requests statistical information addressing a number of areas including enrollment, degrees offered, operational budgets, faculty salaries, ethnic breakdown of faculty and students, and the like. HEADS Data Surveys for the disciplines of art and design, dance, music, and theatre may be found within the NASM, NASAD, NAST, and NASD websites respectively. Links are provided below.
- HEADS Data Surveys (Music)
- HEADS Data Surveys (Art and Design)
- HEADS Data Surveys (Theatre)
- HEADS Data Surveys (Dance)
HEADS Data Navigable Dashboards
HEADS Navigable Dashboards provide access to data collected from 2016 and beyond. Access to the Navigable Dashboards is provided by discipline to participating accredited institutional members of NASAD, NASD, NASM, and NAST as a benefit of membership. Dashboards are accessed by logging into the appropriate institution portal (links below). Users will receive a “Welcome to the Institution Portal” email, which contains a link to create a username and password when becoming an Institutional Representative of an Accredited Member Institution or purchasing access to the dashboards.
- HEADS Navigable Dashboards (Music)
- HEADS Navigable Dashboards (Art and Design)
- HEADS Navigable Dashboards (Theatre)
- HEADS Navigable Dashboards (Dance)
New Platform – HEADS Navigable Dashboards
Although serving members faithfully for nearly forty years, it became evident that the platform on which the original HEADS Data System was built in 1982, was no longer sufficiently robust to support the advanced features and enhanced services desired particularly with regard to data access and manipulation. Therefore, in 2019, HEADS began the process of designing, building, and transitioning to a new platform.
As a result, the HEADS Data Summaries and HEADS Special Reports, offered since 1982, have been retired. Access to HEADS Data Information collected published between 2016-2017 and the most recently-collected academic year is available through the HEADS Navigable Dashboards. Data from years prior to 2016 remains available in the historical HEADS Data Summaries and is found in .pdf format on the website (noted below).
The new system, which includes an interactive interface, provides the ability to sort, organize, and compare data points. This more flexible approach to working with and viewing data is offered in the form of Navigable Dashboards, which replace the previous HEADS reporting functionality with custom reporting and data visualization tools that enable members to create customized report views in data tables and graph/chart formats. The option to export data into .XLSX and .CSV is offered.
Non-member participants, non-member non-participants, and the general public are provided the opportunity to access aspects of the HEADS Data System for a fee.
Historical HEADS Data Summaries
HEADS Data Summaries, the statistical summaries compiled from the Annual Reports (HEADS Data Surveys) of member institutions and other participating arts units from 1982-1983 through 2020-2021, provide information on enrollment, faculty numbers and salaries, administrative processes, budgets, a series of comparative ratios, and other operational information. Most data is reported by size and type of institution. Given the move to the new platform in 2021, which has facilitated the replacement of HEADS Data Summaries with navigable dashboards, HEADS Data Summaries for the academic years 1982-1983 through 2020-2021 for music as well as those for the disciplines of art and design, dance, and theatre now are available without charge.
HEADS Data Summaries for the disciplines of art and design, dance, music, and theatre may be found within the NASM, NASAD, NAST, and NASD websites respectively. Links are provided below.
- HEADS Data Summaries (Music)
- HEADS Data Summaries (Art and Design)
- HEADS Data Summaries (Theatre)
- HEADS Data Summaries (Dance)
Fees
(Effective January 2023)
Accredited institutional members of NASAD, NASD, NASM, and NAST are not charged a fee to 1) participate in their discipline-specific HEADS Data Survey, or 2) access the associated HEADS Navigable Dashboards. All features of the HEADS Project are provided by discipline of accreditation only to participating accredited institutional members of NASAD, NASD, NASM, and NAST as a service (i.e., an NASAD accredited institutional member is provided access to only the NASAD HEADS Navigable Dashboards). Accreditation in one discipline does not enable access to Navigable Dashboards in another or the other disciplines (i.e., an institution holding only NASAD accreditation and interested in accessing Navigable Dashboards for dance, music, and/or theatre may purchase individual access to each as noted below).
Non-accredited degree-granting institutions offering post-secondary curricular programs may participate by discipline in the HEADS Data Survey. Although these institutions are not charged a fee to participate in the HEADS Data Survey, a fee to access discipline-specific HEADS Navigable Dashboards associated with the HEADS Data Survey submitted is assessed (i.e., a non-accredited institution participating in the NASAD HEADS Data Survey may purchase access to only the NASAD Navigable Dashboards). The fee for participating non-member institutions is $300.00 for 30 consecutive days of access to the HEADS Navigable Dashboards corresponding to the HEADS Data Survey submitted.
Non-accredited institutions and members of the general public may secure fee-paid access to the HEADS Navigable Dashboards. The fee for non-participating non-members, and the general public is $500.00 for 30 consecutive days of access to any one discipline-specific set of HEADS Navigable Dashboards.
Further Information
This website is intended to provide general assistance regarding the operation of the HEADS Project. Requests for further information may be directed to the National Office Staff.