Skip to main content

Bronco Budget 2.0 Measures

Technical Notes

Method for Calculating Student Credit Hours (SCH)—undergraduate and graduate

  1. Extract the full class schedule to get the instructors; include everything for the terms being analyzed.
  2. Identify course attributes for the individual class section (using the unique identifier for the class section from PeopleSoft) so we can assign credit types (which allows full disclosure of what is included and excluded from Bronco Budget).
    1. See Table 1 below for details on what is included in each of the SCH categories:
      1. Self-support – excluded
      2. Online program fee – excluded
      3. Concurrent enrollment – excluded
      4. Continuing Ed other – excluded
      5. Outreach – excluded
      6. Bronco Budget credits are the remaining (total credits minus the above five categories)
    2. Courses taken as study abroad or through the national student exchange program are excluded from Bronco Budget analysis. This includes courses with the following properties:
      1. Course Subject is ‘NATSTDEX’ or ‘INTPRGM’—used as placeholder credits when students are studying at another institution.
      2. Course section is ‘GLO’ or ‘NSE’—used after a student returns and specific class credits are assigned to indicate the course was taken at another institution.
  3. Zero credit sections (e.g., labs or discussion) are assigned one credit and one credit is removed from the associated lecture as appropriate (after checking to ensure students are registered in both). Lectures where both the section is UF and the catalog number is 100 are excluded from this process.
  4. Put the instructors and classes together with the SCH for the classes. Courses with no instructor assigned are assigned to the Subject Owner.
  5. Count up instructors for each class section, attach the count and divide the SCH by the number of instructors; SCH is divided evenly between the instructors.
  6. Credit hours taught by adjuncts, GAs, professional staff, and provost/vice provosts are assigned to the Subject Owner.
  7. For tenured or tenure track faculty members, lecturers, department chairs, or deans: attach instructor to their department(s), using multi-record HR files (for each semester), based on who is paying them. IR maintains a crosswalk of “valid” academic departments to budget codes and subjects (see Table 2 below for the list of “valid” academic departments). Budget department is used as primary; if no budget department is listed, then Subject department (course owner) is used. Credits also go to Subject for adjuncts, GAs, and professional staff who do not have regular teaching assignments.
    1. Parse out credits by student residency (International or Domestic).
    2. If an instructor is paid by one “valid” academic department, then their SCH is assigned 100% to that department.
    3. If an instructor is paid by more than one (>1)  academic department:
      1. The SCH for each course is assigned based on the pay distribution from the HR file, provided that the pay sources are all “valid” academic departments.
      2. If any of the pay sources are not “valid” academic departments, then the non-valid department(s) are removed from the distribution and the distribution is re-adjusted to 100% based on the remaining department(s).
  8. Adjustments to the academic organization are made as needed (e.g., a department that moved to another college).
  9. An important note about the SCH data file–some credit adjustments agreed upon by an academic college and the finance office for budgeting purposes may be conducted on a post hoc basis (e.g., inter-college agreements, requesting/completing budget transfers). These adjustments are not be reflected in the raw data supplied by Institutional Effectiveness.

Table 1: SCH Types with Associated Course Attribute Values

SCH TypeAssociated Course Attributes and/or Session Types
Self-support programsCourse attribute values (attribute code):
  • Master of Business Administration (BUS-MBA)
  • Executive MBA (EMBA)
  • Executive Education Leadership Ed.S (EDSPEXEDLD)
  • Mathematics Consulting Teacher Cert. (MATHCTCERT)
  • Doctor of Nursing Practice (NURS-DNP)
  • Adult Gerontology Nursing Practitioner Masters & Graduate Certs. (NURS-AGNP)
  • Nursing RN to BS (NURS-DC-BS)
  • Respiratory Care RRT to BS (RCSYO)
  • Weekend Ed Literacy Program (EDLIT-WE)
  • West Campus Bilingual Education Program (EDBLSL-WC)
  • Business & Accountancy BBA, Twin Falls (BUSACCT-TF)
  • Criminal Justice BS, Twin Falls (CJ-TF)
  • Master of Social Work, Twin Falls (MSW-TF)
  • Master of Social Work, Coeur d'Alene (MSW-CDA)
  • Bachelor of Social Work, Twin Falls (BSW-TF)
  • Master of Athletic Leadership (MAATHLLDR)
  • Conflict Management Graduate Cert. (DISPUTCERT)
  • Boise State Writing Project (BSUWP)
  • Master of Social Work, Lewiston (MSW-LEW) – Discontinued
  • Master of Social Work (MSW-NORTH) - Discontinued
  • Victim Services Graduate Cert (VICSER-C) - Discontinued
Online Program Fee programsCourse attribute values (attribute code):
  • Imaging Sciences BS (ImSci-B)
  • Master of Social Work (SOCWRK-M)
  • Healthcare Simulation Graduate Cert. (HCSim-C)
  • Respiratory Care MS (REPSCARE-M)
  • Public Health BA (PUBHLTH-B)
  • Multidisciplinary Studies BA (MDS-B and BAS_MDS-B)
  • Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS-B and BAS_MDS-B)
  • Organizational Performance MS and Graduate Certs. (OPWL)
  • Management BBA (BUSMGT-B)
  • Design Ethnography Cert., off-campus students (DESETH-OPF)
  • Accountancy MS (ACCT-M)
  • Online Degree Pathways (OPF O & ONLINEPATH)
  • Masters in Genetic Counseling (GENCOUN-M)
  • Public Relations BA (PUBREL-B)


Educational Technology Ed.S., Ed.D, MS, MET, & Graduate Certs (EDTECH & EDTECH DR) – Included in Bronco Budget Beginning Fall 2019
Dual enrollmentSession types JS1 or JS2 (this ends in the same result as using course attribute values: ‘DUAL_ENRL’, ‘DUAL EN IN’, and ‘DUAL-EN-IN’)
Continuing Ed/Other
(Professional Development)
Consists of session type CN and course attributes:
  • In-Service Workshop (IN-SERVICE)
  • VESi Professional Education (VESI-PROF)
  • Idaho Digital Learning Academy (IDLA)

OutreachCourses funded by Extended Studies to ensure alternative pathways to university degrees and certificates for nontraditional students – including working adults, place-bound students, community college students, and active military – through offerings delivered off-campus, online, and on evenings/weekend.

The Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, and Spring 2018 courses are provided by Extended Studies. They are imported and processed into the data file and flagged as “Outreach.”

A new business process to identify Outreach courses has been adopted and will be used for future analyses beginning Fall 2018. (Outreach courses will have the Attribute: ALTF and Attribute Value: EXCLUDE_BB.)
Bronco BudgetAll remaining credits are counted for Bronco Budget
Note: italicized attributes represent historical course attribute values that were included in preliminary versions of the data from earlier years. The Division of Extended Studies maintains course attributes used to designate all categories other than Bronco Budget.

Table 2: "Valid" Academic Departments

Budget Department IDAcademic Department
72800College of Arts & Sciences - Anthropology
70200College of Arts & Sciences - Art, Design & Visual Studies
29511College of Arts & Sciences - Bachelor of Applied Science
70600College of Arts & Sciences - Biological Sciences
71600College of Arts & Sciences - Biomolecular Sciences
70700College of Arts & Sciences - Chemistry & Biochemistry
70100College of Arts & Sciences - College Owned
70800College of Arts & Sciences - Communication
71200College of Arts & Sciences - English
71400College of Arts & Sciences - Geosciences
71500College of Arts & Sciences - History
72000College of Arts & Sciences - Mathematics
29512College of Arts & Sciences - Multidisciplinary Studies
72200College of Arts & Sciences - Music
71700College of Arts & Sciences - Philosophy
72400College of Arts & Sciences - Physics
10600College of Arts & Sciences - Psychological Science
73000College of Arts & Sciences - Sociology
71000College of Arts & Sciences - Theatre, Film, & Creative Writ
71300College of Arts & Sciences - World Languages
77800College of Business & Economics - Accountancy
77600College of Business & Economics - College Owned
78000College of Business & Economics - Economics
78200College of Business & Economics - Finance
78600College of Business & Economics - IT & Supply Chain Mgmt
78300College of Business & Economics - Management
78100College of Business & Economics - Marketing
10100College of Education - College Owned
10700College of Education - Counselor Education
10800College of Education - Curriculum, Instruction and Foundational Studies
11200College of Education - Early and Special Education
10400College of Education - Educational Technology
11300College of Education - Literacy, Language and Culture
26909College of Education - STEM Education
12800College of Engineering - Civil Engineering
12600College of Engineering - College Owned
13100College of Engineering - Computer Science
72700College of Engineering - Construction Management
12900College of Engineering - Electrical Engineering
13200College of Engineering - Materials Science & Engineering
13000College of Engineering - Mechanical & Biomedical Engineering
21700College of Engineering - Organizational Performance
18600College of Health Sciences - College Owned
18800College of Health Sciences - College Owned
19300College of Health Sciences - Community & Environmental Health
10300College of Health Sciences - Kinesiology
18700College of Health Sciences - Nursing
19100College of Health Sciences - Radiologic Sciences
19000College of Health Sciences - Respiratory Care
73100College of Health Sciences - School of Social Work
79000College of Innovation & Design - College Owned
74000School of Public Service - College Owned
74400School of Public Service - Criminal Justice
74900School of Public Service - Global Studies
25200School of Public Service - Military Science
72500School of Public Service - Political Science
74200School of Public Service - Public Policy & Admin
74800School of Public Service - Urban Studies & Community Dev
99900University Owned

Method for Calculating Numbers of Majors (undergraduate only)

  1. Average number of majors fall and spring.  Officially Enrolled (actively enrolled & withdrawn CW) and end of term.
  2. Majors are based on the college that is the plan owner of the plans/majors in which students are enrolled. Includes majors only (i.e., not certificates, minors, and endorsements).
  3. Look at residency during the given semesters (same method as credits).
    1. BSUIPEDSEthnicityKey = 6 (nonresident alien), then International
    2. All else = Domestic students
  4. Adjustments to the academic organization have been made as needed (i.e., for a program that moved colleges, the SCH is counted in the new college). In addition, students in secondary education programs also were credited to COED.
  5. Exclusions:
    1. Program keys = UGDES and UGJSS (concurrent enrollment)
    2. UNIV undecided and second UG degree students (Academic Plan ‘UNIV-UND’,’UG2D-UND’)
    3. Self-support and online program fee (alternative funding) programs:
      1. Imaging Sciences BS (academic plan codes: IMAGESCI & PRE-IMAGE)
      2. Public Health BA (PUBHLTH-O & PRE-PUBH-O)
      3. Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS-O & PRE-BAS-O)
      4. Multidisciplinary Studies BA (MDS-O & PRE-MDS-O)
      5. Management BBA (MGMT-BBA & PRE-MGMT)
      6. Nursing RN to BS (NURS RN AP & PRE-RNBS)
      7. Respiratory Care RRT to BS (RRT-BS & PRE-RRT-BS)
      8. Business Accountancy and Administration
        in Twin Falls (ACCTBBA-TF, GBUSBBA-TF, & ‘PRE-BUS-TF)
      9. Criminal Justice BS Twin Falls (CJ-BS-TF & PRE-CJ-TF)
      10. Bachelor of Social Work Twin Falls (SCWK-BA-TF & PRE-SW-TF)
      11. Public Relations Online BA (PRO-O & PRE-PRO-O)
    4. Prior to 2017-18, five alternative funding model programs were not identified by stand-alone plans. Therefore, majors to be excluded from Bronco Budget were identified by examining students’ course-taking behavior; those who took <50% of their courses on campus were counted as alternative funding students and excluded from Bronco Budget. Additional details available upon request from earlier glossaries.

Method for Calculating Graduates/Degrees (undergraduate only)

  1. Current version for a full year (SU, FA, & SP)
  2. Look at residency at the time of graduation (FactDegreeTerm)
    1. BSUIPEDSEthnicityKey = 6 (nonresident alien), then International
    2. All else = Domestic students
  3. Includes majors only, Bachelors level (Associates excluded). Includes  Second Bachelor’s degrees
  4.  Exclusions: Students in self-support and online program fee (alternative funding) programs as follows:
    1. Imaging Sciences BS (academic plan codes: IMAGESCI & PRE-IMAGE)
    2. Public Health BA (PUBHLTH-O & PRE-PUBH-O)
    3. Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS-O & PRE-BAS-O)
    4. Multidisciplinary Studies BA (MDS-O & PRE-MDS-O)
    5. Management BBA (MGMT-BBA & PRE-MGMT)
    6. Nursing RN to BS (NURS RN AP & PRE-RNBS)
    7. Respiratory Care RRT to BS (RRT-BS & PRE-RRT-BS)
    8. Business Accountancy and Administration Twin Falls (ACCTBBA-TF, GBUSBBA-TF, & PRE-BUS-TF)
    9. Criminal Justice BS Twin Falls (CJ-BS-TF & PRE-CJ-TF)
    10. Bachelor of Social Work Twin Falls (SCWK-BA-TF & PRE-SW-TF)
    11. Public Relations Online BA (PRO-O & PRE-PRO-O). Prior to 2017-18, five alternative funding model programs were not identified by stand-alone plans. Therefore, graduates to be excluded from Bronco Budget were identified by examining students’ course-taking behavior; those who took less than fifty percent (<50%) of their courses on campus were counted as alternative funding students and excluded from Bronco Budget. Additional details available upon request from earlier glossaries.
  5. Adjustments to the academic organization have been made as needed (i.e., for a program that moved colleges, the SCH is counted in the new college). In addition, students in secondary education programs also were credited to the College of Education.

Update 09.21.2018

Back To Top