The Common Data Set is the result of a collaborative effort between educational institutions and those agencies that request and publish institutional data to improve the quality and accuracy of information. In addition, by agreeing upon a well-defined common set of data that is used by various agencies, a reduction in redundancy and effort by the reporting institutions is greatly reduced.

In theory, each year's Common Data Set is ideally generated from the "fixed" general data and the administrative data base to produce an html version that can be posted. Some agencies either request the data to be entered on specific forms or the URL of the institution's current Common Data Set.