The American Council on Education sent a letter today asking the Department of Education to conduct a “comprehensive independent study” of the amount of time it takes colleges to complete the eight surveys that make up Ipeds, the department’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.

The letter, which was sent on behalf of 40 higher-education associations, is the first part of the council’s official response to the department’s proposal to require colleges to report new summary data on student learning, costs, and financial aid. The council said it would send detailed comments separately on specific changes that are being considered by the department.

The department has estimated that it takes a college 51 hours, on average, to complete the Ipeds surveys and that it would take 58 hours to complete the expanded surveys. The letter calls those figures “serious underestimates.”

Two weeks ago the department announced that it would scale back its proposed expansion of the Ipeds surveys, but apparently that plan was not enough to satisfy the groups that sent today’s letter.