The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) of the National Center for Education Statistics collects data from all sections of postsecondary education. For less-than-two-year institutions, the IPEDS collects data on fall enrollment, completions (earned awards and certificates), etc., from all public institutions in that category and from a sample of private institutions. The methodological issues that arise from trying to collect data from less-than-two-year postsecondary education institutions are discussed. The variable nature of the universe of these institutions, which go in and out of business frequently, contributes to errors in IPEDS estimates. The IPEDS sectors discussed are: (1) less-than-two-year public institutions; (2) less-than-two-year private non-profit institutions; and (3) less-than-two-year private for-profit institutions. Sampling errors were computed by balanced repeated replication based on 32 replications. Data are provided for 330,007 male and 425,835 female students attending the sample institutions in the fall of 1987 and for 311,561 male and 378,267 female students who graduated from the sample institutions in 1987-88. Challenging problems are presented to IPEDS statisticians because of: reluctance of the institutions to respond to the survey; the volatile nature of the population; the highly skewed distribution of the sizes of the institutions; and the sensitivity of the data to precise definitions. (SLD)