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MCDS — MortarCAPS Higher Learning Data Standard

01 / The Standard

What is the MortarCAPS Higher Learning Data Standard?

MCDS is the world's first sector-owned, peer-reviewed data standard for higher and vocational education. Built on the CAUDIT Higher Education Reference Model (HERM). Designed by the sector, for the sector.

Browse the standard at InfoCAPS See the roadmap

02 A sector-owned data standard

HERM-aligned. Open. Built to share.

MCDS gives universities, TAFEs, colleges, vendors, and governments a shared language for the data that runs higher learning — without locking anyone into a specific platform.

Entities

One model for the sector.

Students, courses, credentials, financials, HR, research, parties, locations, time, resources, benefits, documents — 3,883 entities, peer-reviewed and versioned.

Semantics

Shared meaning, not just shared fields.

Every concept in MCDS has a definition, a steward, and a governance trail. So when two systems exchange data, they're talking about the same thing.

Exchange

JSON-API native. Open by default.

Modern API contracts and an XBRL-modelled Reporting Framework that institutions can wire into existing pipelines. Python validation scripts ship with the schema.

Reference data

14,021 records — and growing.

ABS, ISO, and Statistics Canada classifications, plus polymorphic support for institutions that need their own taxonomies alongside the standards.

03 Designed, built, and owned by the sector

No single vendor controls the standard.

MortarCAPS Higher Learning Data Standard Limited is an independent not-for-profit. We do not sell software. We do not represent a single vendor's interests. We govern the standard.

  • Governance constitution

    Equal voice across the sector

    IT, registrars, CIOs, institutional research, administration, research offices — all sit at the same table. The standard reflects what the sector actually needs, not what one vendor wants to sell.

  • Peer-reviewed

    100+ contributing institutions

    MCDS is shaped through working groups, public draft windows, and structured feedback loops. Every release goes through a review window before adoption.

  • Vendor-funded sustainability

    Free for institutions

    Institutions access the standard free through their peak-body membership. Vendors and implementation partners pay licence fees that fund neutrality, governance, and ongoing development.

  • Open browsable docs

    Live at InfoCAPS

    The full standard — entities, attributes, reference data, examples — is browsable and searchable at infocaps.mortarcaps.org.
A standard is only useful when it is owned by the people who depend on it.

Ready to look under the hood?

Browse every entity, attribute, and reference dataset in the standard.

Open InfoCAPS See the roadmap