ETER undertook all efforts to collect as many data as possible. However, coverage is somewhat unequal across countries and variables due to the lack of reliable data sources. More specifically, the situation concerning groups of variables is as follows:

• Descriptors are generally available for all countries, with the exception of a few cases, where information on foundation years was not available.
• Financial data (revenues, expenditures, R&D expenditures) are available for only about half of the countries.
• Staff data are generally available in most countries, the main exceptions being countries, which provided for the time being only the descriptors, but no statistical information. However, the breakdown of academic staff between national and foreigners is available for a much smaller number of countries.
• Students and graduates data are available for most countries, including the breakdown by gender, nationality, and fields of education. The breakdown by mobile students is less widely available.
• The situation is similar for PhD students, except that data are missing for a few countries.