Postsecondary Education Sample Studies and Data Tools
Susan Aud, Ph.D.National Center for Education StatisticsInstitute of Education SciencesU.S. Department of Education
May 18, 2014
Postsecondary Sample Survey DataOur Research Agenda
Generating a nationally representative descriptive portrait of students enrolled in postsecondary education.
Who are these students? Where are they enrolling? How are they paying for college?
Student, institutional, and federal financing What are they experiencing in the postsecondary
“environment?”
Postsecondary Sample Survey DataOur Research Agenda
What outcomes are they attaining?Educational awardsLabor market outcomesFurther education and training
Postsecondary Sample Survey DataHow We Achieve Our Goals
Cross-Sectional The National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS)
Longitudinal The Beginning Postsecondary Students Study (BPS) The Baccalaureate and Beyond Study (B&B) The Postsecondary Education Transcript Study (PETS)
Postsecondary Sample Survey DataA Chronology of the Surveys
NPSAS:87
NPSAS:90
NPSAS:93
NPSAS:96
NPSAS:00
NPSAS:04
NPSAS:08
NPSAS:12
BPS:90/92 BPS:90/94
BPS:96/98 BPS:96/01
BPS:04/06 BPS:04/09
BPS:12/14 BPS:12/17
B&B:93/94 B&B:93/97
B&B:00/01
B&B:08/12B&B:08/09
B&B:93/03
PETS:09
PETS:09
BPS:12/19 PETS
Limited PETS
Overview
National Postsecondary Student Aid Study
Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study
Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study
Study of Student Financial Aid and Demographics
Study of Workforce Outcomes, Family Formation, and Graduate School
Study of Persistence and Attainment
Overview
National Postsecondary Student Aid Study
Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study
Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study
Study of Student Financial Aid and Demographics
Study of Workforce Outcomes, Family Formation, and Graduate School
Study of Persistence and Attainment
NPSAS OverviewPurpose of the Study
• Legislatively mandated data collection to make sense of the federal government’s $180B per year investment in financing students’ postsecondary educations
• Heavily used by policymakers, analysts, and researchers to understand programs like the Pell Grant and the Stafford Loan
Purpose: To examine how students and their families pay for college.
Secondarily: To examine the characteristics of students enrolled in all levels of postsecondary education.
NPSAS OverviewPurpose of the Study
Target PopulationUndergraduate and graduate students enrolled in Title IV participating institutions by institution sector.
Students enrolled in all types of institutions.Students with and without financial aid.Students in all attendance statuses (e.g., full- and part-time)
NPSAS OverviewSample
• Samples sizes for recent studies include approximately 120k students (100k undergraduates / 20k graduates)
• In NPSAS:12, the sample represents 25 million undergraduate and 4 million graduate students
NPSAS OverviewSample
NPSAS OverviewKey Data Elements
• Student demographic characteristics• Pre-college characteristics• Institutional characteristics• Enrollment histories• Detailed information on college financing• Collegiate experiences
Overview
National Postsecondary Student Aid Study
Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study
Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study
Study of Student Financial Aid and Demographics
Study of Workforce Outcomes, Family Formation, and Graduate School
Study of Persistence and Attainment
B&B:08/12 OverviewPurpose of the Study
Purpose: First and foremost, to better understand the early labor market and graduate school experiences of students graduating with a baccalaureate degree
Secondarily: To better understand the early career experiences of teachers
B&B:08/12 OverviewSampling Strategy
Subsample NPSAS:08 respondents who are identified as graduating seniors.
Some practical overlap with NCES’s elementary/secondary longitudinal studies, but different population and longer follow-up.
Some practical overlap with NSF’s Recent College Graduates survey, but longitudinal and includes non-STEM graduates.
About 15,000 respondents
B&B:08/12 OverviewKey Data Elements
Base YearNPSAS:08
Postsecondar
y EducationTranscrip
t Stud
y
First Follow-upB&B:08/09
Second Follow-upB&B:08/12
Third Follow-upB&B:08/18
Student Demographic Characteristics
Degrees or certificates earned / Graduate enrollment
Graduate enrollment
Graduate enrollment
Anticipated employment
Employment history, compensation & working conditions
Employment history, compensation & working conditions
Employment history, compensation & working conditions
Family Formation
Family Formation Family Formation Family Formation
College financing(all sources)
College financing & Cumulative Debt
College financing & Cumulative Debt
College financing & Cumulative Debt
B&B:08/12 OverviewKey Data Elements
• An explicit focus on teachers• Comparison of STEM graduates to other graduates• Choices to take further education• Academic transcripts
B&B:08/12 OverviewData Sources
Multiple time points of data from:• Student Interview• Institutional Administrative Records• ED Financial Aid Systems
– FAFSA Central Processing System– Pell Grant Recipient File– National Student Loan Data System
Overview
National Postsecondary Student Aid Study
Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study
Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study
Study of Student Financial Aid and Demographics
Study of Workforce Outcomes, Family Formation, and Graduate School
Study of Persistence and Attainment
BPS:04/09 OverviewPurpose of the Study
• To generate two key indicators of student progress: The proportion of students who complete a course of
study at their first institution within 150% of normal time to degree (NTD); and
The proportion of students who complete anywhere within 150% NTD.
• To unpack the persistence phenomenon.
BPS:04/09 OverviewSampling Strategy
• Subsample NPSAS:04 respondents who are identified as “first-time beginning” students.
Cohort of first beginners, not based on age or transition from high school .
Representative of postsecondary students, so higher proportion of “non-traditional” students
About 16,500 respondents
BPS:04/09 OverviewKey Data Elements
Base YearNPSAS:04
First Follow-upBPS:04/06
Second Follow-upBPS:04/09
Postsecondar
y EducationTranscrip
t Stud
y
Student Demographic Characteristics
Degrees or certificates earned
Degrees or certificates earned
Pre-college characteristics
Social and academic integration
Early workforce outcomes (if applicable)
Enrollment histories Enrollment histories Enrollment histories
College financing(all sources)
College financing (federal only)
College financing (federal only)
BPS:04/09 OverviewKey Data Elements
• Institutional characteristics• Detailed information on college financing• Collegiate experiences• As of BPS:04/06/09, academic transcripts
Quick & easy to use to generate percentages, averages tables, and simple graphs using
frequently used variables. (Limited to 1 column and 1 row variable.)
Complex averages, percentages, medians, and centiles tables. Linear and
logistic regressions. Choose from complete lists thousands of variables.
http://nces.ed.gov/datalab
• A table and statistics generator using Restricted Use data but without the need for a license (i.e. users only see estimates and standard errors)
• Features include:
Introduction to PowerStats/QuickStatsPowerStats
NPSAS:12 OverviewSample Research Question, Guided Example
What is the rate of students’ application for federal financial aid by institution sector?
QuickRetreive:http://nces.ed.gov/datalab/index.aspx?ps_x=chcbe60 (any aid)http://nces.ed.gov/datalab/index.aspx?ps_x=chcbe8f (federal aid)
BPS OverviewSample Research Question, Guided Example
What is the average amount of institution aid given to first-time beginning students by institution sector?
QuickRetreive:http://nces.ed.gov/datalab/index.aspx?ps_x=chcbe51
Contact Information
Susan Aud, Ph.D.Statistician
Email: [email protected]: (202) 219-7013
PowerStats Helpdesk
Email: [email protected] (866) 677-6987