Postsecondary Education Sample Studies and Data Tools Susan Aud, Ph.D. National Center for Education Statistics Institute of Education Sciences U.S. Department.

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







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







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



Family Formation

Family Formation Family Formation Family Formation

College financing(all sources)

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







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

NCES Data Analysis Tools:PowerStats and QuickStats

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

Introduction to PowerStats/QuickStatsDatalab






• 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)

http://nces.ed.gov/datalab/index.aspx?ps_x=chcbe60



http://nces.ed.gov/datalab/index.aspx?ps_x=chcbe8f

http://nces.ed.gov/datalab/index.aspx?ps_x=chcbe8f

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

mailto:[email protected]

Postsecondary Education Sample Studies and Data Tools Susan Aud, Ph.D. National Center for Education Statistics Institute of Education Sciences U.S. Department.

Documents

study slide

study bb

characteristics of students

postsecondary environment

npsas overview purpose

surveys npsas

attainment slide

training slide