2012/14 BEGINNING POSTSECONDARY STUDENTS

LONGITUDINAL STUDY: (BPS:12/14)

Supporting Statement Part A

Request for OMB Review

OMB # 1850-0631 v.8

Submitted by

National Center for Education Statistics

U.S. Department of Education

October 24, 2013
ii

Contents

A. Justification.............................................................................................................................................1

1. Circumstances Making Collection of Information Necessary.........................................................................1

a. Purpose of this Submission .......................................................................................................................1

b. Summary of Study Design for BPS:12/14 ................................................................................................1

c. Legislative Authorization..........................................................................................................................2

2. Purpose and Uses of the Data ..........................................................................................................................2

a. The BPS Cohort ........................................................................................................................................2

b. Current Research and Policy Issues Related to BPS.................................................................................3

c. Previous Agency Use of the Data .............................................................................................................7

3. Use of Information Technology.......................................................................................................................7

4. Efforts to Identify Duplication.........................................................................................................................7

5. Method Used to Minimize Burden on Small Businesses.................................................................................8

6. Frequency of Data Collection..........................................................................................................................9

7. Special Circumstances of Data Collection.......................................................................................................9

8. Consultants Outside the Agency......................................................................................................................9

9. Provision of Payments or Gifts to Respondents............................................................................................10

10. Assurance of Confidentiality .........................................................................................................................10

11. Sensitive Questions........................................................................................................................................12

12. Estimates of Response Burden ......................................................................................................................12

13. Estimates of Cost to Respondents..................................................................................................................13

14. Costs to the Federal Government...................................................................................................................13

15. Reasons for Changes in Response Burden and Costs....................................................................................14

16. Publication Plans and Time Schedule............................................................................................................14

17. Approval to Not Display Expiration Date for OMB Approval......................................................................15

18. Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions.......................................................15

Appendix A. Linkages to Administrative Data Sources 

Appendix B. Data Security Language for Vendor Contracts 

Appendix C. Bibliography of Publications Using BPS Data 

Appendix D. Technical Review Panel Contact List

Appendix E. Confidentiality Agreements

Appendix F. Letters and Contacting Materials 

Appendix G. Data Collection Instrument
iii

List of Tables

Table 1. Chronology of NPSAS and its longitudinal components.......................................................8

Table 2. Estimated BPS:12/14 full-scale data collection cost and response burden..........................12

Table 3. Costs to the National Center for Education Statistics for BPS:12/14 ..................................13

Table 4. Contract costs for BPS:12/14...............................................................................................14

Table 5. Operational schedule for BPS:12/14....................................................................................15
1

A. Justification

1. Circumstances Making Collection of Information Necessary

a. Purpose of this Submission

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), within the U.S. Department of Education

(ED), Institute of Education Sciences, is requesting clearance for data collection materials and procedures

for the full-scale collection of the 2012/14 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study

(BPS:12/14) first follow-up, including the student interview and panel maintenance activities. In 2013, 

NCES received clearance of the BPS:12/14 field test data collection that was conducted in the spring of 

2013. The materials to be used in the main study are based upon those that were approved in February

2013 for the field test data collections (OMB# 1850-0631 v.7). With that submission, NCES adequately

justified the need for and overall practical utility of the full study as proposed and an overarching plan for 

the phases of the data collection over the next 3 years, and provided as much detail on the measures to be 

used as was available at the time of the submission. OMB approved the initial phase of this collection in 

February 2013, and now NCES published a notice in the Federal Register allowing a 30-day public 

comment period on the details of the subsequent study components (full-scale first follow-up) described 

in this submission.

The BPS longitudinal study is designed to follow a cohort of students who enroll in postsecondary

education for the first time during the 2011/12 academic year, irrespective of date of high school 

completion. The study collects student data on persistence in, and completion of, postsecondary

education programs; their transition to employment; demographic characteristics; and changes over time 

in their goals, marital status, income, and debt, among other indicators. Data from BPS are used to help 

researchers and policymakers better understand how financial aid influences persistence and completion, 

what percentages of students complete various degree programs, what employment and wage outcomes 

are for certificate and degree attainers, and why students leave school.

This study is being conducted under contract # ED- IES-09-C-0039 with RTI International (a trade 

name of Research Triangle Institute), as well as Coffey Consulting, LLC, Branch Associates, Research 

Support Services, and consultants Dr. Cynthia Decker and Ms. Andrea Sykes.

b. Summary of Study Design for BPS:12/14

The BPS:12/14 full-scale sample will consist of students eligible to participate in the NPSAS:12 

full-scale study, who first began postsecondary education at U.S. institutions during the 2011–12 

academic year. The BPS:12/14 student interview, for which clearance is requested, will involve a webbased interview conducted in two separate substudies. The first, a calibration study, will evaluate optimal 

incentive amounts for use in the baseline and second phase of the responsive design plan for the main fullscale data collection. About 10 percent of the BPS full-scale sample will be randomly selected to 

participate in the calibration study, with data collection beginning in mid-February. The second, main 

study will collect data from the remaining sample in 6 phases involving different incentive amounts, field 

interviewing and/or local exchange calling, and a mobile-enabled abbreviated interview. Each 

intervention has been selected to address a different reason for non-response. 
2

Additional data for the BPS:12/14 full-scale student sample will be obtained from a variety of 

administrative data sources. Student financial aid data will be matched and downloaded from the Central 

Processing System (CPS), which houses and processes data contained in the Free Application for Federal 

Student Aid (FAFSA) forms. Data will also be obtained from the National Student Loan Data System 

(NSLDS), which contains both federal Pell Grant and Stafford Loan data, and the National Student 

Clearinghouse (NSC) containing enrollment and degree attainment information provided by participating 

institutions. A description of linkages to these administrative data sources can be found in Appendix A, 

and the security measures in place for these linkages are provided in Appendix B.

During full-scale data collection, an additional data source may be available from student records 

abstracted from institutions attended by members of the BPS:12 cohort. The approach for abstraction of 

institution records has recently been tested as part of the Education Longitudinal Study:2002 (ELS:2002) 

Third Follow-Up (OMB #1850-0652 v.10). Although concurrent or contemporaneous collections of 

similar data (e.g., in NPSAS) have been successful for the purpose of determining how students pay for 

their postsecondary education in the current academic year, the ELS:2002 Financial Aid Feasibility Study

(FAFS) assesses the practicability of collecting the data retrospectively, with records that go back as far as 

2004. Results of the ELS:2002 FAFS are currently being evaluated,

ELS:2002 institutions were asked to provide a borrowing history for a 3-year period within the 

entire tenure of the identified ELS:2002 students who attended their institution. Longitudinal analysis of 

student financial aid records will allow examination of borrowing and debt trends over time, as well as the 

effects of those trends on postsecondary persistence and attainment, and decisions about work and family. 

The results of the feasibility study are helping provide information about the quality of the data when 

collecting financial aid student records that span a number of years and, ultimately, inform decisions on 

such efforts for the BPS first and second follow-up studies which would require retrospective collection to 

2011-12. Once this additional collection is funded, a separate forms clearance package will be submitted

for future BPS follow-ups.

c. Legislative Authorization

The BPS longitudinal study is authorized by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA), 

20 U.S.C. § 9543) and is being conducted in close consultation with other offices and organizations 

within and outside the U.S. Department of Education (ED).

2. Purpose and Uses of the Data

a. The BPS Cohort

BPS is unique as the only nationally-representative study of all students –including nontraditional 

students who delayed postsecondary entry and those in short-term vocational programs – beginning 

postsecondary education for the first time in the same academic year. It is also the only study that follows 

students throughout the entire postsecondary education system over a number of years. As a result, it 

provides a much more accurate portrait of these students’ persistence, attainment, and experiences than do 

studies that focus only on the first institution or rely on institution-reported data alone. 

BPS:12/14 will provide data on 2011-12 beginning postsecondary students in their first 3 years 

after entering postsecondary education. Because current economic conditions have increased interest in 
3

the relationship between subbaccalaureate credentials and employment outcomes, for the first time, BPS

features an oversample of students seeking educational certificates in 2-year public, 2-year for-profit, and 

4-year for-profit institutions. A recent NCES report used BPS:04/09 data to examine subbaccalaureate 

completers and noncompleters’ labor market outcomes1 but, due to small samples, was often unable to 

detect significant differences among certificate seekers. Analyses of students’ labor market outcomes will 

be aided by BPS:12/14’s expanded employment section, which will collect an employment history on all 

jobs held by respondents since starting postsecondary education. For those who have already left 

postsecondary education, with or without earning a credential, greater detail will be collected on specific 

jobs held.

In addition to post-enrollment employment, BPS provides data on beginning students’

demographics, high school preparation, enrollment and employment while enrolled, financial aid and 

borrowing, and education and career expectations. The primary purpose of BPS is to contribute to a 

better understanding of how these factors relate to three key postsecondary outcomes: persistence, degree 

attainment, and employment. To this end, BPS:12/14 will prepare multiple publications that will report 

key statistics on how students with varying characteristics performed on these outcomes 3 years after 

starting their postsecondary careers; the later BPS second follow-up study (BPS:12/17) will explore these 

outcomes over a longer period of time.

b. Current Research and Policy Issues Related to BPS

To facilitate understanding of the relationships among the key BPS outcomes, the BPS:12 

longitudinal study has adopted the human capital model as its research framework, and now incorporates 

several new sets of questions that the latest research suggests will be helpful in predicting the outcomes of 

interest. These questions include students’ earnings potential given current education, their earnings 

expectations after completing the postsecondary credential, the extent to which they prefer current over 

future rewards (also known as their discount rate), and their physical and emotional health.

As a major longitudinal data collection, BPS:12 will continue to provide timely data in several 

areas of policy interest. For example, the President’s American Graduation Initiative has set ambitious 

goals to increase Americans’ postsecondary education attainment over the next decade. As a result of that 

and other related initiatives, more students are being encouraged to enroll. At the same time, the 

economic downturn has resulted in higher enrollments and a shift in the composition of new 

postsecondary enrollees. BPS allows researchers to describe these changing enrollment patterns and 

examine their relationship with students’ postsecondary persistence, degree attainment rates, and 

employment outcomes. 

BPS data will also contribute to our understanding of the relationship between the attainment of a 

postsecondary credential and job prospects which, since the advent of the Great Recession, continues to 

be prominent in the national conversation. In his first State of the Union address, President Obama called 

for every American to take at least one year of education beyond high school—including postsecondary

occupational education – and to consider their potential earnings in choosing a college. In addition, the 

Administration plans to include information on employment and earnings in its College Scorecard in 

 

1

http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2012/2012273.pdf
4

order to help students at all levels of postsecondary education better understand the relationship between 

education and employment. 

Focusing specifically on STEM fields, the White House’s Engage to Excel initiative seeks to 

produce one million additional college graduates in STEM to fill the projected gaps in America’s 

workforce. One of its primary goals is to increase the number of students who choose STEM majors and 

retain them through receipt of a postsecondary degree, with a special focus on engaging them during the 

first 2 years of a STEM-related degree program. Data from the BPS:12 cohort will permit estimation of

overall changes in rates of degree attainment and major field of study, particularly with respect to majors 

in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (or STEM). 

With respect to subbaccalaureate credentials, a report from the Georgetown Center on Education 

and the Economy (Carnevale et al, 2012)2 notes that certificates “provide the outcomes that degreeseeking students are looking for: gainful employment,” (p. 35) and can serve as gateways to higher level 

college credentials. Because there is a particular paucity of information on the labor market value of nondegree credentials, including industry-recognized certifications, occupational licenses, and 

subbaccalaureate educational certificates, the BPS:12 cohort includes an oversample of students who 

entered postsecondary education seeking to attain a subbaccalaureate certificate. In addition, BPS is 

coordinating with the Interagency Working Group on Expanded Measures of Enrollment and Attainment 

(GEMEnA) to improve federal statistical data on these credentials. 

Tuition costs, financial aid, and student debt are also receiving considerable attention from 

lawmakers. To help address these issues, the Obama Administration recently announced its desire to 

incorporate performance-based funding into federal financial aid programs, with colleges rated on 

affordability, completion rates, and graduates’ earnings. New gainful employment regulations seek to 

ensure that students are able to obtain jobs and earn incomes in their chosen professions that allow them 

to repay their loans. BPS provides a considerable amount of data related to these topics. To further 

inform debates on changing the financial aid system, BPS will obtain institution-level information about 

how students are paying for their postsecondary education beyond the first year. This new data collection 

effort will provide greater insight into the extent to which college costs, financial aid, and debt over time 

are related to persistence, attainment, and employment outcomes.

Some of the many research and policy issues to be addressed with BPS:12/14 data include the 

following: 

Persistence

 What proportion of beginning students are enrolled in their first institution and what 

proportion are enrolled at any institution 3 years after initially enrolling?

 How frequently are students no longer enrolled anywhere after 3 years, and how long had 

such students been enrolled before they left?

 What is the rate at which students transfer between institutions, when do they transfer, and 

what are the most common transfer patterns in terms of the types of institutions left and 

entered?

 

2 Carnevale, Anthony P., Rose, Stephen J., and Hanson, Andrew R. (2012) Certificates: Gateway to Gainful Employment and College 

Degrees. Washington, DC: Georgetown Center on Education and the Economy.
5

 To what extent do students change their major from STEM to non-STEM fields, and vice 

versa?

 What proportion of certificate attainers enters another certificate or degree program? Are 

their subsequent certificates and degrees in related fields of study?

 How do the above persistence questions differ by demographic characteristics, high school 

preparation, enrollment, employment during enrollment, financial aid and borrowing, and 

education and career expectations? In particular, how are high school preparation and 

institution type related to attainment?

Postsecondary Enrollment Characteristics and Experiences

 How are beginning postsecondary students distributed across different types of 

institutions? Across different degree programs?

 What fields of study do beginning postsecondary students pursue, and in which do they

obtain degrees?

 To what extent do students participate in online, night, and weekend courses and programs, 

and how does participation differ by demographic characteristics, type of institution 

attended, and field of study?

 To what extent do students feel a sense of belonging at their institution and how is this 

related to their demographic characteristics and other enrollment characteristics and 

experiences? How is this sense of belonging related to academic and employment 

outcomes?

Employment during Enrollment

 What percentage of students work while enrolled, and of them, what proportion have a job 

related to their field of study?

 Of those who work while enrolled, do they work on or off campus and how many hours 

per week do they work?

Financial Aid and Borrowing

 What types of financial support do dependent beginning students receive from their parents

and other relatives and friends during their postsecondary education?

 What proportion of beginning postsecondary students receives federal Pell Grants or 

veterans or other Department of Defense education benefits? What proportion of students 

borrows private loans, in what amount, and how does this borrowing vary by demographic 

characteristics and institution type?

 How does the percentage of beginning students taking out federal loans and the average 

amount borrowed vary by demographic and enrollment characteristics?

 What is the amount of federal loan debt students acquire and how does this differ by 

students’ demographic, high school preparation, and enrollment characteristics?

 What is the average cumulative debt of beginning students after 3 years and what factors 

are related to the amount owed?

 What kinds of borrowers struggle in repayment and default on their student loans after 3 

years?
6

Attainment

 What percentage of beginning students earn a certificate or associate’s degree within 3

years?

 How long does it take beginning students to earn these credentials?

 To what extent are demographic characteristics, high school preparation, enrollment, 

employment during enrollment, financial aid and borrowing characteristics, and education 

and career expectations linked to attainment and time to attainment? In particular, how are

institution type, transfer patterns, and debt related to attainment?

Education and Career Expectations

 What degrees or certificates do students expect to attain, when do they expect to complete 

them, and how confident are they in these expectations?

 How much support do beginning students receive from their families and friends in their 

pursuit of their educational goals?

 To what positions do beginning students aspire, and what do they think they will earn in 

these positions?

 How close are students’ predicted earnings to actual average earnings in their expected 

careers?

 What would beginning students do if they were not in school, and if they thought they

would be working, what did they think they would be earning?

 What is students’ discount rate, or, phrased another way, how large a premium do 

beginning postsecondary students place on more immediate versus more remote rewards?

Employment Outcomes after Leaving Postsecondary Education

 Among beginning students who have left postsecondary education, what percentage has

experienced unemployment spells? How many spells have they had and how many

months has each spell lasted?

 How much do beginning students who have left postsecondary education earn, and what 

benefits do they receive?

 What are certificate attainers’ employment outcomes? What percentage is employed in 

their field of study? How do their employment outcomes compare to those who are not 

employed in their field of study? In what occupations are these students employed, and do 

their occupations align with their field of study?

 Among beginning postsecondary students who did not enter postsecondary education 

directly from high school and who left postsecondary education within 3 years, to what 

extent does their employment before and after postsecondary education differ? To what 

extent does employment prior to postsecondary education contribute to employment 

outcomes after postsecondary education? 

 How do the answers to this set of questions differ by demographic characteristics, high 

school preparation, enrollment, employment during enrollment, financial aid and 

borrowing, and education and career expectations as well as persistence and attainment?

Answers to these and other questions are vital if policymakers at the local, state, and national 

levels are to respond adequately to the changing environment of postsecondary education. 
7

c. Previous Agency Use of the Data

NCES has used data from the previous cycles of BPS in a variety of publications. NCES also 

makes BPS data available for use by researchers via both restricted-use data files and the public-use data 

tools, PowerStats and QuickStats. Appendix C provides a bibliography of publications using BPS data, 

including peer-review journal publications prepared by researchers using these data. 

3. Use of Information Technology

To improve the efficiency of student data collection, BPS:12/14 will use web-based student 

interviewing across two modes of data collection, self-administered surveys and computer-assisted 

telephone interviewing (CATI). In the NPSAS:12 and the BPS:12/14 field test, 80.6 percent and 83.3 

percent of interviews, respectively, were completed online as self-administered surveys. The abbreviated 

interview will be developed to be mobile-friendly, allowing respondents to complete the interview on a 

tablet or, if desired, a smartphone.

4. Efforts to Identify Duplication

Efforts to identify duplication have included NCES consultations with other federal offices, such 

as ED’s Office of Postsecondary Education, the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, 

the National Science Foundation, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Office of Management and 

Budget. NCES also routinely consults with non-federal associations such as the American Council on 

Education, the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities, the National Association of 

Independent Colleges and Universities, and the Institute for Higher Education Policy to confirm that the 

data to be collected for the BPS longitudinal study are not available from any other sources. Academic 

researchers are also consulted, with several attending Technical Review Panel meetings along with 

representatives from federal agencies, associations, and postsecondary institutions. Beyond identification 

of duplication, these consultations provide methodological insights from the results of other longitudinal 

postsecondary student studies conducted by NCES and other federal agencies and nonfederal sources, and 

the consultations assure that the data collected through BPS will meet the needs of the federal government 

and other relevant organizations. There are no other studies in the U.S that duplicate the data produced by 

BPS.

BPS is one of several studies sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education to respond to the 

need for a national, comprehensive database concerning significant issues in access, choice, enrollment, 

persistence, progress, and attainment in undergraduate postsecondary education, in graduate and 

professional school access, and in post-enrollment experiences. The base study for BPS is the National 

Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), a recurring survey of a nationally representative, crosssectional sample of postsecondary students. The NPSAS surveys have been implemented every 3 to 4 

years since 1986–87.

There are three previous cohorts of the Beginning Postsecondary Students (BPS) Longitudinal 

Study: BPS:90, BPS:96, and BPS:04. The BPS:12 cohort was identified from NPSAS:12 just as the 

previous BPS cohorts, and the Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B) study cohorts, have originated from 

prior NPSAS studies. Unlike BPS, which follows a cohort of first time beginning students at institutions 

at all levels of postsecondary education, B&B follows a cohort of baccalaureate recipients at institutions 
8

awarding 4-year degrees and above. As the B&B cohort is necessarily made up of degree recipients, 

persistence in undergraduate education is not an emphasis in B&B, as it is in BPS. Additionally, B&B 

places a special emphasis on the experiences of new elementary and secondary teachers. The chronology

of the previous administrations of the NPSAS study and its associated BPS and B&B longitudinal 

components are presented in table 1.

There have been a number of related studies to BPS. For example, NCES has conducted high 

school cohort studies, such as High School and Beyond (HS&B), the National Longitudinal Study of the 

High School Class of 1972 (NLS-72), the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88), the 

Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002), and the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009

(HSLS:09), which follow or plan to follow students into college. While these studies accurately reflect the 

education and employment experiences and outcomes of the high school cohorts from which they drew a 

sample, they are not nationally representative of all beginning postsecondary students because not all 

beginners enter directly from high school. In fact, according to BPS:04/09, one-third of all beginning 

postsecondary students were over age 19 when they entered for the first time. 

Another related study conducted by NCES is the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 

System (IPEDS) Graduation Rate Survey (GRS). Like BPS, the GRS provides data on enrollment and 

attainment for both recent and nonrecent high school graduates. However, its definition of beginning 

postsecondary students is more restrictive than that of BPS as it is limited to full-time, degree seeking, 

first-time postsecondary students who entered in the fall. In addition, GRS collects enrollment and 

attainment data from institutions rather than students, meaning it can only provide information on 

students’ attainment at the first institution attended and not students’ attainment at any institutions to 

which they transfer.

Table 1. Chronology of NPSAS and its longitudinal components

Base year First follow-up Second follow-up Third follow-up

NPSAS:90 BPS:90/92 BPS:90/94 —

NPSAS:93 B&B:93/94 B&B:93/97 B&B:93/03

NPSAS:96 BPS:96/98 BPS:96/01 Administrative data update 

NPSAS:2000 B&B:2000/01 — —

NPSAS:04 BPS:04/06 BPS:04/09 Administrative data update

NPSAS:08 B&B:08/09 B&B:08/12 —

NPSAS:12 BPS:12/14 BPS:12/17 BPS:12/191

— Not applicable

1 Tentative.

NOTE: BPS = Beginning Postsecondary Students; B&B = Baccalaureate and Beyond. 

5. Method Used to Minimize Burden on Small Businesses

The student survey for BPS:12/14 does not involve small businesses or entities. 

If the financial aid record collection is conducted, some small for-profit schools and other small 

public and private schools will be contacted. Burden will be minimized on these schools by working 
9

closely with a school-appointed coordinator (e.g., the financial aid administrator) before the data 

collection effort to identify the format in which records are kept and transmitted. Once this additional 

collection is funded, a separate forms clearance package will be submitted.

6. Frequency of Data Collection

BPS studies have been conducted periodically since 1990, as described in section 4 of Part A of 

this package. The BPS:12/14 full-scale data collection will be conducted in 2014, 2 years after the 

NPSAS:12 full-scale collection from which the BPS student sample was selected. A future follow-up 

with the BPS:12/14 student sample is anticipated in 2017, as part of BPS:12/17, and may include an 

interview, administrative record matching, student records collection, and a one-time transcript collection, 

if funded. 

The NPSAS and its longitudinal spin-off studies, BPS and B&B, are conducted to reflect the 

large-scale and rapid changes in federal policy concerning postsecondary student aid—eligibility

restrictions change, sizes of grant and loan amounts fluctuate, and the balance between various aid options

can change dramatically. A recurring study is essential to help predict future costs for financial aid 

because loan programs create continued obligations for the federal government as long as the loans are 

being repaid. Second, repeated surveys can capture the changing nature of the postsecondary

environment. With the longitudinal design of the NPSAS survey and BPS follow-ups, representative 

national samples of beginning postsecondary students with similar base-year characteristics may be 

compared over time to determine the effects of changes in federal policy and programs. Third, repeated 

surveys can help researchers understand the effect of economic conditions on the employment outcomes 

for subbaccalaureate educational certificate holders. The new oversample of certificate seekers that will 

be available for the full-scale study, combined with the longitudinal nature of BPS, allows for analysis of 

how the value of these credentials shifts in response to market forces.

7. Special Circumstances of Data Collection

No special circumstances of data collection are anticipated. 

8. Consultants Outside the Agency

Recognizing the significance of the BPS:12/14 data collection, several strategies have been 

incorporated into the project work plan that allow for the critical review and acquisition of comments 

relating to project activities, interim and final products, and projected and actual outcomes. These 

strategies include consultations with persons and organizations both internal and external to NCES, ED, 

and the federal government. 

Previous BPS implementations have benefited from a standing federal review panel comprising 

staff from many federal offices, including ED’s Office of Postsecondary Education, OMB, and the 

Congressional Budget Office. Some members of this panel also belong to the TRP for BPS. The 

membership of the TRP (see Appendix D) represents a broad spectrum of the postsecondary community. 

The nonfederal members serve as expert reviewers on the technical aspects of the study design, data 

collection procedures, and instrument design, especially item content and format. The TRP reviewed the 

proposed full-scale interview content and study design during its meeting in August 2013.
10

9. Provision of Payments or Gifts to Respondents 

The use of incentives is an integral part of the overall data collection plan for BPS:12/14, and is 

proposed for the purpose of encouraging early response and minimizing nonresponse. The data collection 

design is described in detail in Part B, Item 4, Tests of Procedures and Methods. The proposed design 

includes a calibration experiment to determine the optimal incentive level for a given case. Approximately

3,000 students will be randomly assigned to one of 11 incentive categories, from $0 to $50 in $5 

increments, to encourage participation during the early response phase of data collection. The results of 

the experiment will be used to set the beginning incentive(s) for the main study accordingly, at an amount 

between $0 and $50. 

About 3 weeks after outbound calling has begun (approximately 7 weeks after the start of data 

collection), remaining nonrespondents in the calibration study will be evaluated for their potential to 

contribute to nonresponse bias. Highest potential cases, within pre-set bounds, will receive an additional 

incentive offer in one of three randomly selected amounts, $15, $30, or $45. Results of the calibration 

study will again be used to set the additional incentive amounts for the main study. Given prior 

experience with this population, we expect that about 58 percent of the initial sample will be 

nonrespondents at the point that importance scores are calculated. Among those, we expect about 30 

percent of cases will warrant special intervention during this phase with up to an additional $45. 

10. Assurance of Confidentiality

NCES assures participating individuals and institutions that all identifiable information collected 

in the BPS studies and related programs may be used only for statistical purposes and may not be 

disclosed, or used, in identifiable form for any other purpose except as required by law [Education 

Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA 2002), 20 U.S.C. § 9573]. BPS:12/14 data security and 

confidentiality protection procedures are in place to ensure that RTI and its subcontractors comply with 

all privacy requirements, including the following: 

 Statement of Work of this contract;

 Privacy Act of 1974 U.S.C. § 552(a) (2009);

 U.S. Department of Education Incident Handling Procedures (February 2009); 

 U.S. Department of Education General Handbook for Information Technology Security

General Support Systems and Major Applications Inventory Procedures (March 2005); 

 U.S. Department of Education, ACS Directive OM:5-101, Contractor Employee Personnel 

Security Screenings;

 Family Educational and Privacy Act of 1974, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g (2009);

 ESRA, 20 U.S.C. § 9573 (2009); and

 All new legislation, which impacts the data collection through this contract. 

To further ensure that confidentiality is appropriately maintained at all times, vendors who assist 

in locating and tracing sample members are also required to follow procedures that appropriately 

safeguard personally identifying information. RTI’s vendor contracts outline requirements for 

information security policies and assessments, security awareness training, physical and environmental 

security, monitoring, and access control. They also specify the means by which information may be 

transmitted between RTI and the contractor. Appendix B documents the data security language contained 

in vendor contracts.
11

RTI will adhere to NCES Statistical Standards (http://nces.ed.gov/statprog/2002/std4_2.asp). RTI

will also comply with ED’s IT security policy requirements, as set forth in the Handbook for Information 

Assurance Security Policy and related procedures and guidance as well as IT security requirements in the 

Federal Information Security Management Act, OMB Circulars, and the National Institute of Standards 

and Technology standards and guidance.

Consistent with the standards, BPS:12/14 data security procedures require that notarized 

nondisclosure affidavits be obtained from all personnel who will have access to individual identifiers 

(copies of the agreement and affidavit are provided in Appendix E). Also implemented are personnel 

training regarding the meaning of confidentiality; controlled and protected access to computer files; builtin safeguards concerning status monitoring and receipt control systems; and a secure, staffed, in-house 

computing facility. The procedures for securing sensitive project data will include the following: 

physical/environment protections, building access controls, system access controls, system login 

restrictions, user identification and authorization procedures, encryption, and project file 

storage/archiving/destruction. 

There are several security measures in place to protect data during file matching procedures. 

NCES has a secure data transfer system, which uses Secure Sockets Layer technology, allowing the 

transfer of encrypted data over the Internet. The NCES secure server will be used for all administrative 

data sources, with the exception of the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC), which has its own secure 

File Transfer Protocol site. All data transfers will be encrypted using Federal Information Processing 

Standards 140-2 validated encryption tools.

Furthermore, ED has established a policy regarding the personnel security screening requirements 

for all contractor employees and their subcontractors to secure the confidentiality of BPS respondents. 

The contractor must comply with these personnel security screening requirements throughout the life of 

the contract. The ED directive that contractors must comply with is OM: 5-101, which was last updated 

on July 16, 2010. There are several requirements that the contractor must meet for each employee 

working on the contract for 30 days or more. Among these requirements are that each person working on 

the contract must be assigned a position risk level. The risk levels are high, moderate, and low, based on 

the level of harm that a person in the position can cause to ED’s interests. Each person working on the 

contract must complete the requirements for a “Contractor Security Screening.” Depending on the risk 

level assigned to each person’s position, a follow-up background investigation by ED will occur. 

Sample member contact materials will describe the voluntary nature of the BPS:12/14 interview 

and convey the extent to which study member identifiers and responses will be kept confidential. 

Similarly, the scripts to be read by telephone staff will be very specific in the assurances made to sample 

members and contacts. Contacting materials are presented in Appendix F. The following confidentiality

language is provided in the study brochure that is supplied to all sample members:

The 2012/14 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:12/14) is conducted under the 

authority of the Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA) of 2002 (20 U.S.C. § 9543), which authorizes NCES 

to collect and disseminate information about education in the United States. Collection is most often done 

through surveys.

NCES is required to follow strict procedures to protect the confidentiality of persons in the collection, 

reporting, and publication of data. All individually identifiable information supplied by individuals or 

institutions to NCES may be used only for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed or used in 

identifiable form for any other purpose, unless otherwise compelled by law (20 U.S.C. § 9573).
12

11. Sensitive Questions

The BPS:12/14 interview contains items about earnings, assets and debts, and marital and family 

status. Federal regulations governing the administration of these questions, which might be viewed as 

sensitive due to personal or private information, require (a) clear documentation of the need for such 

information as it relates to the primary purpose of the study, (b) provisions to respondents that clearly

inform them of the voluntary nature of participation in the study, and (c) assurances that responses may be 

used only for statistical purposes, unless otherwise compelled by law (20 U.S.C. § 9573). Several 

procedures have been implemented to provide these assurances to respondents. They are outlined in the 

confidentiality agreements shown in Appendix E.

The collection of data related to income, earnings, assets, indebtedness, and long-range 

employment outcomes is central to understanding key policy issues driving this study. Financial assets 

and obligations can play an important role in student persistence in, and completion of, postsecondary

education programs. In addition, information about income, earnings, and assets provides vital labor 

force variables and important indicators of the rate of return of educational experiences to the respondent.

The collection of information about marital and family status also facilitates the exploration of key

policy issues. Social and economic support provided by spouses can play an important role in students 

enrolling and persisting in postsecondary education and the successful transition to employment. 

Financial and family-related obligations also influence decisions about employment and additional 

education, so it is important to collect information about marital status and dependents. 

12. Estimates of Response Burden 

BPS:12/14 will involve the collection of respondent interview data by self-administered web and 

telephone interview. Burden estimates—including number of sample members, expected response rates, 

and estimated time per respondent—are shown in table 2. Burden estimates for the administrative record 

collection from institutions will be provided with the submission for that full-scale data collection.

Table 2. Estimated BPS:12/14 full-scale data collection cost and response burden

BPS:12/14 Full-scale Sample 

Size

Expected 

Participation

Rate

Expected 

Eligible

Expected 

Number of 

Respondents*

Ave Burden 

(mins)

Total 

Burden 

(hours)

Rate per 

hour ($)

Total cost 

($)

Panel Maintenance 

(address updates) 37,166 15% N/A 5,575 5.0 465 $10 $465

Calibration Pretest

Base year respondents 1,111 80% 90% 800 30.0 400 $10 $4,000

Base year 

nonrespondents 1,600 45% 80% 576 35.0 336 $10 $3,360

Non study members 907 25% 75% 170 35.0 99 $10 $990

Student Interview

Base year respondents 28,965 80% 90% 20,855 30.0 10,428 $10 $104,280

Base year 

nonrespondents 3,011 45% 80% 1,084 35.0 632 $10 $6,320

Non study members 1,572 25% 75% 295 35.0 172 $10 $1,720

Total 23,780 12,532

NOTE: BPS:12/14 = 2012/14 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study, FTB = First Time Beginner

Potential FTB’s are those NPSAS:12 non-respondents who appeared to be FTB’s in NPSAS:12 student records data. Non study members are 

those NPSAS:12 sample members who, across all data sources, did not have sufficient data to support the analytic objectives of the study.

* The total expected number of respondents excludes those listed under panel maintenance, because they are already accounted for under 

pretest and interviews. The total number of responses is the sum of expected numbers of respondents across all categories (29,355).
13

13. Estimates of Cost to Respondents

Respondents will incur no costs for equipment, printing, postage or any other activities associated 

with participation in this study.

14. Costs to the Federal Government

A summary of the estimated costs to the federal government for BPS:12/14 is shown in Table 3. 

Included in the contract estimates are all staff time, reproduction, postage, and telephone costs associated 

with the management, data collection, analysis, and reporting for which clearance is requested. A more 

detailed breakdown of contract costs is provided in table 4.

Table 3. Costs to the National Center for Education Statistics for BPS:12/14 

Costs to NCES Amount ($)

BPS:12/14 Field Test Study

Salaries and expenses $ 111,290

Contract costs 2,845,927

Total 2,957,217

BPS:12/14 Full-Scale Study

Salaries and expenses 333,870

Contract costs 7,508,204

Total 7,842,074

BPS:12/14 Total Costs

Salaries and expenses 445,160

Contract costs 10,354,130

Total 10,799,290

NOTE: BPS:12/14 = 2012/14 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study.
14

Table 4. Contract costs for BPS:12/14

Study area and task management Budgeted amount ($)

110 Initial meeting with NCES 38,245

120 Schedules 40,235

130 Monthly reports 367,732

140 Integrated monitoring system 471,607

150 Technical review panels 865,358

Field test (FT)

210 FT Sampling 38,140

220 FT RIMG/OMB forms clearance 90,983

231 Instrumentation 696,220

232 Tracing 68,368

234 Training for Web/CATI data collection 126,693

236 Web/CATI data collection 393,288

237 Data processing 358,230

240 Methodology report 182,416

Full-scale (FS) data collection

310 FS Sampling 47,419

320 FS RIMG/OMB forms clearance 56,630

331 Instrumentation 673,805

332 Tracing 402,399

334 Training for web/CATI data collection 309,055

336 Web/CATI data collection – general 2,211,376

Web/CATI data collection – incentives 576,898

337 Data processing 720,259

338 Weighting, imputation, and nonresponse bias analysis 211,472

339 Data disclosure planning and prevention 57,574

340 Methodology report 311,049

Descriptive reporting

410 First Look report 73,163

420 Data analysis system 440,612

430 Additional special tabulations 135,937

440 Descriptive reports 108,415

450 Respond to information requests 267,645

460 Final technical memo 12,907

Total $ 10,354,130

NOTE: Costs presented here do not include base or award fee. BPS:12/14 = 2012/14 Beginning Postsecondary Students 

Longitudinal Study; CATI = computer-assisted telephone interviewing; OMB = Office of Management and Budget; RIMG = 

Regulatory Information Management Group.

15. Reasons for Changes in Response Burden and Costs 

The apparent increase in respondent burden is due to the fact that the previous clearance was for 

the BPS:12/14 field test, while this submission is for the full scale data collection.

16. Publication Plans and Time Schedule

The contract for BPS:12/14 requires the following reports, publications, or other public 

information releases:

 A First Look report and Web Tables;
15

 Complete data files and documentation for research data users in the form of both a restricteduse file and public-use data tools (i.e., QuickStats, PowerStats); 

 Detailed data file documentation describing all aspects of the full-scale study design and data 

collection procedures; and

 Special tabulations of issues of interest to the higher education community, as determined by 

NCES

Additional reports, including Statistics in Brief and Statistical Analysis Reports, may also be 

published from the full-scale data. For examples of publications using prior BPS studies see Appendix C.

The operational schedule for the BPS:12/14 full-scale study is shown in table 5.

Table 5. Operational schedule for BPS:12/14

Activity Start date End date

Field Test

Update/deliver sample specifications 7/10/2012 9/25/12

Conduct locating and tracing activities 8/16/2012 6/28/2013

Conduct help desk and CATI training 12/19/2012 3/22/2013

Data collection

Self-administered web interviews 3/18/2013 6/28/2013

Conduct telephone interviews of students 3/26/2013 6/28/2013

Process data, construct data files 1/28/2013 8/30/2013

Prepare data file documentation 4/4/2013 11/3/2014

Full-scale

Update/deliver sample specifications 7/15/2013 2/11/2014

Conduct locating and tracing activities 7/22/2013 9/15/2014

Conduct help desk and CATI training 11/25/2013 5/23/2014

Conduct Institution Contactor training 8/12/2014 10/10/2014

Data collection

Self-administered web interviews 2/18/2014 9/15/2014

Conduct telephone interviews of students 2/25/2014 9/15/2014

Process data, construct data files 12/16/2013 9/4/2015

Prepare and submit reports 8/14/2014 5/16/2016

Collect student financial aid data from institutions 10/1/2014 4/15/2015

NOTE: BPS:12/14 = 2012/14 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study; CATI = Computer assisted telephone 

interview; CAPI = Computer assisted personal interview

17. Approval to Not Display Expiration Date for OMB Approval

No special exception is requested.

18. Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions

There are no exceptions to the certification statement identified in the Certification for Paperwork 

Reduction Act Submissions of OMB Form 8.