Baccalaureate and Beyond: 

A First Look at the Employment Experiences and Lives 

of College Graduates, 4 Years On (B&B:08/12)

NCES 2014-141 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
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Baccalaureate and Beyond: 

A First Look at the Employment 

Experiences and Lives of College 

Graduates, 4 Years On 

(B&B:08/12) 

First Look 

JULY 2014 

Emily Forrest Cataldi

Peter Siegel

Bryan Shepherd

Jennifer Cooney

RTI International

Ted Socha

Project Officer

National Center for Education Statistics

NCES 2014-141

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
U.S. Department of Education

Arne Duncan

Secretary

Institute of Education Sciences

John Q. Easton

Director

National Center for Education Statistics

John Q. Easton

Acting Commissioner

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Suggested Citation

Cataldi, E.F., Siegel, P., Shepherd, B., and Cooney, J. (2014). Baccalaureate and Beyond: A First Look at the Employment 

Experiences and Lives of College Graduates, 4 Years On (B&B:08/12) (NCES 2014-141). National Center for Education 

Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC. Retrieved [date] from 

http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch. 

Content Contact

National Center for Education Statistics

NCES.info@ed.gov

(800) 677-6987
iii

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge and thank the approximately 17,000 college graduates who 

participated in the second follow-up of the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal 

Study (B&B:08/12), especially the bachelor’s degree recipients who were interviewed 

by phone and online. This study would not have been possible without their 

invaluable contributions.
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iv
v 

Contents

PAGE

Acknowledgments ................................................................................................. iii

List of Tables......................................................................................................... vii

Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1

Selected Findings .................................................................................................. 3

Tables ................................................................................................................... 4

References ............................................................................................................. 17

Appendix A------Glossary .......................................................................................... A-1

Appendix B------B&B:08/12 Technical Notes and Methodology ............................. B-1 
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vi
vii

List of Tables

TABLE PAGE

1 DEMOGRAPHIC AND UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGE 

CHARACTERISTICS: Percentage distribution of 2007--08 bachelor’s 

degree recipients by demographic and enrollment characteristics: 2012 ..... 4 

2 EMPLOYMENT AND ENROLLMENT: Percentage distribution of 

2007--08 bachelor’s degree recipients’ employment and additional 

postsecondary enrollment status, by demographic and enrollment 

characteristics: 2012 .................................................................................. 6 

3 EMPLOYMENT STATUS AND INTENSITY: Percentage of 2007--08 

bachelor’s degree recipients who were not enrolled in 2012 who were 

employed and, of those, percentage distribution of employment intensity, 

by demographic and enrollment characteristics: 2012 ............................... 8 

4 NUMBER OF JOBS AFTER BACHELOR’S: Among 2007--08 

bachelor’s degree recipients who worked after receiving the 2007--08 

degree and had not enrolled, average number of jobs held since receipt of 

degree and percentage distribution by number of jobs held and 

demographic and enrollment characteristics: 2012 .................................... 10 

5 PERCENTAGE OF TIME EMPLOYED, UNEMPLOYED, AND 

OUT OF THE LABOR FORCE: Average percentage of time, in 

months, since graduation that 2007--08 bachelor’s degree recipients who 

had not enrolled spent employed, unemployed, and out of the labor 

force, by demographic and enrollment characteristics: 2012 ...................... 12 

6 CHARACTERISTICS OF CURRENT PRIMARY JOB: Hours worked 

and annualized salary for 2007--08 bachelor’s degree recipients who were 

not enrolled and were working part and full time in their current primary 

job, by demographic and enrollment characteristics: 2012 ........................ 14 
viii LIST OF TABLES

TABLE PAGE

APPENDIX

B-1 Data sources for NPSAS:08, B&B:08/09, and B&B:08/12 ................... B-3 

B-2 Counts of sampled and eligible institutions and enrollment list 

participation rates, by institution characteristics: 2007--08 .................... B-6 

B-3 Counts of sampled and eligible students and response rates, by 

institution characteristics: 2007--08 ....................................................... B-8 

B-4 Potential B&B:08 cohort members, by eligibility source ....................... B-9 

B-5 Eligibility status based on transcripts of the B&B:08 sample members 

with baccalaureate receipt confirmed in the NPSAS:08 interview .......... B-10 

B-6 Counts of sampled and eligible students and response rates, by 

institution control: 2009 ....................................................................... B-11 

B-7 Distribution of the B&B:08/12 sample, by interview response status in 

NPSAS:08 and B&B:08/09 ................................................................... B-12 

B-8 Counts of sampled and eligible students and response rates, by 

institution control: 2012 ....................................................................... B-13 

B-9 Summary of components of the B&B:08/12 analysis weights: 2012 ...... B-16 

B-10 Summary of nonresponse bias analysis for each analysis weight, by type 

of institution: 2012 ............................................................................... B-20 

B-11 Summary of differences between means for each analysis weight, by 

type of institution: 2012 ........................................................................ B-21 

B-12 Weighted item response rates for all B&B:08/12 respondents, by type 

of institution: 2012 ............................................................................... B-23 

B-13 Standard errors for table 1: DEMOGRAPHIC AND 

UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGE CHARACTERISTICS: 

Percentage distribution of 2007--08 bachelor’s degree recipients by 

demographic and enrollment characteristics: 2012 ................................ B-25 
1 

Introduction

This report presents initial findings about the employment outcomes of bachelor’s degree 

recipients approximately 4 years after they completed their 2007 -08 degrees. These findings are 

based on data from the second follow-up of the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study 

(B&B:08/12), a nationally representative longitudinal sample survey of students who completed the 

requirements for a bachelor’s degree during the 2007 -08 academic year. The study addresses 

questions related to bachelor’s degree recipients’ education and employment experiences and 

includes two follow-ups. The first follow-up, which was conducted 1 year after graduation, explored 

both undergraduate education experiences and early postbaccalaureate employment and enrollment. 

This second follow-up, conducted in 2012, examines bachelor’s degree recipients’ labor market 

experiences and enrollment in additional postsecondary degree programs through the 4th year after 

graduation.

The Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B) series of data collections allows researchers to address 

questions regarding bachelor’s degree recipients’ undergraduate experiences, including their 

participation in various financial aid programs, undergraduate debt, and repayment of that debt; 

entrance into and progress through postbaccalaureate education; and employment, particularly for 

graduates who became elementary/secondary teachers. In B&B:08/12, respondents were asked to 

provide a complete employment history beginning from the date they completed their bachelor’s 

degree requirements. This depth of information on bachelor’s degree recipients’ employment and 

job search activities is new to the B&B series of studies, and this First Look, therefore, focuses on 

employment outcomes.

The First Look reports introduce new National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) survey 

data by presenting selected descriptive information. Readers are cautioned not to draw causal 

inferences based solely on the bivariate results presented: many of the variables examined in this 

report may be related to one another, and complex interactions and relationships among the 

variables have not been explored. The variables examined here are also just a few of those available in 

these data; they were selected to demonstrate the range of employment-related information in the 

study. The release of this report is intended to encourage other researchers to conduct more in-depth 

analysis of these data using more sophisticated statistical methods.

Among the approximately 137,800 undergraduate students who were sampled for the 

2007 -08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:08), approximately 17,110 students 
2 INTRODUCTION

were determined to be eligible for B&B:08/12. Eligible students were those who had enrolled at an 

institution that was eligible to participate in Title IV federal student aid programs and was located in 

one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico; had completed requirements for a 

bachelor’s degree between July 1, 2007, and June 30, 2008; and were awarded a baccalaureate degree 

by the institution from which they were sampled no later than June 30, 2009. These students 

represent approximately 1.6 million students who completed the requirements for a baccalaureate 

degree between July 1, 2007, and June 30, 2008. 

1

This report is organized as follows. The first section presents key findings from the detailed 

tables that follow. Table 1 provides information on the demographic and undergraduate enrollment 

characteristics of 2007 -08 bachelor’s degree recipients. Tables 2 -3 examine the employment and 

degree enrollment status of graduates in 2012, roughly 4 years after graduating with a bachelor’s 

degree. Table 4 addresses the number of jobs that graduates held within 4 years of graduation, while 

Table 5 presents the percentage of time that graduates spent employed, unemployed, and out of the 

labor force in that time frame. Table 6 examines the characteristics of graduates’ jobs in 2012. 

Appendix A provides a glossary of variables used in this publication and their definitions.

Appendix B provides details about the methods and procedures used for B&B:08/12. It contains 

information on data sources, sample design, imputation, weighting, and quality of estimates, 

including standard errors for estimates presented in table 1 (table B-13). Standard errors for 

estimates presented in all of the tables can be found at 

http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2014141. 

1 Approximately 17,160 students were eligible for B&B:08/09. About 30 students were found to be ineligible and 

approximately 20 were deceased as of B&B:08/12, reducing the eligible sample size to about 17,110. 
3 

Selected Findings

Demographic and enrollment characteristics

• Four years after graduating in 2007--08, some 54 percent of bachelor’s degree recipients were

unmarried with no dependent children, and 21 percent were married with no dependent 

children (table 1). Five percent were unmarried with dependent children, and another 20 

percent were married with dependent children.

Employment and enrollment status

• Eleven percent of 2007--08 bachelor’s degree recipients were combining employment and

additional postsecondary enrollment in 2012, some 6 percent were exclusively enrolled, 69 

percent were exclusively employed, 7 percent were unemployed (looking for work), and 8 

percent were out of the labor force (not looking for work) (table 2).2

• Four years after graduation, 83 percent of graduates who were not enrolled were employed

(table 3). Of those, about 85 percent worked in one full-time job, 8 percent worked in one

part-time job, and 8 percent had multiple jobs.3

• Among graduates who were not enrolled in 2012, some 87 percent of those who majored in

health care fields as undergraduates were employed, and of those 76 percent worked in one

full-time job, 14 percent in one part-time job, and 10 percent in multiple jobs (table 3).

• Among graduates who were not enrolled in 2012, some 78 percent of those who majored in

social science fields as undergraduates were employed, and of those 84 percent worked in one

full-time job, 8 percent in one part-time job, and 8 percent in multiple jobs (table 3).

Number of jobs held after the bachelor’s degree

• On average, 2007--08 graduates who had never enrolled in additional postsecondary degree

programs after earning their bachelor’s degree had held two jobs in the 4 years since 

graduation (table 4). Thirty-nine and 34 percent had held one or two jobs, respectively. 

Sixteen percent had held three jobs, and the remaining 11 percent had held four or more jobs. 

Time spent employed, unemployed, and out of the labor force

• On average, graduates who had not enrolled after earning their bachelor’s degree were

employed for about 84 percent of the months that elapsed between their graduation in 2007--08 

and the second follow-up study in 2012 (table 5). Some 6 percent of the time between 

graduation and the second follow-up study, on average, was spent unemployed, and the 

remaining 10 percent was spent out of the labor force.

Hours per week and salary in current primary job

• Bachelor’s degree recipients who had been employed in their current job for more than 3

months at the time of the second follow-up and were not enrolled, worked an average of 41 

hours per week in that job (table 6). Among the 85 percent who worked full time,

4 the 

average annualized salary from that primary job was $52,200. 

2 Detail may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding.

3 Detail may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding.

4 Graduates who worked more than 35 hours per week are defined as ‘‘working full time.’’
 

 4 TABLES

Demographic and enrollment characteristics Total

 Total 100.0

Sex

Male 42.6

Female 57.4

Race/ethnicity1

White 72.9

Black 8.6

Hispanic 9.2

Asian 5.8

Other 3.5

Age at bachelor’s degree award

23 or younger 64.8

24–29 19.8

30 or older 15.4

Bachelor’s degree major2

STEM major3 16.2

Computer and information sciences 2.9

Engineering and engineering technology 6.0

Biological and physical sciences, science technology, mathematics, and agricultural sciences 7.3

Non-STEM major 83.8

General studies and other4 3.0

Social sciences 15.2

Humanities 11.7

Health care fields 7.6

Business 23.3

Education 8.2

Other applied5 14.9

Bachelor’s degree institution sector6

Public 4-year 62.8

Private nonprofit 4-year 32.5

For-profit 4-year 4.6

See notes at end of table.

Table 1.

DEMOGRAPHIC AND UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGE CHARACTERISTICS: Percentage distribution of 2007–08 bachelor’s degree 

recipients by demographic and enrollment characteristics: 2012
TABLES 5 

Demographic and enrollment characteristics Total

Family status in 20127

Unmarried with no dependent children 54.0

Unmarried with dependent children 5.4

Married with no dependent children 20.9

Married with dependent children 19.6

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2008/12 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study 

(B&B:08/12).

3

 STEM major includes science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

4

 General studies and other includes liberal arts and sciences; general studies and humanities; multi/interdisciplinary studies; other; basic skills; 

citizenship activities; health-related knowledge and skills; interpersonal and social skills; leisure and recreational activities; personal awareness and 

self-improvement; and high school/secondary diplomas and certificates.

7

 Unmarried includes graduates who were separated.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Estimates include students enrolled in Title IV eligible postsecondary institutions in the 50 

states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2014141. 

To recreate the table(s) used to produce these estimates within PowerStats (http://nces.ed.gov/datalab), use the following QuickRetrieve codes once 

logged into the application: dbcbe56; dbcbe9f; dbcbe32; dbcbe52; febe34; dbcbead; dbcbedd.

6

 Estimates for private nonprofit 4-year institutions include 0.02 percent of graduates who attained their bachelor’s degrees from a private nonprofit 

less-than-4-year institution; estimates for for-profit 4-year institutions include 0.06 percent of graduates who attained their degrees from a for-profit 

less-than-4-year institution.

5

 Other applied includes personal and consumer services; manufacturing, construction, repair, and transportation; military technology and protective 

services; architecture; communications; public administration and human services; design and applied arts; law and legal studies; library sciences; 

and theology and religious vocations.

2

 Graduates with multiple majors were classified by the first major field of study reported.

Table 1.

DEMOGRAPHIC AND UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGE CHARACTERISTICS: Percentage distribution of 2007–08 bachelor’s degree 

recipients by demographic and enrollment characteristics: 2012—Continued

1

 Black includes African American, Hispanic includes Latino, and Other includes American Indian, Alaska Native, Pacific Islander, Native Hawaiian, 

and graduates having origins in two or more races or a race not listed. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin.
 

 6 TABLES

Employed 

only

UnemployedOut of the 

labor force

 Total 69.0 10.7 5.7 6.7 7.9

Sex

Male 71.2 9.7 5.7 6.9 6.5

Female 67.4 11.4 5.7 6.6 8.9

Race/ethnicity1

White 72.1 10.5 4.8 5.5 7.2

Black 57.1 14.2 8.8 11.8 8.1

Hispanic 65.8 10.1 6.2 8.5 9.4

Asian 58.7 8.5 9.7 11.9 11.3

Other 60.8 11.5 8.1 7.9 11.7

Age at bachelor’s degree award

23 or younger 70.1 10.6 6.5 6.0 6.8

24–29 69.0 11.0 4.6 6.9 8.6

30 or older 64.6 10.7 3.7 9.6 11.3

Bachelor’s degree major2

STEM major3 68.2 10.3 9.6 5.0 6.9

Computer and information sciences 76.8 6.8 ‡ 4.9 ! 9.5

Engineering and engineering technology 76.5 10.1 4.6 ! 4.3 4.5

Biological and physical sciences, science tech- 58.0 11.8 16.7 5.6 7.9

nology, mathematics, and agricultural sciences

Non-STEM major 69.2 10.7 5.0 7.1 8.0

General studies and other4 68.6 9.9 3.5 ! 9.4 8.6

Social sciences 61.7 12.2 8.9 9.6 7.6

Humanities 61.4 13.2 8.5 9.0 7.9

Health care fields 72.6 13.8 2.8 2.2 8.5

Business 74.6 8.8 2.8 6.6 7.3

Education 67.8 14.8 3.3 5.0 9.1

Other applied5 73.7 6.6 4.0 6.9 8.9

Bachelor’s degree institution sector6

Public 4-year 70.0 11.3 5.0 6.2 7.5

Private nonprofit 4-year 67.7 9.7 7.7 7.1 7.8

For-profit 4-year 65.2 8.3 1.9 ! 11.9 12.8

See notes at end of table.

Table 2.

EMPLOYMENT AND ENROLLMENT: Percentage distribution of 2007–08 bachelor’s degree recipients’ employment and additional 

postsecondary enrollment status, by demographic and enrollment characteristics: 2012

Both 

employed 

and 

enrolled

Enrolled 

only

Demographic and

enrollment characteristics

Not 

employed or enrolled
TABLES 7 

Employed 

only

UnemployedOut of the 

labor force

Family status in 20127

Unmarried with no dependent children 67.6 11.0 7.4 7.7 6.3

Unmarried with dependent children 67.1 12.9 5.3 6.5 8.3

Married with no dependent children 74.9 9.3 3.8 5.5 6.5

Married with dependent children 67.2 10.5 3.3 5.6 13.4

Table 2.

EMPLOYMENT AND ENROLLMENT: Percentage distribution of 2007–08 bachelor’s degree recipients’ employment and additional 

postsecondary enrollment status, by demographic and enrollment characteristics: 2012—Continued

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2008/12 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study 

(B&B:08/12).

! Interpret data with caution. Estimate is unstable because the standard error represents more than 30 percent of the estimate.

‡ Reporting standards not met. (Too few cases for a reliable estimate.)

1

 Black includes African American, Hispanic includes Latino, and Other includes American Indian, Alaska Native, Pacific Islander, Native Hawaiian, 

and graduates having origins in two or more races or a race not listed. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin.

2

 Graduates with multiple majors were classified by the first major field of study reported.

3

 STEM major includes science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

4

 General studies and other includes liberal arts and sciences; general studies and humanities; multi/interdisciplinary studies; other; basic skills; 

citizenship activities; health-related knowledge and skills; interpersonal and social skills; leisure and recreational activities; personal awareness and 

self-improvement; and high school/secondary diplomas and certificates.

5

 Other applied includes personal and consumer services; manufacturing, construction, repair, and transportation; military technology and protective 

services; architecture; communications; public administration and human services; design and applied arts; law and legal studies; library sciences; 

and theology and religious vocations.

6

 Estimates for private nonprofit 4-year institutions include 0.02 percent of graduates who attained their bachelor’s degrees from a private nonprofit 

less-than-4-year institution; estimates for for-profit 4-year institutions include 0.06 percent of graduates who attained their degrees from a for-profit 

less-than-4-year institution.

7

 Unmarried includes graduates who were separated.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Estimates include students enrolled in Title IV eligible postsecondary institutions in the 50 

states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2014141. 

To recreate the table(s) used to produce these estimates within PowerStats (http://nces.ed.gov/datalab), use the following QuickRetrieve code once 

logged into the application: dbcbeef.

Demographic and

enrollment characteristics

Not 

employed or enrolled

Both 

employed 

and 

enrolled

Enrolled 

only
 

 8 TABLES

Employed, 

among 

nonenrolled2

One fulltime jobOne parttime jobMultiple 

jobs

 Total 82.5 84.5 7.8 7.7

Sex

Male 84.1 88.7 5.4 5.9

Female 81.3 81.2 9.7 9.1

Race/ethnicity3

White 85.1 84.5 7.8 7.8

Black 74.1 83.9 5.2 10.9

Hispanic 78.6 82.9 11.1 6.0

Asian 71.6 92.0 5.9 ‡

Other 75.6 79.6 8.0 ! 12.4

Age at bachelor’s degree award

23 or younger 84.5 85.5 7.5 7.0

24–29 81.7 82.7 8.5 8.8

30 or older 75.5 82.5 8.1 9.4

Bachelor’s degree major4

STEM major5 85.1 90.7 4.3 5.0

Computer and information sciences 84.2 91.6 3.6 ! 4.7 !

Engineering and engineering technology 89.6 92.9 2.6 ! 4.5 !

Biological and physical sciences, science technology, 81.2 87.9 6.5 5.6

mathematics, and agricultural sciences

Non-STEM major 82.1 83.3 8.5 8.2

General studies and other6 79.2 82.2 11.3 6.5 !

Social sciences 78.2 83.6 8.0 8.5

Humanities 78.4 74.1 14.0 11.9

Health care fields 87.1 76.0 13.5 10.4

Business 84.3 89.9 4.8 5.3

Education 82.8 81.8 7.4 10.8

Other applied7 82.4 83.4 8.6 8.0

Bachelor’s degree institution sector8

Public 4-year 83.6 85.3 7.6 7.1

Private nonprofit 4-year 81.9 82.9 8.3 8.8

For-profit 4-year 72.5 85.5 6.5 8.0 !

See notes at end of table.

Table 3.

EMPLOYMENT STATUS AND INTENSITY: Percentage of 2007–08 bachelor’s degree recipients who were not enrolled in 2012 

who were employed and, of those, percentage distribution of employment intensity, by demographic and enrollment 

characteristics: 2012

Demographic and

enrollment characteristics

Employment intensity1
TABLES 9 

Employed, 

among 

nonenrolled2

One fulltime jobOne parttime jobMultiple 

jobs

Family status in 20129

Unmarried with no dependent children 82.8 84.9 7.3 7.8

Unmarried with dependent children 82.0 79.6 10.0 10.4

Married with no dependent children 86.3 86.4 6.5 7.0

Married with dependent children 78.0 82.4 10.0 7.6

‡ Reporting standards not met. (Too few cases for a reliable estimate.)

Table 3.

EMPLOYMENT STATUS AND INTENSITY: Percentage of 2007–08 bachelor’s degree recipients who were not enrolled in 2012 

who were employed and, of those, percentage distribution of employment intensity, by demographic and enrollment 

characteristics: 2012—Continued

Demographic and

enrollment characteristics

Employment intensity1

4

 Graduates with multiple majors were classified by the first major field of study reported.

! Interpret data with caution. Estimate is unstable because the standard error represents more than 30 percent of the estimate.

2

 The percentage of respondents who were not enrolled but were employed divided by the percentage of respondents who were not enrolled and 

were employed, unemployed, or out of the labor force.

3

 Black includes African American, Hispanic includes Latino, and Other includes American Indian, Alaska Native, Pacific Islander, Native Hawaiian, 

and graduates having origins in two or more races or a race not listed. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin.

1

 Full-time/part-time employment status is based on respondent report.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2008/12 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study 

(B&B:08/12).

5

 STEM major includes science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

6

 General studies and other includes liberal arts and sciences; general studies and humanities; multi/interdisciplinary studies; other; basic skills; 

citizenship activities; health-related knowledge and skills; interpersonal and social skills; leisure and recreational activities; personal awareness and 

self-improvement; and high school/secondary diplomas and certificates.

7 Other applied includes personal and consumer services; manufacturing, construction, repair, and transportation; military technology and protective 

services; architecture; communications; public administration and human services; design and applied arts; law and legal studies; library sciences; 

and theology and religious vocations.

8

 Estimates for private nonprofit 4-year institutions include 0.02 percent of graduates who attained their bachelor’s degrees from a private nonprofit 

less-than-4-year institution; estimates for for-profit 4-year institutions include 0.06 percent of graduates who attained their degrees from a for-profit 

less-than-4-year institution.

9

 Unmarried includes graduates who were separated.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Estimates include students enrolled in Title IV eligible postsecondary institutions in the 50 

states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2014141. 

To recreate the table(s) used to produce these estimates within PowerStats (http://nces.ed.gov/datalab), use the following QuickRetrieve codes once 

logged into the application: dbcbe30; dbcbeb1.
10 TABLES

Average 

number of 

jobs One Two Three

Four or 

more

 Total 2.1 38.7 33.6 16.3 11.4

Sex

Male 2.0 40.0 36.0 14.6 9.4

Female 2.1 37.6 31.7 17.6 13.1

Race/ethnicity1

White 2.1 37.1 33.9 16.4 12.5

Black 1.9 43.7 34.2 12.9 9.1

Hispanic 1.9 45.6 33.3 14.7 6.5

Asian 1.9 47.0 27.9 18.7 6.4 !

Other 2.3 30.0 35.2 20.9 13.9

Age at bachelor’s degree award

23 or younger 2.2 34.1 33.7 18.8 13.4

24–29 2.0 38.2 37.6 15.2 9.1

30 or older 1.7 55.6 28.1 8.8 7.5

Bachelor’s degree major2

STEM major3 1.9 46.9 29.0 16.9 7.2

Computer and information sciences 1.8 43.8 34.4 16.6 5.2 !

Engineering and engineering technology 1.7 57.3 26.5 11.4 4.8

Biological and physical sciences, science tech- 2.2 34.8 28.0 24.9 12.3

nology, mathematics, and agricultural sciences

Non-STEM major 2.1 37.2 34.4 16.2 12.2

General studies and other4 2.1 33.2 35.4 24.5 7.0

Social sciences 2.1 37.1 32.3 18.1 12.4

Humanities 2.6 23.2 32.5 20.5 23.8

Health care fields 1.9 45.9 31.7 12.7 9.8

Business 1.9 40.9 38.0 13.7 7.4

Education 2.1 40.1 32.6 15.4 12.0

Other applied5 2.3 34.7 32.8 16.9 15.7

Bachelor’s degree institution sector6

Public 4-year 2.1 39.0 33.3 16.8 10.9

Private nonprofit 4-year 2.1 36.0 35.2 16.1 12.6

For-profit 4-year 2.0 49.7 28.6 11.0 10.6 !

See notes at end of table.

Table 4.

NUMBER OF JOBS AFTER BACHELOR’S: Among 2007–08 bachelor’s degree recipients who worked after receiving the 2007–08 

degree and had not enrolled, average number of jobs held since receipt of degree and percentage distribution by number of jobs 

held and demographic and enrollment characteristics: 2012

Demographic and

enrollment characteristics

Number of jobs
TABLES 11

Average 

number of 

jobs One Two Three

Four or 

more

Family status in 20127

Unmarried with no dependent children 2.2 33.3 34.2 18.1 14.4

Unmarried with dependent children 1.9 45.4 33.8 12.8 8.1 !

Married with no dependent children 2.0 40.7 33.4 15.7 10.2

Married with dependent children 1.8 47.2 32.4 13.6 6.8

3

 STEM major includes science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

4

 General studies and other includes liberal arts and sciences; general studies and humanities; multi/interdisciplinary studies; other; basic skills; 

citizenship activities; health-related knowledge and skills; interpersonal and social skills; leisure and recreational activities; personal awareness and 

self-improvement; and high school/secondary diplomas and certificates.

5

 Other applied includes personal and consumer services; manufacturing, construction, repair, and transportation; military technology and protective 

services; architecture; communications; public administration and human services; design and applied arts; law and legal studies; library sciences; 

and theology and religious vocations.

6

 Estimates for private nonprofit 4-year institutions include 0.02 percent of graduates who attained their bachelor’s degrees from a private nonprofit 

less-than-4-year institution; estimates for for-profit 4-year institutions include 0.06 percent of graduates who attained their degrees from a for-profit 

less-than-4-year institution.

Table 4.

NUMBER OF JOBS AFTER BACHELOR’S: Among 2007–08 bachelor’s degree recipients who worked after receiving the 2007–08 

degree and had not enrolled, average number of jobs held since receipt of degree and percentage distribution by number of jobs 

held and demographic and enrollment characteristics: 2012—Continued

Demographic and

enrollment characteristics

Number of jobs

! Interpret data with caution. Estimate is unstable because the standard error represents more than 30 percent of the estimate.

7

 Unmarried includes graduates who were separated.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Estimates include students enrolled in Title IV eligible postsecondary institutions in the 50 

states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2014141. 

To recreate the table(s) used to produce these estimates within PowerStats (http://nces.ed.gov/datalab), use the following QuickRetrieve codes once 

logged into the application: dbcbe7c; dbcbe0c.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2008/12 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study 

(B&B:08/12).

1

 Black includes African American, Hispanic includes Latino, and Other includes American Indian, Alaska Native, Pacific Islander, Native Hawaiian, 

and graduates having origins in two or more races or a race not listed. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin.

2

 Graduates with multiple majors were classified by the first major field of study reported.
12 TABLES

Demographic and

enrollment characteristics

Average 

percentage of 

months spent 

employed

Average 

percentage of 

months spent 

unemployed

Average 

percentage of 

months spent out 

of the labor force

 Total 84.0 5.8 10.2

Sex

Male 84.9 6.2 9.0

Female 83.2 5.5 11.3

Race/ethnicity1

White 86.0 5.1 8.9

Black 78.9 7.2 13.9

Hispanic 78.1 8.4 13.6

Asian 74.2 8.2 17.5

Other 81.3 7.2 11.5

Age at bachelor’s degree award

23 or younger 85.4 5.6 9.1

24–29 82.6 6.5 10.9

30 or older 80.9 5.8 13.3

Bachelor’s degree major2

STEM major3 87.5 4.6 8.0

Computer and information sciences 86.4 3.7 9.9

Engineering and engineering technology 92.1 3.9 4.0

Biological and physical sciences, science technology, 82.0 6.3 11.7

 mathematics, and agricultural sciences

Non-STEM major 83.4 6.0 10.6

General studies and other4 83.3 5.1 11.7

Social sciences 80.1 7.0 12.9

Humanities 81.6 7.5 10.9

Health care fields 88.8 2.5 8.8

Business 84.6 5.7 9.7

Education 82.1 6.6 11.3

Other applied5 82.6 6.5 10.8

Bachelor’s degree institution sector6

Public 4-year 84.1 5.6 10.4

Private nonprofit 4-year 84.5 6.0 9.5

For-profit 4-year 80.0 7.4 12.7

See notes at end of table.

Table 5.

PERCENTAGE OF TIME EMPLOYED, UNEMPLOYED, AND OUT OF THE LABOR FORCE: Average percentage of time, in months, 

since graduation that 2007–08 bachelor’s degree recipients who had not enrolled spent employed, unemployed, and out of the 

labor force, by demographic and enrollment characteristics: 2012
TABLES 13

Demographic and

enrollment characteristics

Average 

percentage of 

months spent 

employed

Average 

percentage of 

months spent 

unemployed

Average 

percentage of 

months spent out 

of the labor force

Family status in 20127

Unmarried with no dependent children 83.9 7.2 8.9

Unmarried with dependent children 85.5 5.7 8.9

Married with no dependent children 85.7 4.5 9.8

Married with dependent children 82.0 4.0 14.0

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2008/12 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study 

(B&B:08/12).

NOTE: Estimates include students enrolled in Title IV eligible postsecondary institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. 

Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2014141. To recreate the table(s) used to produce these 

estimates within PowerStats (http://nces.ed.gov/datalab), use the following QuickRetrieve code once logged into the application: dbcbe15.

7

 Unmarried includes graduates who were separated.

6

 Estimates for private nonprofit 4-year institutions include 0.02 percent of graduates who attained their bachelor’s degrees from a private nonprofit 

less-than-4-year institution; estimates for for-profit 4-year institutions include 0.06 percent of graduates who attained their degrees from a for-profit 

less-than-4-year institution.

5

 Other applied includes personal and consumer services; manufacturing, construction, repair, and transportation; military technology and protective 

services; architecture; communications; public administration and human services; design and applied arts; law and legal studies; library sciences; 

and theology and religious vocations.

Table 5.

PERCENTAGE OF TIME EMPLOYED, UNEMPLOYED, AND OUT OF THE LABOR FORCE: Average percentage of time, in months, 

since graduation that 2007–08 bachelor’s degree recipients who had not enrolled spent employed, unemployed, and out of the 

labor force, by demographic and enrollment characteristics: 2012—Continued

4

 General studies and other includes liberal arts and sciences; general studies and humanities; multi/interdisciplinary studies; other; basic skills; 

citizenship activities; health-related knowledge and skills; interpersonal and social skills; leisure and recreational activities; personal awareness and 

self-improvement; and high school/secondary diplomas and certificates.

3

 STEM major includes science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

2

 Graduates with multiple majors were classified by the first major field of study reported.

1

 Black includes African American, Hispanic includes Latino, and Other includes American Indian, Alaska Native, Pacific Islander, Native Hawaiian, 

and graduates having origins in two or more races or a race not listed. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin.
14 TABLES

Average

Percent 

full time2 Average Median Average Median

 Total 41.2 85.4 $25,900 $20,200 $52,200 $46,000

Sex

Male 43.1 89.7 26,500 20,300 57,800 51,100

Female 39.8 82.0 25,700 20,200 47,400 42,500

Race/ethnicity3

White 41.3 85.4 25,500 20,200 52,400 46,500

Black 40.5 88.4 31,300 25,000 48,800 42,000

Hispanic 39.9 81.2 24,300 18,000 47,300 44,400

Asian 44.0 90.3 20,700 18,000 62,500 55,000

Other 41.6 83.3 ‡ 18,700 ! 49,400 43,000

Age at bachelor’s degree award

23 or younger 41.6 86.0 25,300 20,800 50,700 45,000

24–29 40.5 83.7 25,700 18,700 51,000 46,200

30 or older 40.6 85.1 28,900 20,800 60,700 54,000

Bachelor’s degree major4

STEM major5 43.7 92.4 30,700 23,400 65,000 60,000

Computer and information sciences 42.0 95.8 40,000 ‡ 72,600 66,000

Engineering and engineering technology 44.8 94.7 44,100 34,900 73,700 67,600

Biological and physical sciences, science tech- 43.4 88.0 22,500 17,100 50,400 46,800

nology, mathematics, and agricultural sciences

Non-STEM major 40.8 84.1 25,500 20,000 49,500 44,000

General studies and other6 41.1 83.1 ‡ 25,000 ! 53,700 44,000

Social sciences 40.9 84.2 22,500 15,600 46,700 40,000

Humanities 38.6 73.3 21,100 16,600 43,100 38,400

Health care fields 36.6 76.3 38,300 32,800 58,900 54,800

Business 42.8 90.7 26,700 20,800 55,500 50,000

Education 41.0 84.8 23,000 21,600 40,500 37,000

Other applied7 40.7 84.3 20,900 16,400 44,800 41,500

Bachelor’s degree institution sector8

Public 4-year 41.4 86.0 25,100 20,000 50,700 45,000

Private nonprofit 4-year 41.1 84.4 26,500 19,200 53,700 47,500

For-profit 4-year 40.1 83.5 32,500 34,900 62,900 54,000

See notes at end of table.

Table 6.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CURRENT PRIMARY JOB: Hours worked and annualized salary for 2007–08 bachelor’s degree recipients 

who were not enrolled and were working part and full time in their current primary job, by demographic and enrollment 

characteristics: 2012

Full time

Hours per week in 

current primary job

Demographic and

enrollment characteristics

Part time

Annualized salary in current primary job1
TABLES 15

Average

Percent 

full time2 Average Median Average Median

Family status in 20129

Unmarried with no dependent children 41.8 85.5 $23,700 $18,300 $51,300 $45,500

Unmarried with dependent children 39.0 82.4 32,800 ! 23,500 47,700 41,600

Married with no dependent children 41.3 86.5 28,700 22,800 51,600 46,800

Married with dependent children 40.2 84.6 26,500 21,800 56,500 48,000

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2008/12 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study 

(B&B:08/12).

Demographic and

enrollment characteristics

Hours per week in 

current primary job

Annualized salary in current primary job1

Part time Full time

Table 6.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CURRENT PRIMARY JOB: Hours worked and annualized salary for 2007–08 bachelor’s degree recipients 

who were not enrolled and were working part and full time in their current primary job, by demographic and enrollment 

characteristics: 2012—Continued

3

 Black includes African American, Hispanic includes Latino, and Other includes American Indian, Alaska Native, Pacific Islander, Native Hawaiian, 

and graduates having origins in two or more races or a race not listed. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin.

6

 General studies and other includes liberal arts and sciences; general studies and humanities; multi/interdisciplinary studies; other; basic skills; 

citizenship activities; health-related knowledge and skills; interpersonal and social skills; leisure and recreational activities; personal awareness and 

self-improvement; and high school/secondary diplomas and certificates.

7

 Other applied includes personal and consumer services; manufacturing, construction, repair, and transportation; military technology and protective 

services; architecture; communications; public administration and human services; design and applied arts; law and legal studies; library sciences; 

and theology and religious vocations.

NOTE: The current primary job is the job held at the time of the second follow-up interview at which the respondent had worked for more than 3 

months. Estimates include students enrolled in Title IV eligible postsecondary institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. 

Standard error tables are available at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2014141. To recreate the table(s) used to produce these 

estimates within PowerStats (http://nces.ed.gov/datalab), use the following QuickRetrieve codes once logged into the application: dbcbef1; dbcbecb.

! Interpret data with caution. Estimate is unstable because the standard error represents more than 30 percent of the estimate.

‡ Reporting standards not met. (Too few cases for a reliable estimate.)

1

 Salary for the current primary job, as reported by the respondent, calculated on an annual basis.

2

 Graduates who worked more than 35 hours per week are defined as working full time.

4 Graduates with multiple majors were classified by the first major field of study reported.

5 STEM major includes science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

9 Unmarried includes graduates who were separated.

8

 Estimates for private nonprofit 4-year institutions include 0.02 percent of graduates who attained their bachelor’s degrees from a private nonprofit 

less-than-4-year institution; estimates for for-profit 4-year institutions include 0.06 percent of graduates who attained their degrees from a for-profit 

less-than-4-year institution.
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16 TABLES
17

References

Cominole, M., Riccobono, J., Siegel, P., and Caves, L. (2010). 2007--08 National 

Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:08) Full-scale Methodology Report (NCES 

2011-188). National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education 

Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC. 

Cox, B. (1980). The Weighted Sequential Hot Deck Imputation Procedure. Proceedings 

of the Section on Survey Research Methods, American Statistical Association, pp. 

721--726. 

Flyer, P.A. (1987). Finite Population Correction for Replication Estimates of Variance. 

Proceedings of the Section on Survey Research Methods, American Statistical 

Association, pp. 732--736. 

Kott, P.S. (1988). Model-Based Finite Population Correction for the HorvitzThompson Estimator. Biometrika, 75(4): 797--799. 

Marker, D.A., Judkins, D.R., and Winglee, M. (2002). Large-Scale Imputation for 

Complex Surveys. In R. Groves, D. Dillman, J. Eltinge, and R. Little (Eds.), 

Survey Nonresponse (pp. 329--341). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 

RTI International. (2012). SUDAAN User’s Manual, Release 11.0. Research Triangle 

Park, NC: Author. 

Seastrom, M.M. (2012). NCES Statistical Standards (NCES 2014097). National Center 

for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of 

Education. Washington, DC. Retrieved June 10, 2014, from 

http://nces.ed.gov/statprog/2012. 

Wine, J., Janson, N., Siegel, P., and Bennett, C. (2013). 2008/09 Baccalaureate and 

Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:08/09) Full-scale Methodology Report (NCES 

2014-041). National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education 

Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC. 
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18 REFERENCES 
A-1 

Appendix A—Glossary

This glossary includes descriptions of the variables used in the tables of this report. 

All of the variables are found in the 2008/12 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal 

Study (B&B:08/12) database, and statistics from the database are generated by 

PowerStats, a web-based software application available to the public at 

http://nces.ed.gov/datalab. The variables are listed in the glossary index below by 

general topic area and then in the order in which they appear in the tables. The 

glossary that follows is organized alphabetically by variable label. 

Glossary Index

Student Characteristics

Sex ...................................................................................................................................... GENDER

Race/ethnicity............................................................................................................................ RACE

Age at bachelor’s degree award............................................................................................AGEATBA

Bachelor’s degree major .................................................................................................... MAJORS4Y

Bachelor’s degree institution sector ..................................................................................... SECTOR9

Family status in 2012 ........................................................................................................B2MARCH

Employment Status and Characteristics

Employment and enrollment status .......................................................................................B2LFP12

Number of jobs since bachelor’s degree............................................................................. B2TOTJOB 

Average percentage of months spent employed....................................................................B2PCEMP

Average percentage of months spent unemployed ........................................................... B2PCUNEM

Average percentage of months spent out of the labor force...................................................B2PCOLF

Hours per week in current primary job ................................................................................ B2CJHRS

Annualized salary in current primary job............................................................................... B2CJSAL

Enrolled in degree program since bachelor's degree........................................................B2CPSTGRD
A-2 APPENDIX A—GLOSSARY

VARIABLE

Age at bachelor’s degree award AGEATBA

Indicates the respondent’s age (in years) at the date of the award of the 2007--08 bachelor’s degree.

Annualized salary in current primary job B2CJSAL

Salary of respondent’s current primary job at the time of the second follow-up interview, calculated on 

an annual basis. Respondents could report salary in annual, monthly, weekly, or hourly amounts. 

Annual amounts were included as reported; monthly amounts were multiplied by 12; weekly amounts 

were multiplied by 52; and hourly amounts were multiplied by the number of hours the respondent 

reported working at that job per week, then multiplied by 52. The current primary job is the currently

held job at which the respondent has worked for more than 3 months and, if more than one job meets 

these criteria, the job with the highest number of hours per week.

Average percentage of months spent employed B2PCEMP

Percentage of time, measured in months, employed from the date the bachelor’s degree was awarded 

to second follow-up.

Average percentage of months spent out of the labor force B2PCOLF

Percentage of time, measured in months, out of the labor force from the date the bachelor’s degree 

was awarded to second follow-up.

Average percentage of months spent unemployed B2PCUNEM

Percentage of time, measured in months, unemployed from the date the bachelor’s degree was 

awarded to second follow-up.

Bachelor’s degree institution sector SECTOR9

Indicates the level and control of the institution at which the respondent completed his or her 

bachelor’s degree during the 2007--08 academic year. Control concerns the source of revenue and 

control of operations (public, private nonprofit, for-profit), and level concerns the highest degree or 

award offered by the institution in any program.

Bachelor’s degree major MAJORS4Y

The respondent’s major or field of study for the 2007--08 bachelor’s degree.

STEM major Includes computer and information sciences; engineering 

and engineering technology; biological and physical 

sciences, science technology, mathematics, and 

agricultural sciences.

Computer and information sciences Includes computer and information sciences.

Engineering and engineering 

technology

Includes engineering and engineering technology.

Biological and physical sciences, 

science technology, mathematics, 

and agricultural sciences

Includes biological and physical sciences, science 

technology, mathematics, and agricultural sciences.

Non-STEM major Includes general studies and other; social sciences; 

humanities; health care fields; business; education; and 

other applied.
APPENDIX A—GLOSSARY A-3 

VARIABLE

Bachelor’s degree major------Continued MAJORS4Y

General studies and other Includes liberal arts and sciences; general studies and 

humanities; multi/interdisciplinary studies; other; basic 

skills; citizenship activities; health-related knowledge and 

skills; interpersonal and social skills; leisure and 

recreational activities; personal awareness and selfimprovement; and high school/secondary diplomas and 

certificates.

Social sciences Includes family and consumer sciences; human sciences; 

social sciences; and psychology.

Humanities Includes area, ethnic, cultural, gender, and group studies; 

English language and literature/letters; foreign languages, 

literatures, and linguistics; visual and performing arts; 

philosophy and religious studies; and history.

Health care fields Includes allied health, pre-medical and pre-dentistry 

programs; mental and social health services; public health; 

veterinary medicine; and nursing.

Business Includes business services and business, management, 

marketing, and related support services. 

Education Includes educational administration, curriculum and 

instruction, student counseling, teaching support, and 

special education.

Other applied Includes personal and consumer services; manufacturing, 

construction, repair, and transportation; military 

technology and protective services; architecture; 

communications; public administration and human 

services; design and applied arts; law and legal studies; 

library sciences; and theology and religious vocations.

Employment and enrollment status B2LFP12

Indicates respondent’s full-time/part-time employment and enrollment status as reported in 2012. 

Employment status was self-reported, not based on the number of hours worked per week. 

Enrollment includes attending a college, university, or trade school for an additional degree or 

certificate but excludes professional certifications such as those earned through a week-long training 

course. The categories were as follows:

Employed only Employed but not enrolled.

Both employed and enrolled Employed and enrolled.

Enrolled only Enrolled but not employed.

Not employed or enrolled Not enrolled and not working but looking for work. 

Unemployed. 

Not employed or enrolled Not enrolled, not working, and not looking for work. 

Out of the labor force. 
A-4 APPENDIX A—GLOSSARY

VARIABLE

Family status in 2012 B2MARCH

Respondent’s family status including dependent children and marital status.

Hours per week in current primary job B2CJHRS

Hours worked per week at the respondent’s current primary job. The current primary job is the job

held at the time of the second follow-up interview at which the respondent had worked for more than 

3 months. If more than one job met these criteria, the current primary job is the job with the highest 

number of hours worked per week. 

Number of jobs since bachelor’s degree B2TOTJOB

Number of jobs respondent reported having since earning the 2007--08 bachelor’s degree.

Race/ethnicity RACE

Indicates a respondent’s race/ethnicity with Hispanic or Latino origin as a separate category. All of the 

race categories exclude Hispanic origin unless specified.

White A person having origins in any of the original peoples of 

Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East.

Black A person having origins in any of the black racial groups 

of Africa.

Hispanic A person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or 

South American, or other Spanish culture or origin, 

regardless of race.

Asian A person having origins in any of the peoples of the Far 

East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent. This 

includes people from China, Japan, Korea, the Philippine 

Islands, India, and Vietnam.

Other Includes persons reporting origins in any of the original 

peoples of North America and who maintain cultural 

identification through tribal affiliation or community 

recognition (American Indians), Alaska Natives, persons 

having origins in the Pacific Islands including Hawaii and 

Samoa, persons reporting having origins in a race not 

listed above, and persons reporting origins in more than 

one race.

Sex GENDER

Indicates the sex of a graduate. 
APPENDIX B—B&B:08/12 TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY B-1 

Appendix B— 

B&B:08/12 Technical Notes and Methodology

Overview

The Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B) is one of several National 

Center for Education Statistics (NCES)-sponsored studies developed to address the 

need for nationally representative data on key postsecondary education issues such as 

postsecondary access, enrollment, curricula, attainment, and social impact.

B&B is a follow-up to the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) and

focuses exclusively on students who completed requirements for their baccalaureate 

degrees during the NPSAS academic year. Once these students are identified, B&B

follows them to monitor their progress over a period of up to 10 years. B&B, 

therefore, focuses on issues relevant to graduates such as workforce participation, 

enrollment and persistence in additional education, and income and debt repayment. 

The 2008 Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B:08) cohort is the third cohort of 

graduates to be tracked by NCES since 1993, and the 2008/12 Baccalaureate and 

Beyond (B&B:08/12) wave of data collection is the second B&B follow-up of this 

cohort, which was first identified as part of the 2007--08 National Postsecondary 

Student Aid Study (NPSAS:08). 

As with previous B&B studies, B&B:08/12 includes a multimode student interview 

component that collects information on students’ education and employment since 

graduation. B&B:08/09, the first follow-up of the B&B:08 panel, included a 

transcript component that provides researchers with additional institution- and 

student-level data for analysis. 
B-2 APPENDIX B—B&B:08/12 TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY 

Data Sources for B&B:08/12

Data for B&B:08/12 were obtained from the following sources:

1

• Interview: Data collected directly from sampled graduates via web,

telephone, and field interviews.

2

• Student records: Data from financial aid and registrar records at the

NPSAS sample institution. These data were entered at the institution by

institution personnel or field data collectors using a computer-assisted

data entry (CADE) program or directly downloaded to a data file in

2008. 

• Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS): U.S.

Department of Education, NCES database of descriptive information

about individual postsecondary institutions.

• Central Processing System (CPS): U.S. Department of Education

database of federal financial aid applications.

• National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS): U.S. Department of

Education database of federal Title IV loans and Pell Grants.

• National Student Clearinghouse (NSC): A central repository and single

point of contact for the collection of postsecondary enrollment, degree,

and certificate records on behalf of participating postsecondary

institutions.

• Student transcript: Student enrollment and achievement data collected

from the NPSAS sample institution as part of the B&B:08/09

Postsecondary Education Transcript Study (B&B:08/09 PETS).

• College catalog: Institutional- and course-level data collected from

postsecondary institution materials as part of B&B:08/09 PETS.

B&B:08/12 includes some data that were originally collected for NPSAS:08 and 

B&B:08/09. Table B-1 shows whether a data source was new for the given study 

(N), carried over from the previous round without being refreshed (CO), or carried 

over from the previous round but refreshed (R). 

1 Additional third-party data sources may be included in the final data files. 2 The B&B:08/09 data collection effort included field interviews; the NPSAS:08 and B&B:08/12 data 

collections were conducted by web and telephone only.
APPENDIX B—B&B:08/12 TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY B-3 

Table B-1. 

Data sources for NPSAS:08, B&B:08/09, and B&B:08/12

Sample Design

Identification of the B&B:08/12 sample required a multistage process that began

with selection of the NPSAS:08 sample of institutions and was followed by selection 

of students within institutions. A third stage confirmed that sample members were 

indeed baccalaureate recipients during the 2007--08 academic year and, therefore, 

eligible to be sampled for the B&B:08 cohort. All eligible sample members (as 

determined by the B&B:08/09 interview and the transcripts) were included in the 

B&B:08/12 sample. 

Base-Year Study (NPSAS:08) 

To be eligible for inclusion in the B&B:08 cohort, students3 must have been part of 

the student universe at an institution included in the NPSAS:08 institution universe. 

The definitions of the NPSAS:08 institution and student universes are presented 

below. 

3 Sample members are referred to as ‘‘students’’ here because they were students during the 2007--08 

academic year, when sample selection occurred. Many of the sample members were not students at the 

time of the B&B:08/12 study. 

Data source NPSAS:08 B&B:08/09 B&B:08/12

Interviews N N N

Student records N CO CO

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) N CO R

Central Processing System (CPS) N R R

National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) N R R

SAT N CO CO

ACT N CO CO

National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) † N CO

Student transcripts † N CO

College catalogs † N CO

NOTE: N = New data source; CO = Data carried over from previous round and not refreshed; R = Data carried over from previous round and 

refreshed.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2007–08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:08); 

2008/09 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:08/09); and 2008/12 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:08/12).

† Not applicable.
B-4 APPENDIX B—B&B:08/12 TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY 

Institution Universe for NPSAS:08

To be eligible for the NPSAS:08 sample, institutions had to meet certain criteria 

during the 2007--08 academic year. They must have 

• been eligible to distribute Title IV funds;

• offered an educational program designed for persons who had completed

at least a high school education;

• offered at least one academic, occupational, or vocational program of

study lasting at least 3 months or 300 clock hours;

• offered courses that were open to persons other than the employees or

members of the company or group (e.g., union) that administers the

institution;

• been located in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, or

Puerto Rico; and

• not been a U.S. service academy.

Student Universe for NPSAS:08

To be eligible for NPSAS:08, students had to be enrolled in a NPSAS-eligible 

institution in any term or course of instruction at any time from July 1, 2007, 

through June 30, 2008. Students also

• had to be enrolled in any of the following: an academic program; at least

one course for credit that could be applied toward fulfilling the

requirements for an academic degree; or an occupational or vocational

program that required at least 3 months or 300 clock hours of instruction

to receive a degree, certificate, or other formal award;

• could not be currently enrolled in high school; and

• could not be enrolled solely in a General Educational Development

(GED) or other high school completion program.

Institution Sample for NPSAS:08

NPSAS:08 constructed its institution sampling frame from the IPEDS:2004 -05 

Institutional Characteristics (IC), Fall Enrollment, and Completions files. Because 

the original sample of 1,630 institutions was drawn from the IPEDS:2004 -05 IC 

file, newly eligible institutions were added to produce a sample that was 

representative of those that qualified in the 2007 -08 academic year. To do this, the 

IPEDS:2005 -06 IC, Fall Enrollment, and Completions files were used to create an 

updated sampling frame of current NPSAS-eligible institutions. Through this 

process, about 10 institutions were added to the sample. In fall 2007, the decision 
 

APPENDIX B—B&B:08/12 TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY B-5 

was made to include state-representative undergraduate student samples for four 

degree-granting institution sectors (public 4-year; public 2-year; private nonprofit 

4-year; and for-profit 4-year) in six states: California, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, 

New York, and Texas.4 To accomplish this, a supplemental sample was drawn and 

added to the existing sample. The final NPSAS:08 sample included 1,960 

institutions. Of these institutions,

5

 about 1,940 (99 percent) were eligible to 

participate in NPSAS:08. Table B-2 shows the number of institutions that were 

sampled, the number of eligible institutions, and the number and unweighted and 

weighted percentages of eligible institutions providing enrollment lists, by 

institutional characteristics.

 

4 These six states were selected based on the size of undergraduate enrollment in the four sectors; prior 

inclusion in the NPSAS:04 12-state sample with high levels of cooperation and participation in that 

survey; and unique or recently changed tuition and state grant policies that provided opportunities for 

comparative research and analysis.

5 Reported numbers have been rounded to ensure the confidentiality of data. As a result, reported 

percentages (based on unrounded numbers) may differ somewhat from those that would result from 

these rounded numbers.
B-6 APPENDIX B—B&B:08/12 TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY 

Institution characteristics1

Sampled 

institutions

Eligible 

institutions Number

Unweighted 

percent

Weighted 

percent2

 All institutions 1,960 1,940 1,730 89.0 90.1

Institution level

Less-than-2-year 130 120 100 82.6 83.2

2-year 570 560 510 89.7 90.7

4-year non-doctorate-granting 700 700 630 89.7 91.9

4-year doctorate-granting 560 560 500 88.8 88.6

Institution control

Public 960 960 880 91.9 91.2

Private nonprofit 650 640 560 87.4 86.7

For-profit 350 340 290 83.6 88.2

Type of institution

Public less-than-2-year 20 20 20 90.9 93.2

Public 2-year 450 450 410 91.7 91.2

Public 4-year non-doctorate-granting 200 200 190 94.4 95.4

Public 4-year doctorate-granting 290 290 260 90.7 89.2

Private nonprofit less-than-4-year 20 20 20 84.2 84.7

Private nonprofit 4-year non-doctorate-granting 370 370 320 88.2 87.9

Private nonprofit 4-year doctorate-granting 260 260 230 86.5 85.9

For-profit less-than-2-year 100 90 70 80.4 81.0

For-profit 2-year or more 260 250 210 84.8 90.2

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2007–08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:08).

Table B-2. 

Counts of sampled and eligible institutions and enrollment list participation rates, by institution characteristics: 2007–08

Institutions providing lists

1

 Institution characteristics are based on data from the sampling frame that was formed from 2004–05 IPEDS and freshened from 2005–06 IPEDS. 

2

 The base weight was used to produce the estimates in this column. 

NOTE: Percentages are based on the unrounded count of institutions. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
APPENDIX B—B&B:08/12 TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY B-7 

Student Sample for NPSAS:08 

Sample institutions provided lists of their eligible students who were then sampled by 

stratified systematic sampling with predetermined sampling rates that varied by 

student stratum. A ‘‘study respondent’’ is defined as any sample member who was 

eligible for the study and had valid data from any data source for the following

variables: 

• student type (undergraduate or graduate/first-professional);

• date of birth or age;

• sex; and

• at least 8 of the following 15 variables:

o dependency status

o marital status

o any dependents

o income

o expected family contribution (EFC)

o degree program

o class level

o baccalaureate status

o months enrolled

o tuition

o received federal aid

o received nonfederal aid

o student budget

o race/ethnicity

o parent education

Table B-3 shows the number of students sampled, the number of eligible students, 

and the unweighted and weighted percentages of study respondents, by institutional 

characteristics. See Cominole et al. (2010) for additional details on NPSAS:08 

sampling. 
B-8 APPENDIX B—B&B:08/12 TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY 

Table B-3. 

Counts of sampled and eligible students and response rates, by institution characteristics: 2007–08

First Follow-Up Study (B&B:08/09) 

Institutions were asked during NPSAS:08 to identify students on the enrollment list 

who had received or were expected to receive a baccalaureate degree between July 1, 

2007, and June 30, 2008. NPSAS:08 oversampled potential baccalaureate recipients 

to allow sufficient numbers to be included in B&B:08/09 and, thus, stratified them 

separately from other undergraduate students. Among potential baccalaureate 

recipients, business majors were undersampled to ensure that the sample did not 

consist primarily of business majors. Additionally, science, technology, engineering, 

and mathematics (STEM) majors; National Science and Mathematics Access to 

Institution characteristics2

Sampled 

students

Eligible 

students3

Unweighted 

percent

Weighted 

percent4

All students 137,800 132,800 96.2 95.7

Institution level

Less-than-2-year 8,820 7,950 95.0 96.7

2-year 43,460 40,770 93.3 92.5

4-year non-doctorate-granting 37,930 37,140 97.8 97.6

4-year doctorate-granting 47,590 46,940 97.6 97.6

Institution control

Public 87,470 84,240 95.3 94.9

Private nonprofit 32,760 31,950 97.7 97.3

For-profit 17,570 16,610 97.6 98.5

Type of institution

Public less-than-2-year 1,730 1,480 90.0 88.9

Public 2-year 39,340 37,010 92.8 92.2

Public 4-year non-doctorate-granting 16,120 15,850 98.0 98.1

Public 4-year doctorate-granting 30,280 29,910 97.3 97.4

Private nonprofit less-than-4-year 2,080 1,790 97.0 97.7

Private nonprofit 4-year non-doctorate-granting 14,200 13,930 97.3 96.8

Private nonprofit 4-year doctorate-granting 16,480 16,230 98.0 97.8

For-profit less-than-2-year 6,610 6,050 96.1 97.6

For-profit 2-year or more 10,960 10,560 98.5 98.7

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2007–08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:08).

3

 Sample member eligibility was determined during the student interview or from institutional records in the absence of a student interview.

2

 Institution characteristics are based on data from the sampling frame formed from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System 

(IPEDS):2004–05 and refreshed from IPEDS:2005–06.

1

 A study respondent is defined as any eligible sample member for whom sufficient key data were obtained from one or more sources, including the 

student interview, institutional records, and the U.S. Department of Education’s Central Processing System (CPS).

4

 The base weight was used to produce the estimates in this column. 

NOTE: Percentages are based on the unrounded count of eligible students. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

Study respondents1
APPENDIX B—B&B:08/12 TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY B-9 

Retain Talent (SMART) Grant recipients; and Academic Competiveness Grant 

(ACG) recipients were oversampled to allow sufficient numbers for analysis. Further, 

institutions that awarded proportionally higher amounts of education majors were 

oversampled for the same reason. 

B&B:08-eligible persons are individuals who completed requirements for a bachelor’s 

degree from a NPSAS:08-eligible institution between July 1, 2007, and June 30, 

2008, and were awarded their baccalaureate degree by the institution from which 

they were sampled no later than June 30, 2009. Before the B&B:08/09 interview, 

eligibility for the B&B:08 cohort was based primarily on information obtained from 

the student’s transcript. Lacking a transcript, eligibility was based on responses 

provided during the NPSAS:08 student interview. Without either the transcript or 

the interview, eligibility was based on the student’s institutional record or the 

enrollment list provided by the NPSAS:08 institution at the time of student 

sampling. Table B-4 shows the distribution of the 25,050 NPSAS:08 sample 

members who were potentially eligible for membership in the B&B:08 cohort 

according to their NPSAS:08 interview, institutional record, and/or enrollment list 

status.

Eligibility source Count

 Total 25,050

Baccalaureate receipt confirmed in NPSAS:08 interview 18,000

Baccalaureate receipt confirmed in NPSAS:08 institutional record 4,630

Potential baccalaureate recipient on NPSAS:08 enrollment list 2,420

Table B-4. 

Potential B&B:08 cohort members, by eligibility source

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2007–08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:08) 

and 2008/09 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:08/09).
B-10 APPENDIX B—B&B:08/12 TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY 

Table B-5 shows the eligibility status, based on transcripts, of the 18,000 B&B:08 

sample members whose baccalaureate receipt was confirmed in the NPSAS:08 

interview.

Table B-5. 

Eligibility status based on transcripts of the B&B:08 sample members with baccalaureate receipt confirmed in the NPSAS:08 

interview

Additionally, transcripts were requested from the sampled institutions for the 7,050 

NPSAS:08 interview nonrespondents who were either confirmed by the institutional 

record to be degree candidates or listed by the NPSAS:08 sample institution as 

bachelor’s degree candidates. Approximately 5,150 of these NPSAS:08 

nonrespondents were determined to be eligible for B&B:08/09 based on transcripts. 

In order to have full population coverage of the B&B:08/09 sample, a subsample of 

500 of the 5,150 NPSAS:08 interview nonrespondents was selected. Table B-6 shows 

the number of students sampled, the number of eligible students, and the 

unweighted and weighted response rates, by institutional control, for the student 

interview, transcripts, and the combined interview and transcript. See Wine et al. 

(2013) for additional details on B&B:08/09 sampling.

Eligibility status based on transcripts Count

 Total 18,000

Confirmed B&B:08 eligible 15,050

Confirmed B&B:08 ineligible 1,060

No transcript 1,890

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2007–08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:08) 

and 2008/09 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:08/09).
 

APPENDIX B—B&B:08/12 TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY B-11

B&B:08/09 Study Respondent Definition

A B&B:08/09 ‘‘student interview respondent’’ is defined as any sample member who 

had a completed, partial, or abbreviated B&B:08/09 interview. A ‘‘student transcript 

respondent’’ is defined as any sample member who had a transcript provided by the 

NPSAS:08 institution. A ‘‘combined student interview and transcript respondent’’ is 

defined as both an interview and a transcript respondent.

As shown in table B-6, among the 17,160 eligible sample students, the weighted 

interview response rate was 78 percent, the transcript weighted response rate was 92 

percent, and the combined interview and transcript weighted response rate was 73 

percent. 

Institution characteristics1

Sampled 

students

Eligible 

students

Unweighted 

response rate

Weighted 

response rate2

Student interview

All students 18,500 17,160 87.7 78.3

Institution control

Public 10,810 9,910 87.5 79.1

Private nonprofit 6,750 6,360 88.2 77.9

For-profit 940 890 85.5 69.6

Student transcript

All students 18,500 17,160 93.6 92.3

Institution control

Public 10,810 9,910 94.4 93.0

Private nonprofit 6,750 6,360 92.1 90.4

For-profit 940 890 96.3 96.3

Combined student interview and transcript

All students 18,500 17,060 82.2 73.1

Institution control

Public 10,810 9,840 82.8 74.4

Private nonprofit 6,750 6,330 81.2 71.2

For-profit 940 890 82.1 68.3

NOTE: Percentages are based on the unrounded count of eligible students. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. The eligible student 

counts for the combined student interview and transcript differ from the counts for the student interview and student transcript due to perturbation. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2008/09 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study 

(B&B:08/09).

1

 Institution characteristics are based on data from the sampling frame formed from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System 

(IPEDS):2004–05 and refreshed from IPEDS:2005–06.

Table B-6. 

Counts of sampled and eligible students and response rates, by institution control: 2009

Study respondents

2

 The base weight was used to produce the estimates in this column. 
B-12 APPENDIX B—B&B:08/12 TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY 

Second Follow-Up Study (B&B:08/12) 

The B&B:08/12 sample consisted of all B&B:08/09 eligible respondents and all 

B&B:08/09 nonrespondents, resulting in a sample size of 17,160. Table B-7 shows 

the distribution of the B&B:08/12 sample by prior response status. 

B&B:08/12 Study Respondent Definition

There are three types of respondents in B&B:08/12, each corresponding to one of 

the three analysis weights created for use with B&B:08/12. A ‘‘bookend respondent’’

is defined as any NPSAS:08 study respondent who had a completed, partial, or 

abbreviated B&B:08/12 interview. A ‘‘panel respondent’’ refers to any NPSAS:08 

study respondent who had a completed, partial, or abbreviated interview for both

B&B:08/09 and B&B:08/12. A ‘‘transcript panel respondent’’ is defined as a panel 

respondent who also had a transcript provided by the NPSAS:08 institution. 

As shown in table B-8, of the 17,110 eligible sample students, the weighted bookend 

response rate was 77 percent; the weighted panel response rate was 68 percent; and 

the weighted transcript panel response rate was 64 percent. 

NPSAS:08 interview status B&B:08/09 interview status Count

 Total 17,160

Respondent Respondent 14,830

Respondent Nonrespondent 1,880

Nonrespondent Respondent 220

Nonrespondent Nonrespondent 230

Table B-7. 

Distribution of the B&B:08/12 sample, by interview response status in NPSAS:08 and B&B:08/09

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2007–08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:08) 

and 2008/09 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:08/09).
APPENDIX B—B&B:08/12 TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY B-13

Perturbation

To protect the confidentiality of information about specific individuals, B&B:08/12 

data were subject to perturbation procedures to minimize disclosure risks. 

Perturbation procedures, which have been approved by the NCES Disclosure Review 

Board, preserve the central tendency estimates but may result in slight increases in 

nonsampling errors.

Institution characteristics1

Sampled 

students

Eligible 

students

Unweighted 

response rate

Weighted 

response rate2

Bookend

All students 17,160 17,110 85.1 77.1

Institution control

Public 9,910 9,880 85.5 78.3

Private nonprofit 6,360 6,340 84.9 74.5

For-profit 890 890 80.7 78.1

Panel

All students 17,160 17,110 78.8 68.2

Institution control

Public 9,910 9,880 79.1 69.7

Private nonprofit 6,360 6,340 79.1 66.4

For-profit 890 890 73.8 60.6

Transcript panel

All students 17,160 17,010 73.9 64.1

Institution control

Public 9,910 9,810 74.9 65.7

Private nonprofit 6,360 6,310 72.8 61.8

For-profit 890 880 71.4 59.6

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2008/12 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study 

(B&B:08/12).

Table B-8. 

Counts of sampled and eligible students and response rates, by institution control: 2012

Study respondents

1

 Institution characteristics are based on data from the sampling frame formed from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System 

(IPEDS):2004–05 and refreshed from IPEDS:2005–06.

2

 The base weight was used to produce the estimates in this column.

NOTE: Percentages are based on the unrounded count of eligible students. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. The eligible student 

counts for the transcript panel differ from the counts for the bookend and panel due to perturbation. 
B-14 APPENDIX B—B&B:08/12 TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY 

Imputation

All variables with missing data used in this report, and most of those included in the 

related PowerStats release, have been imputed. The imputation procedures involved a 

four-step process. In the first step, missing variables were logically imputed. In the 

second step, the criteria used to match variables into imputation classes to stratify the 

dataset were identified so that imputations could be processed independently within 

each class. In the third step, an initial weighted sequential hot deck process was 

implemented (Cox 1980)6 whereby missing data were replaced with valid data from 

donor records that matched the recipients on the matching criteria. In the fourth 

step, a cyclic n-partition hot deck process (Marker, Judkins, and Winglee 2002) was 

implemented to iteratively cycle through n-partition hot decks.

Weighting 

All estimates in this report were weighted to represent the target populations 

described in the Sample Design section. The weights compensate for the unequal

probability of selection of institutions and students in the NPSAS:08 sample. The 

weights also adjust for multiplicity7 at the institutional and student levels and 

unknown student eligibility for NPSAS:08, as well as for subsampling in B&B:08/09 

and for nonresponse and poststratification in B&B:08/12.

A summary of all the weight components and their purposes is presented in table 

B-9. The three analysis weights are the product of the first seven NPSAS:08 weight 

components and the appropriate B&B weight components in table B-9. 

There were three types of survey weights in B&B:08/12, each corresponding to one 

of the three study respondent definitions created for use in this survey. A ‘‘bookend 

analysis weight’’ was created for any NPSAS:08 study respondent who had a 

completed, partial, or abbreviated B&B:08/12 interview. A ‘‘panel analysis weight’’

was created for any NPSAS:08 study respondent who had a completed, partial, or 

abbreviated interview for both B&B:08/09 and B&B:08/12. A ‘‘transcript panel 

6 The term hot deck refers to the fact that the set of potential donors comes from the same dataset. In 

contrast, cold deck refers to the fact that the donors come from an external dataset or source. 7 After the NPSAS:08 institution sample selection, it was determined that in some cases either an 

institution had merged with another institution or student enrollment lists for two or more campuses 

were submitted as one combined student list. In these instances, the institution weights were adjusted 

for the joint probability of selection. Likewise, students who attended more than one institution 

during the NPSAS year also had multiple chances of selection. If it was determined from any source 

(the student interview or the student loan files) that a student had attended more than one institution, 

then the student’s weight was adjusted to account for multiple chances of selection.
APPENDIX B—B&B:08/12 TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY B-15

analysis weight’’ was created for panel respondents who also had a transcript provided 

by the NPSAS:08 institution. 

The intended use of the weights is as follows: 

• Bookend analysis weight -- for joint analysis of NPSAS items and items

directly from or derived from the B&B:08/12 interview

• Panel analysis weight -- for joint analysis of NPSAS items and items

directly from or derived from the B&B:08/09 and B&B:08/12 interviews

• Transcript panel analysis weight -- for joint analysis of items from all three

previous rounds and items directly from or derived from the transcript
B-16 APPENDIX B—B&B:08/12 TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY 

Table B-9. 

Summary of components of the B&B:08/12 analysis weights: 2012

Weight component Purpose

All weights

NPSAS:08 adjustments

Institution sampling weight Account for the institution’s probability of selection

Institution multiplicity adjustment Adjust the weights for institutions that had multiple chances of selection

Institution poststratification adjustment Adjust the institution weights to match population enrollment totals to ensure 

population coverage

Institution nonresponse adjustment Adjust the institution weights to compensate for nonresponding institutions

Student sampling weight Account for the student’s probability of selection

Student multiplicity adjustment Adjust the weights for students who attended more than one institution

Student unknown eligibility adjustment Adjust the weights of nonresponding NPSAS:08 students with unknown 

eligibility

B&B:08/09 adjustment

Student subsampling adjustment Adjust the weights of the subset of NPSAS:08 interview nonrespondents who

were included in the B&B:08/09 sample

Bookend analysis weight

Bookend nonresponse adjustment Adjust the weights to compensate for B&B:08/12 students who did not 

respond to NPSAS:08 or the 2012 interview

Bookend poststratification adjustment Adjust the student weights to match NPSAS:08 weight sums and known 

population totals from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System 

(IPEDS) to ensure population coverage. Includes trimming and smoothing 

of the weights to reduce unequal weighting.

Panel analysis weight

Panel nonresponse adjustment Adjust the weights to compensate for B&B:08/12 students who did not 

respond to NPSAS:08 or the 2009 or 2012 interview

Panel poststratification adjustment Adjust the student weights to match NPSAS:08 weight sums and known 

population totals from IPEDS to ensure population coverage. Includes 

trimming and smoothing of the weights to reduce unequal weighting.

Transcript panel analysis weight

Transcript panel nonresponse adjustment Adjust the weights to compensate for B&B:08/12 students who did not 

respond to NPSAS:08 or the 2009 or 2012 interview or for whom a 

transcript was not collected

Transcript panel poststratification adjustment1 Adjust the student weights to match NPSAS:08 weight sums and known 

population totals from IPEDS to ensure population coverage. Includes 

trimming and smoothing of the weights to reduce unequal weighting.

1 NPSAS:08 weights were revised in August 2013. These revised weights were used for the B&B:08/12 poststratification weight sums. 

NOTE: All adjustments in the bookend, panel, and transcript panel weights are B&B:08/12 adjustments.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2008/12 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study 

(B&B:08/12). 
 

APPENDIX B—B&B:08/12 TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY B-17

Quality of Estimates 

Bias Analysis: General Description

NCES Statistical Standard 4-4-1 states that ‘‘any survey stage of data collection with a 

unit or item response rate less than 85 percent must be evaluated for the potential 

magnitude of nonresponse bias before the data or any analysis using the data may be 

released. Estimates of survey characteristics for nonrespondents and respondents are 

required to assess the potential nonresponse bias’’ (Seastrom 2012). 

Bias Analysis: Institution-Level

As shown in table B-2, the NPSAS:08 institution weighted response rate was 90 

percent overall and below 85 percent for two of the nine types of institutions (private 

nonprofit less-than-4-year and for-profit less-than-2-year). A nonresponse bias 

analysis was conducted during NPSAS:08 for these two types of institutions. 

However, these two types of institutions are irrelevant to B&B:08/12 because they 

do not include baccalaureate recipients. Interested readers can refer to Cominole 

et al. (2010) for more information regarding the institution bias analysis. 

Bias Analysis: Student-Level 

As shown in table B-3, the NPSAS:08 weighted study response rate for students was 

above 85 percent overall and for each type of institution, so student-level 

nonresponse bias analysis for NPSAS:08 was not necessary for any type of institution. 

As shown in table B-6, the B&B:08/09 weighted response rate for students was 

below 85 percent overall and for each type of institution for the student interview 

and for the combined student interview and transcript. Therefore, a student-level 

nonresponse bias analysis was conducted for B&B:08/09. See Wine et al. (2013) for 

bias analysis details. 

As shown in table B-8, the bookend, panel, and transcript panel weighted response 

rates were below 85 percent overall and for all three types of institutions, so a 

nonresponse bias analysis was conducted overall and within each type of institution. 

The nonresponse bias was estimated for variables known for most respondents and 

nonrespondents, and some variables were added that were not included in the 

nonresponse weight adjustment. The following variables were used for nonresponse 

bias analysis:8

 

8 For the continuous variables, except for age, categories were formed based on quartiles.
B-18 APPENDIX B—B&B:08/12 TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY 

• Type of institution

• Region

• Institution enrollment from IPEDS file (categorical)

• Pell Grant receipt (yes/no)

• Pell Grant amount (categorical)

• Stafford Loan receipt (yes/no)

• Stafford Loan amount (categorical)

• Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS [categorical])

• Federal aid receipt (yes/no)

• Institutional aid receipt (yes/no)

• State aid receipt (yes/no)

• Any aid receipt (yes/no)

• Major (categorical)

• Sex

• Age as of NPSAS:08 (categorical)

• Central Processing System (CPS) match as of NPSAS:08 (yes/no)

First, for the variables listed above, the nonresponse bias was estimated by comparing 

estimates from base-weighted respondents with those of both nonrespondents and 

the full sample to determine if the differences were statistically significant at the 5 

percent level. The two comparisons yielded identical bias estimates but not always 

the same significance-testing results. Second, nonresponse adjustments were 

computed to reduce or eliminate nonresponse bias for key variables included in the 

models. Third, using base weights adjusted for nonresponse, bias was re-estimated 

and statistical tests were performed to check for any remaining significant 

nonresponse bias. Finally, to better understand the effect of poststratification on 

efforts to reduce nonresponse bias, two additional sets of estimates were created. The 

first, the difference between respondent means before and after poststratification, 

represents the effect of poststratification on nonresponse adjustments. The second, 

the difference between base-weighted full sample means and the poststratified 

respondent means, represents the cumulative effect of all weighting and adjustment 

steps. Bias estimates and differences were suppressed for variable categories with fewer 

than 30 nonrespondents.

As shown in table B-10, the nonresponse weighting adjustment eliminated some, but 

not all, significant bias on these characteristics. Before weighting, the percentage of 

variable categories that were significantly biased ranged from 2.9 percent among

for-profit institutions with the panel and transcript panel weights to 49.0 percent 

among public institutions with the panel weight. The percentage of variable 

categories that remained significantly biased after the nonresponse weight adjustment 
 

APPENDIX B—B&B:08/12 TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY B-19

ranged from 0.0 percent among private nonprofit institutions with the bookend and 

transcript panel weights to 13.8 percent among for-profit institutions with the 

bookend weight. The mean and median estimated relative bias among for-profit 

institutions increased after the nonresponse weight adjustment, but this increase 

affected a small portion of the students (5.2 percent of eligible sample members, 

unweighted). Overall, significant bias remained for two or fewer categories of major 

and both categories of sex for each analysis weight. Significant bias estimates ranged 

from -2.0 to 2.0 percent. Among public institutions, two or fewer categories of 

institution enrollment and three or fewer categories of major had remaining 

significant bias for each analysis weight. Additionally, both categories of sex were 

significantly biased for the transcript panel weight. The significant bias estimates 

ranged from -1.9 to 2.3 percent. Among private nonprofit institutions, one category 

of region had significant bias of -1.5 percent for the panel weight, and no variables 

had significant bias remaining for the other two weights. Among for-profit 

institutions, two or fewer categories of enrollment had remaining significant bias for 

each analysis weight, and both categories of state aid status had significant bias for 

the bookend weight. The bias estimates ranged from -6.1 to 5.0 percent. 

As shown in table B-11, across all three weights, the mean and median absolute 

differences between means for respondents before and after poststratification 

adjustment were less than 2.0 for the overall, public, and nonprofit institutions and 

greater than 4.4 for the for-profit institutions. The differences between means for the 

full sample and respondents after poststratification adjustment were similar, with 

differences less than 2.0 for the overall, public, and nonprofit institutions and greater 

than 3.4 for the for-profit institutions. 
B-20 APPENDIX B—B&B:08/12 TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY 

Nonresponse bias 

statistics Overall Public

Private 

nonprofit

Forprofit Overall Public

Private 

nonprofit

Forprofit Overall Public

Private 

nonprofit

Forprofit

Before weight 

 adjustments

Mean estimated 

 relative bias 4.31 3.64 5.80 9.64 5.23 5.12 6.61 10.21 5.69 5.94 8.44 10.76

Median estimated 

 relative bias 3.35 3.05 4.63 6.46 4.43 4.19 5.42 8.93 4.82 5.02 6.37 8.32

Percent of variable 

 categories 

 significantly biased 41.38 41.67 42.22 6.90 44.83 48.98 40.82 2.94 44.07 42.86 37.74 2.86

Mean estimated 

 relative bias 1.20 2.20 3.30 11.58 1.48 3.22 4.21 15.71 1.59 3.83 5.98 14.67

Median estimated 

 relative bias # 1.31 2.44 6.73 # 1.50 2.38 12.11 # 1.93 3.14 11.26

Percent of variable 

 categories 

 significantly biased 5.17 4.17 # 13.79 6.90 10.20 2.04 2.94 5.08 10.20 # 2.86

NOTE: Relative bias and significance calculated on respondents versus full sample. Relative bias is defined as the ratio of estimated bias to the 

weighted mean of the full sample. Variable categories with fewer than 30 nonrespondents were suppressed for calculations in this table.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2008/12 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study 

(B&B:08/12). 

Table B-10. 

Summary of nonresponse bias analysis for each analysis weight, by type of institution: 2012 

Bookend Panel Transcript panel

After nonresponse 

 weight adjustments

# Rounds to zero.
Summary statistics Overall Public

Private 

nonprofit

Forprofit Overall Public Private nonprofit For- profit Overall 

Difference between means for respondents  before and after poststratification adjustment1

Mean absolute difference across characteristics 1.32 1.38 1.91 4.80 1.29 1.40 1.83 5.44 1.19 Median absolute difference across characteristics 0.77 0.99 1.12 4.49 0.80 0.75 1.22 5.75 0.73 

Difference between means for full sample and  respondents after poststratification adjustment2

Mean absolute difference across characteristics 1.32 1.43 1.81 3.80 1.31 1.53 1.81 3.87 1.22 Median absolute difference across characteristics 0.77 0.80 1.45 3.92 0.80 0.94 1.52 3.88 0.74 

NOTE: Variable categories with fewer than 30 nonrespondents were suppressed for calculations in this table.SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2008/12 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:08/12). 2 Full sample is weighted using the base weight. Respondents after poststratification adjustment are weighted using the base weight, adjusted for nonresponse and poststratifi

Table B-11. Summary of differences between means for each analysis weight, by type of institution: 2012 

Bookend Panel 

1 Respondents before poststratification adjustment are weighted using the base weight, adjusted for nonresponse. Respondents after poststratification adjustment are weighte

adjusted for nonresponse and poststratification.
B-22 APPENDIX B—B&B:08/12 TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY 

Bias Analysis: Item-Level

NCES Statistical Standard 4-4-3A states: ‘‘For an item with a low total response rate,

respondents and nonrespondents can be compared on sampling frame and/or 

questionnaire variables for which data on respondents and nonrespondents are 

available. Base weights must be used in such analysis. Comparison items should have 

very high response rates. This approach may be limited to the extent that items 

available for respondents and nonrespondents may not be related to the low response 

rate item being analyzed’’ (Seastrom 2012). 

Moreover, NCES Statistical Standard 1-3-5 states: ‘‘Item response rates (RRI) are 

calculated as the ratio of the number of respondents for whom an in-scope response 

was obtained (Ix for item x) to the number of respondents who are asked to answer 

that item. The number asked to answer an item is the number of unit level 

respondents (I) minus the number of respondents with a valid skip item for item x 

(Vx). When an abbreviated questionnaire is used to convert refusals, the eliminated 

questions are treated as item nonresponse. . . . In the case of constructed variables, 

the numerator includes cases that have available data for the full set of items required 

to construct the variable, and the denominator includes all respondents eligible to 

respond to all items in the constructed variable’’ (Seastrom 2012). The item response 

rate is calculated as:

RRIx = Ix / (I - Vx - )

A student is defined as an ‘‘item respondent’’ for an analytic variable if that student

had data for that variable from any source, including logical imputation. ‘‘Item 

nonrespondents’’ for analytic variables are students who did not have data for that 

variable from any source. NCES Standard 1-3-5 also states that response rates for 

composite variables must account for missing inputs prior to imputation. As shown 

in table B-12, the weighted item response rates for items used in this First Look 

report for all students ranged from 90 percent to 100 percent. The weighted item 

response rates by type of institution ranged from 84 percent to 100 percent. 

One item had a weighted response rate below 85 percent. As shown in table B-12, 

the response rate for the item RACE (race/ethnicity) was below 85 percent at forprofit institutions. A nonresponse bias analysis was conducted for this item. The 

procedures used for the item-level nonresponse bias analysis are the same as those 
APPENDIX B—B&B:08/12 TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY B-23

used for the student-level nonresponse bias analysis presented above, and a subset of 

the variables used for the student-level analysis are used for the item-level analysis.9

 

The percentage of variable categories for which the item RACE had statistically 

significant bias prior to imputation was 24.0 percent for students in for-profit 

institutions. The mean and median percent relative absolute biases were 22.6 and 

15.1 percent, respectively, for students in for-profit institutions. 

Table B-12. 

Weighted item response rates for all B&B:08/12 respondents, by type of institution: 2012 

Variance Estimation

To facilitate computation of standard errors for both linear and nonlinear statistics, a

vector of bootstrap sample weights was added to the analysis file. These weights are 

zero for units not selected in a particular bootstrap sample; weights for other units are 

inflated for the bootstrap subsampling. The initial analytic weights for the complete 

sample are also included in the analysis file to compute the desired estimates. The 

vector of replicate weights allows for computing additional estimates for the sole 

purpose of estimating a variance. Assuming B sets of replicate weights, the variance of 

9 Variables that were added to the student-level nonresponse bias analysis and not included in the 

nonresponse weight adjustment were not included in the item-level nonresponse bias analysis.

Variable Variable label

All 

students Public

Private 

nonprofit

Forprofit

AGEATBA Age at bachelor’s degree award 100.0 100.0 99.9 100.0

B2CJHRS Hours per week in current primary job 96.7 96.9 96.5 95.7

B2CJSAL Annualized salary in current primary job 95.2 95.5 94.6 94.8

B2CPSTGRD Enrolled in degree program since bachelor's degree 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

B2LFP12 Employment and enrollment status 96.6 96.5 96.4 98.1

B2MARCH Family status in 2012 98.2 98.3 98.0 97.5

B2PCEMP Percentage of months spent employed 90.4 91.1 89.3 88.1

B2PCOLF Percentage of months spent out of the labor force 90.3 91.1 89.2 87.5

B2PCUNEM Percentage of months spent unemployed 90.3 91.1 89.2 87.5

B2TOTJOB Number of jobs since bachelor’s degree 94.7 95.3 94.0 91.5

GENDER Sex 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

MAJORS4Y Bachelor's degree major 98.1 97.9 98.5 98.2

RACE Race/ethnicity 95.7 96.5 95.8 84.3

SECTOR9 Bachelor's degree institution sector 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

NOTE: Weighted item response rates are calculated per NCES Statistical Standard 1-3-5 as the ratio of the number of respondents for whom an inscope response was obtained to the number of respondents who are asked to answer that item. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2008/12 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study 

(B&B:08/12). 
B-24 APPENDIX B—B&B:08/12 TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY 

any estimate, θ

ˆ, can be estimated by replicating the estimation procedure for each 

replicate and computing a simple variance of the replicate estimates:

B

Var

B

b

b

2

1

)ˆˆ (

)ˆ (

θθ

θ

−

=

∑=

•

θ

ˆ• where b is the estimate based on the b-th replicate weight (where b = 1 to the 

number of replicates), and B is the total number of sets of replicate weights (B = 200 

for B&B:08/12). Once the replicate weights are provided, this estimate can be 

produced by most survey software packages (e.g., SUDAAN [RTI International 2012]). 

The replicate weights were produced using a methodology combining approaches 

developed by Flyer (1987) and Kott (1988). The B&B:08/12 application of the 

method incorporated the finite population correction factor at the first stage 

(NPSAS:08 institution sampling) only.

Cautions for Analysts

Sources of Error

The estimates in this report are subject to sampling and nonsampling errors. 

Nonsampling errors are due to a number of issues, including but not limited to 

nonresponse, coding and data entry errors, misspecification of composite variables, 

and inaccurate imputations. In a study like B&B:08/12, there are multiple sources of 

data for some variables (Central Processing System, Institutional Record, Student 

Interview, National Student Clearinghouse, etc.), and reporting differences can occur 

in each data source. Data swapping and other forms of perturbation, implemented to 

protect respondent confidentiality, can also lead to inconsistencies. 

Sampling errors exist in all sample-based datasets, including B&B:08/12. Estimates 

calculated from a sample will differ from estimates calculated from other samples 

even if all the samples used the same sample design and methods. 

The standard error is a measure of the precision of the estimate. In this report, each 

estimate’s standard error was calculated using bootstrap replication procedures and 

can be produced using PowerStats. Table B-13 provides the standard errors for the 

estimates presented in table 1. Standard errors for estimates presented in tables 1 -6 

can be found at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2014141. 
APPENDIX B—B&B:08/12 TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY B-25

Demographic and enrollment characteristics Total

 Total †

Sex

Male #

Female #

Race/ethnicity

White 0.68

Black 0.38

Hispanic 0.44

Asian 0.35

Other 0.25

Age at bachelor’s degree award

23 or younger 0.68

24–29 0.50

30 or older 0.57

Bachelor’s degree major

STEM major 0.33

Computer and information sciences 0.15

Engineering and engineering technology 0.21

Biological and physical sciences, science technology, mathematics, and agricultural sciences 0.28

Non-STEM major 0.33

General studies and other 0.24

Social sciences 0.29

Humanities 0.37

Health care fields 0.21

Business 0.33

Education 0.26

Other applied 0.38

Bachelor’s degree institution sector

Public 4-year 0.02

Private nonprofit 4-year #

For-profit 4-year #

Family status in 2012

Unmarried with no dependent children 0.73

Unmarried with dependent children 0.27

Married with no dependent children 0.61

Married with dependent children 0.56

Table B-13.

Standard errors for table 1: DEMOGRAPHIC AND UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGE CHARACTERISTICS: Percentage distribution of 

2007–08 bachelor’s degree recipients by demographic and enrollment characteristics: 2012

† Not applicable.

# Rounds to zero.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2008/12 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study 

(B&B:08/12).
B-26 APPENDIX B—B&B:08/12 TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY 

Comparing B&B:08/12 Estimates to Prior B&B Estimates

Comparison of results with prior cohorts of B&B requires compensation for two 

changes in the design of the base-year NPSAS survey over time and also for a change 

in how nonrespondents are handled in B&B:08/12. 

First, prior to NPSAS:04, institutions that only offered correspondence courses were 

not eligible for NPSAS. Beginning in 2004, NPSAS has included such institutions if 

they were eligible to distribute Title IV student aid. This change affects comparisons 

between the B&B:93 and B&B:2000 cohorts and the subsequent B&B:08 cohort.

Second, as of NPSAS:2000, the survey was restricted to institutions participating in 

Title IV student aid programs. Based on NPSAS:96 data, only about 1 percent of 

sampled undergraduates were attending an institution that was not eligible to 

participate in Title IV aid programs. When students attending non-Title IV eligible 

institutions were excluded from the NPSAS:96 sample, the percentage of 

undergraduates who received financial aid increased by less than 1 percent. This 

small change primarily affects comparisons of students enrolled in less-than-2-year 

and for-profit institutions. When comparing estimates from prior B&B cohorts with 

those of the B&B:08 cohort, analysts may want to exclude cases that were sampled 

from an institution that was not eligible to participate in Title IV aid programs 

(T4ELIG) in the prior studies (B&B:93 and B&B:2000). 

PowerStats 

The estimates presented in this report were produced using PowerStats, a web-based 

software application that enables users to generate tables for most of the 

postsecondary surveys conducted by NCES. PowerStats produces the design-adjusted 

standard errors necessary for testing the statistical significance of differences in the 

estimates. PowerStats also contains a detailed description of how each variable was 

created and includes question wording for items coming directly from an interview.

With PowerStats, users can replicate or expand upon the tables presented in this 

report. The output from PowerStats includes the table estimates (e.g., percentages or 

means), the proper standard errors,

10 and weighted sample sizes for the estimates. If 

10 The B&B samples are not simple random samples; therefore, simple random sample techniques for 

estimating sampling error cannot be applied to these data. PowerStats takes into account the 

complexity of the sampling procedures and calculates standard errors appropriate for such samples. 

The method for computing sampling errors used by PowerStats involves approximating the estimator 

by replication of the sampled population. The procedure used is a bootstrap technique.
APPENDIX B—B&B:08/12 TECHNICAL NOTES AND METHODOLOGY B-27

the number of valid cases is too small to produce a reliable estimate (fewer than 30 

cases), PowerStats prints the double dagger symbol (‡) instead of the estimate. 

In addition to producing tables, PowerStats users may conduct linear or logistic 

regressions. Many options are available for output with the regression results. For a 

description of all the options available, users should access the PowerStats website at

http://nces.ed.gov/datalab/index.aspx. For more information, contact 

nces.info@ed.gov.