2012/14 BEGINNING POSTSECONDARY STUDENTS

LONGITUDINAL STUDY: (BPS:12/14) FIELD TEST

Supporting Statement Part A

Request for OMB Review

OMB # 1850-0631 v.7

Submitted by

National Center for Education Statistics

U.S. Department of Education

October 11, 2012
ii

Contents

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

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

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

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

c. Legislative Authorization..........................................................................................................................3

2. Purpose and Uses of the Data ..........................................................................................................................3

a. The BPS Cohort ........................................................................................................................................3

b. Current Research and Policy Issues Related to BPS.................................................................................4

c. Previous Agency Use of the Data .............................................................................................................8

3. Use of Information Technology.......................................................................................................................8

4. Efforts to Identify Duplication.........................................................................................................................9

5. Method Used to Minimize Burden on Small Businesses...............................................................................10

6. Frequency of Data Collection........................................................................................................................10

7. Special Circumstances of Data Collection.....................................................................................................11

8. Consultants Outside the Agency....................................................................................................................11

9. Provision of Payments or Gifts to Respondents............................................................................................11

10. Assurance of Confidentiality .........................................................................................................................12

11. Sensitive Questions........................................................................................................................................14

12. Estimates of Response Burden ......................................................................................................................14

13. Estimates of Cost to Respondents..................................................................................................................15

14. Costs to the Federal Government...................................................................................................................15

15. Reasons for Changes in Response Burden and Costs....................................................................................16

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

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

18. Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions.......................................................17

Appendix A. Linkages to Administrative Data Sources

Appendix B. Data Security Language for Vendor Contracts

Appendix C. Full-scale Sampling Specifications

Appendix D. Bibliography of Publications Using BPS Data

Appendix E. Technical Review Panel Contact List

Appendix F. Confidentiality Agreements

Appendix G. Letters and Contacting Materials 

Appendix H. Data Collection Instrument
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List of Tables

Table 1. Chronology of NPSAS and its longitudinal components.....................................................10

Table 2. Estimated BPS:12/14 field test cost and response burden ...................................................15

Table 3. Costs to the National Center for Education Statistics for the BPS:12/14 field test .............15

Table 4. Contract costs for BPS:12/14...............................................................................................16

Table 5. Operational schedule for BPS:12/14....................................................................................17
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A. Justification

1. Circumstances Making Collection of Information Necessary

a. Purpose of this Submission

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

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

for the field test collection for the 2012/14 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study

(BPS:12/14) first follow-up, including panel maintenance, student interview and reinterview, and 

administrative record matching. Following the field test study in 2013, NCES will submit a request for 

clearance of the BPS:12/14 full scale data collection to be conducted in spring 2014. Because only 

minimal changes are expected after the field test, NCES is requesting a waiver of the 60-day Federal 

Register Notice for the full-scale collection clearance submission.

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

education for the first time during the same academic year, irrespective of date of high school completion. 

The study collects data on student persistence in, and completion of, postsecondary education programs;

their transition to employment; demographic characteristics; and changes over time in their goals, marital 

status, income, and debt, among other indicators. Data from BPS are used to help researchers and 

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

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

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

This study is being conducted under contract # ED- IES-09-C-0039 with RTI International1and its 

primary subcontractor, MPR Associates, as well as Coffey Consulting, LLC, Branch Associates, Research 

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

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

The BPS:12/14 field test sample will consist of students eligible to participate in the NPSAS:12 

field test study who first began postsecondary education during the 2010–11 academic year at U.S. 

institutions. The BPS:12/14 field test student interview, for which clearance is requested, will involve a 

web-based interview conducted in phases: the first phase—the early response phase—will offer sample 

members the opportunity to complete the BPS interview online with little or no intervention from 

telephone interviewers. During the early response phase, which will be the first 3 weeks of data 

collection, sample members will be eligible to receive $30 for a completed interview. 

Two central experiments will be conducted during the field test. The first experiment is designed 

to determine whether the estimated time burden of the interview affects the likelihood that base year 

nonrespondents will participate. Half of the base year nonrespondents, and all base year respondents, will 

be asked to complete the full, field test interview, while half of the base year nonrespondents will be 

asked to complete a shorter, modified version of the interview. Participation rates for the two 

nonrespondent groups will be compared both during the early response phase and throughout the entire 

 

1

RTI International is a trade name of Research Triangle Institute.
2

data collection. All early response phase nonrespondents will move into the second data collection 

phase—production interviewing—in which outbound calls will be made by call center staff to remaining 

sample members. Production interviewing will continue for 2 weeks without additional intervention; 

sample members will be eligible for a $30 incentive for a completed interview. Throughout data 

collection, sample members offered the modified interview will only need to complete the shorter 

interview.

For the second experiment, any cases that are still nonrespondents at the end of the 2-week 

production interviewing period will be randomly divided into an experimental and control group, and an 

initial Mahalanobis distance calculated. Mahalanobis distance defines the distance between an individual 

case and a group centroid; cases with the larger distances tend to be those with the larger differences from 

the respondent group. Identifying high-distance cases and treating them strategically, such as with a 

higher incentive, may boost their participation, reducing bias in estimates and improving analytic power 

through higher sample sizes for the groups of analytic interest. 

Those BPS:12/14 field test cases with the highest distances that had been assigned to the 

experimental group will be offered an increased incentive of $55, with the expectation that the increased 

incentive will increase the likelihood of participation among cases contributing most to bias at the time. 

All other interview respondents will be eligible to receive a $30 incentive. Outbound calling will 

continue for two weeks; at all times sample members may complete the interview online.

At the end of each of three subsequent 2-week data collection periods, Mahalanobis distances will 

again be calculated for remaining nonrespondents. New cases in the experimental group with the largest 

calculated distances at each time point will be offered a $55 incentive; those high distance experimental 

cases already being offered $55 will continue at that level. All other cases will remain at the $30 

incentive level. Outbound calling will continue for the remainder of data collection. 

Throughout data collection, RTI will monitor response rates for the entire sample, and by key

analytic groups to ensure that minimum rates are being achieved. Batch and intensive tracing, case 

review, and other techniques for tracing and interviewing will be applied as needed across the sample. 

While Mahalanobis distance calculations will be acted upon at four time points, the calculations will be 

made every week throughout data collection to better understand the dynamics of the values over time. 

Ultimately, this second experiment is designed to determine whether or not treatment of the high distance 

experimental group, i.e., the offer of the higher incentive, will reduce bias that would result if those high 

distance cases did not participate in the BPS:12/14 field test interview.

Additional data for the BPS:12/14 field test student sample will be obtained from a variety of 

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

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

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

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

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

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

security measures in place for these linkages are is provided in Appendix B.
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During full-scale data collection, an additional data source may be available from student records 

abstracted from institutions attended by members of the BPS:12 cohort (full-scale sampling specifications 

are presented in Appendix C). The approach for abstraction of institution records will be tested as part of 

the Education Longitudinal Study:2002 (ELS:2002) Third Follow-Up (OMB #1850-0652 v.10). 

Although concurrent or contemporaneous collections of similar data have been successful for the purpose 

of determining how students pay for their postsecondary education (e.g., in NPSAS), the ELS:2002 

Financial Aid Feasibility Study (FAFS) will evaluate the practicability for collecting the data 

retrospectively, with records that go back as far as 2004. Institutions will be asked to provide a borrowing 

history for the entire tenure of the identified ELS:2002 students who attended their institution. 

Longitudinal analysis of student financial aid records would allow examination of borrowing and debt 

trends over time, as well as the effects of those trends on postsecondary persistence and attainment, and 

decisions about work and family. The results of the feasibility study will help provide information about 

the quality of the data when collecting financial aid student records that span a number of years and,

ultimately, inform decisions on such efforts for the BPS first and second follow-up studies which would 

require retrospective collection to 2011-12.

c. Legislative Authorization

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

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

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

2. Purpose and Uses of the Data

a. The BPS Cohort

BPS:12/14 will provide data on beginning postsecondary students when they entered 

postsecondary education and 3 years later, describing who enters postsecondary education for the first 

time as well as what happens to them after their initial enrollment (for the field test, students entered 

postsecondary education during the 2010-11 academic year, while for the full-scale data collection, during 

the 2011-12 academic year). BPS is unique as the only nationally-representative study of all students 

beginning postsecondary education for the first time, including nontraditional students who delay

postsecondary entry and students in short-term vocational programs. It is also the only study that follows 

students throughout the entire postsecondary education system over a number of years and, therefore, 

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

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

For the first time with this iteration of BPS, the study features an oversample of students in public 

2-year and for-profit institutions seeking educational certificates which will provide rich new data on 

wage and employment outcomes for completers of subbaccalaureate educational credentials. Current 

economic conditions have increased interest in the relationship between subbaccalaureate credentials and 

employment outcomes. A recent NCES report used BPS:04/09 data to examine subbaccalaureate 

completers and noncompleters’ labor market outcomes2 but, due to small sample sizes, was often unable 

 

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

to detect significant differences among certificate students. Analyses of subbaccalaureate students’ labor 

market outcomes will also be aided by BPS:12/14’s expanded employment section which will collect an 

employment history of all jobs respondents have held since starting postsecondary education. Even more 

employment details will be obtained from those who have left postsecondary education.

In addition to post-enrollment employment, BPS provides data on such characteristics of 

beginning students as demographics, high school preparation, enrollment, employment during enrollment, 

financial aid and borrowing, and education and career expectations. These characteristics can be 

examined with respect to persistence, degree attainment, and employment outcomes. Developing a better 

understanding of the factors related to these three outcomes is the primary purpose of BPS. To this end, 

BPS:12/14 will publish a First Look Report and a large Web Table compendium that will report key

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

their postsecondary careers. A later BPS follow-up study (BPS:12/17) will explore these key outcomes 

over a longer period of time.

b. Current Research and Policy Issues Related to BPS

Persistence, attainment, and employment outcomes have long been important to BPS, and 

BPS:12/14 is more focused than ever on collecting data that are necessary for examining these outcomes.

BPS:12/14 has adopted the human capital model as a research framework and now incorporates several 

new sets of questions that the latest research suggests are helpful in predicting the student outcomes of 

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

expectations after completing anticipated credentials, the extent to which they prefer current over future 

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

BPS provides key information in several areas of policy interest. The President’s American 

Graduation Initiative and prominent funders like the Lumina Foundation and Gates Foundation have set 

ambitious goals to increase Americans’ postsecondary education attainment over the next decade. 

Encouraging more students to enroll is one important part of meeting this objective, and the economic 

downturn has indeed resulted in higher enrollments. However, due in part to increased joblessness, the 

composition of enrollees has changed as well. BPS allows researchers to describe these enrollment 

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

and employment outcomes. Data from BPS:12/14 will permit estimation of overall changes in rates of 

degree attainment and major field of study, particularly with respect to majors in science, technology, 

engineering, and mathematics (or STEM)—another area of focus in higher education policy. The White 

House’s Engage to Excel initiative, for example, seeks to produce one million additional college 

graduates in STEM to fill the projected gaps in America’s workforce. One of its primary goals is to 

increase the number of students who choose STEM majors and retain them through receipt of a 

postsecondary degree, with a special focus on engaging them during the first 2 years of a STEM-related 

degree program.

Since the advent of the Great Recession, the relationship between the attainment of a 

postsecondary credential and job prospects has become even more prominent in the national conversation. 

In his 2009 State of the Union address, President Obama called for every American to take at least one 
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year of education beyond high school—including postsecondary occupational education. A recent report 

from the Georgetown Center on Education and the Economy (Carnevale et al, 2012)3 notes that 

certificates “provide the outcomes that degree-seeking students are looking for: gainful employment” (p. 

35) and that they can also serve as gateways to high level credentials, such as a college degree. This 

attention has brought to light certain weaknesses in our federal data collection systems, most notably the 

paucity of information on the labor market value of non-degree credentials, including industry-recognized 

certifications, occupational licenses, and subbaccalaureate educational certificates. BPS is coordinating 

with the Interagency Working Group on Expanded Measures of Enrollment and Attainment (GEMEnA) 

to improve federal statistical data on these credentials. Data from the BPS:12/14 full-scale study will 

include an oversample of students who enter postsecondary education seeking to attain a subbaccalaureate 

educational certificate. These data will enable researchers and policy makers better understand the effect 

of certificate attainment, whether as a terminal occupational credential or as a path to a degree, on 

employment and wage outcomes.

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

lawmakers. The continued rise of tuition costs has prompted the Obama Administration to propose 

shifting aid to institutions that keep costs down and to propose a Race to the Top for postsecondary

education, with the goal of improving college affordability and completion. The Student Loan and Fiscal 

Responsibility Act of 2009 (SAFRA) temporarily lowered interest rates on student loans and increased 

Pell Grant amounts while restricting Pell Grant eligibility to shore up costs. Faced with government 

deficits, the extent to which these current rules will be continued is uncertain. However, student debt is 

increasingly seen as a hardship and potential barrier for college graduates, and BPS can provide insight 

into the extent to which college costs, financial aid, and debt are related to persistence, attainment, and

employment outcomes.

Finally, policymakers increasingly focus on the alignment of skills with industry needs. Whether 

today’s graduates are well-equipped for employment is the subject of considerable debate, and BPS is 

well-positioned to address this discussion. Similarly, new gainful employment regulations seek to ensure 

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

their loans; on this subject, also, BPS provides a considerable amount of data.

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

following: 

Demographic Characteristics

 What are beginning students’ demographic characteristics (such as gender, race/ethnicity, 

disability status, age, financial dependency on parents, and income)?

 What proportion of beginning students come from key populations of interest, such as low 

income or first-generation college students, nontraditional college students, veterans, 

ethnic or racial minorities, and immigrants or children of immigrants?

 How have beginning postsecondary students’ demographic characteristics (e.g., income, 

health, dependency status, marital status, and having dependents) changed over time?

 

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

Degrees. Washington, DC: Georgetown Center on Education and the Economy.
6

High School Academic Preparation

 What percentage of beginning postsecondary students are recent high school graduates and 

what percentage have a regular high school diploma?

 What is the highest math course beginning postsecondary students took in high school?

 How did beginning postsecondary students attending different types of institutions perform

in high school, as measured, for example, by grade point average and standardized 

admissions tests?

 What proportion of beginning postsecondary students enters postsecondary education with 

college credits?

 What percentage of beginning postsecondary students enroll in remedial courses when they

start their postsecondary education, and in which subjects are remedial courses most 

commonly taken?

Postsecondary Enrollment Characteristics and Experiences

 How are beginning postsecondary students distributed across different types of 

institutions? Across different degree programs?

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

obtain degrees?

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

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

attended, and field of study?

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

related to their demographic characteristics and other enrollment characteristics and 

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

outcomes?

Employment During Enrollment

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

related to their field of study?

 Of those who work while enrolled, how far do they work from home and school, how 

many hours per week do they work, and how much do they earn?

Financial Aid and Borrowing

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

when they begin their postsecondary education?

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

 What proportion of beginning postsecondary students receives veterans or other 

Department of Defense education benefits?

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

amount borrowed vary by demographic and enrollment characteristics?

 What is the amount of federal loan debt students acquire per credit earned and how does 

this differ by students’ demographic, high school preparation, and enrollment 

characteristics?
7

 What proportion of students borrows private loans, in what amount, and how does this 

borrowing vary by demographic characteristics and institution type?

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

are related to the amount owed?

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

years?

Education and Career Expectations

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

them, and how confident are they in these expectations?

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

pursuit of their educational goals?

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

these positions?

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

careers?

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

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

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

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

Persistence

 What percentage of students continues their education beyond remedial coursework?

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

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

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

such students been enrolled before they left?

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

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

entered?

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

versa?

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

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

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

institution type related to attainment?

Attainment

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

years?

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

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

employment during enrollment, financial aid and borrowing characteristics, and education 
8

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

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

Employment Outcomes after Leaving Postsecondary Education

 What percentage of beginning students who have left postsecondary education experience 

unemployment spells, are currently unemployed, are employed less than full time, or are 

not looking for work?

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

benefits do they receive?

 How many certificate attainers continue their education and attain a degree? Are their 

certificates and degrees in related fields of study? What are their employment outcomes?

 What percentage of certificate attainers are employed in their field of study? How do their 

employment outcomes compare to those who are not employed in their field of study?

 In what occupations and industries are these students employed, and do their occupations 

and industries align with their field of study?

 Among beginning postsecondary students who did not enter postsecondary education 

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

extent does their employment before and after postsecondary education differ?

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

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

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

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

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

c. Previous Agency Use of the Data

NCES has used data from the previous cycles of BPS in a variety of publications, including First 

Look reports and Web Tables, which can be found in Appendix D, a bibliography of publications using 

BPS data. NCES also makes the BPS data collected available for use by researchers via both restricteduse data files and public-use data tools, PowerStats and QuickStats. Appendix D also displays peerreview journal publications prepared by researchers using these data. 

3. Use of Information Technology

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

interviewing. The modes of data collection will be web-based, self-administered surveys and computerassisted telephone interviewing (CATI). In the NPSAS:12 field test, 78.5 percent of interviews were 

completed online. 

The financial aid record collection, if funded as part of the BPS:12/14 full-scale study, will use the 

same web-based system designed for the ELS:2002 FAFS. Wherever possible, improved information 

technology will be used to ensure the most accurate, high quality, and least burdensome institution data 

collection. Similar to what is currently being used on NPSAS:12, multiple options will be offered to an 

institution for providing student data, including: (1) uploading electronic (.csv) files to the project’s 

secure web site; (2) downloading an Excel workbook from the project’s web site, then uploading the 
9

completed file to the site; and (3) use of a web-based data entry interface. This web-based interface was 

recently redesigned to allow users to enter data in the manner most convenient for them. 

In addition, an online video tutorial will be available to show users exactly how to navigate 

through the application and help screens will provide users with more in-depth explanations of the 

required items. The web-based application will allow error checking to be performed immediately by

institution staff. An important feature of the online application is that different institution staff can 

complete portions of the required data entry and can complete the data entry in multiple sessions. These 

features reduce user burden while ensuring that the most accurate data are collected. 

4. Efforts to Identify Duplication

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

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

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

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

Education, the Career College Association, the National Association of Independent Colleges and 

Universities, and the Institute for Higher Education Policy to confirm that the data to be collected for the 

BPS longitudinal study are not available from any other sources. Academic researchers are also consulted, 

with several attending Technical Review Panel meetings along with representatives from federal agencies, 

associations, and academics. Beyond identification of duplication, these consultations provide 

methodological insights from the results of other longitudinal postsecondary student studies conducted by

NCES and other federal agencies and nonfederal sources, and the consultations assure that the data 

collected through BPS will meet the needs of the federal government and other relevant organizations. 

There are no other studies in the U.S that duplicate the data produced by BPS.

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

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

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

professional school access, and in post-enrollment experiences. The base for this information system is 

the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), a recurring survey of a nationally representative, 

cross-sectional sample of postsecondary students. The NPSAS surveys have been implemented every 3 to 

4 years since 1986–87 and serve as the base study for longitudinal cohort follow-ups, including 

BPS:12/14, which is the focus of this submission.

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

Study: BPS:90, BPS:96, and BPS:04. The BPS:12/14 cohort is being identified from NPSAS:12 just as 

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

prior NPSAS studies. The chronology of the previous administrations of the NPSAS study and its 

associated BPS and B&B longitudinal components are presented in table 1.

Furthermore, there have been a number of related studies to BPS. For example, NCES has 

conducted high school cohort studies, such as High School and Beyond (HS&B), the National 

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

Study of 1988 (NELS:88), the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002), and the High School 

Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09), which follow or plan to follow students into college. While these 
10

studies accurately reflect education and employment experiences and outcomes of the high school cohorts 

from which they drew a sample, they are not nationally representative of all beginning postsecondary 

students because not all beginners enter directly from high school. In fact, according to BPS:04/09, onethird of all beginning postsecondary students were over age 19 when they entered for the first time. 

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

(IPEDS) Graduation Rate Survey (GRS). Unlike the High School Cohort Studies, the GRS provides data 

on enrollment and attainment for both recent and nonrecent high school graduates. However, its definition 

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

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

enrollment and attainment data from institutions rather than students, meaning it can only provide 

information on students’ attainment at the first institution attended and not students’ attainment at any

institutions to which they transfer.

Table 1. Chronology of NPSAS and its longitudinal components

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

NPSAS:90 BPS:90/92 BPS:90/94 —

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

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

NPSAS:2000 B&B:2000/01 — —

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

NPSAS:08 B&B:08/09 B&B:08/12 —

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

— Not applicable

1 Tentative.

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

5. Method Used to Minimize Burden on Small Businesses

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

the full-scale of BPS:12/14 involves a financial aid record collection, some small for-profit schools and 

other small public and private schools will likely be contacted. Burden will be minimized on these schools 

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

data collection effort to identify the format in which records are kept and transmitted. To accommodate 

any constraints imposed by record-keeping systems, schools will be offered alternative methods of 

providing the requested financial aid student records as described above in the Information Technology

section.

6. Frequency of Data Collection

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

document. The BPS:12/14 field test student data collection will be conducted in 2013, 2 years after the 

NPSAS:12 field test from which the BPS field test student sample was selected. A future follow-up with 

the BPS:12/14 field test student sample is anticipated in 2016, as part of BPS:12/17, and may include an 
11

interview, administrative record matching, and student records and one-time transcript collections, if 

funded. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

7. Special Circumstances of Data Collection

No special circumstances of data collection are anticipated. 

8. Consultants Outside the Agency

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

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

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

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

and the federal government. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

proposed field test study design during its meeting in June 2012.

9. Provision of Payments or Gifts to Respondents 

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

test, and is proposed for three purposes:

1. To encourage sample members to update their contact information prior to the start of data 

collection. All cases will be offered an incentive of $10 to update their contact information via the 

study website prior to the start of data collection (approximately 3-4 weeks before the 2013 data 

collection begins). The Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 Third Follow-Up field test 

conducted an experiment of the effectiveness of incentives paid during the panel maintenance 
12

phase. Overall, the $10 treatment group had a higher participation rate (25 percent) than the 

control group (20 percent, t = 1.90, p < .05). Further evaluation of the data indicated that the 

contact information provided largely new information not already in the study database; for 82 

percent of the responding cases, at least one new address, phone number, or email address was 

provided for the student, parent, or both. Being able to make direct contact with the sample 

student during data collection saves time and costs, and is likely to increase interview 

participation.

2. To encourage early response. Once data collection begins, all cases will be offered an initial 

incentive of $30 to complete the BPS interview during the early response phase. The $30 amount 

has been used for NPSAS and BPS data collections since 2004. As recently as the NPSAS:12, 

high propensity cases offered $30 participated at a significantly higher rate than cases offered a 

$15 incentive (χ2 = 18.2244, p < .0001). 

3. To minimize nonresponse bias using a responsive design approach that will be tested 

experimentally (see Part B, section 3.c). After the early response phase and the first 2 weeks of 

outbound data collection have been completed, the responsive design approach will identify, at 

four time points, a subset of cases most likely to contribute to nonresponse bias. Half of the “high 

distance” cases will receive an additional $25 incentive, and comparisons following completion of 

data collection will determine if the higher incentive was effective in bringing in interviews from 

cases that would have contributed most to nonresponse bias had they not participated. Such an 

approach will allow use of data collection resources strategically, incentivizing cases as they

become high distance cases, rather than using the higher incentive amount for all cases from the 

start. 

In general, the use of incentives during the BPS:12/14 field test will provide significant advantages to 

the government in terms of timely data collection and decreased data collection costs since it is likely that 

the large majority of interviews for which the incentives are paid will be conducted on the Web before

more costly, labor intensive CATI outbound calling efforts commence.

10. Assurance of Confidentiality

NCES assures participating individuals and institutions that all identifiable information collected in 

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

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

Act of 2002 (ESRA 2002), 20 U.S.C. § 9573].

BPS:12/14 data security and confidentiality protection procedures are in place to ensure that RTI 

and its subcontractors comply with all privacy requirements, including the following: 

 Statement of Work of this contract;

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

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

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

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

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

Security Screenings;
13

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

 ESRA, 20 U.S.C. § 9573 (2009); and

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

To ensure that confidentiality is appropriately maintained at all times, RTI requires that vendors 

who assist in locating and tracing sample members follow procedures to appropriately safeguard 

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

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

and access control. They also specify the means by which information may be transmitted between RTI

and the contractor. Appendix B documents the data security language contained in vendor contracts.

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

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

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

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

and Technology standards and guidance.

BPS:12/14 data security procedures require that notarized nondisclosure affidavits be obtained 

from all personnel who will have access to individual identifiers (copies of the agreement and affidavit are 

provided in Appendix F). Also implemented are personnel training regarding the meaning of 

confidentiality; controlled and protected access to computer files; built-in safeguards concerning status 

monitoring and receipt control systems; and a secure, staffed, in-house computing facility. The procedures 

for securing sensitive project data will include the following: physical/environment protections, building 

access controls, system access controls, system login restrictions, user identification and authorization 

procedures, encryption, and project file storage/archiving/destruction. 

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

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

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

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

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

Standards 140-2 validated encryption tools.

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

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

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

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

on January 29, 2008. There are several requirements that the contractor must meet for each employee 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Similarly, the scripts to be read by telephone staff will be very specific in the assurances made to sample 
14

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

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

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

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

authorize NCES to collect and disseminate information about education in the United States. 

Collection is most often done through surveys.

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

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

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

disclosed or used in identifiable form for any other purpose, except as required by law (20 U.S.C. § 

9573).

11. Sensitive Questions

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

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

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

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

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

used only for statistical purposes, except as required by law (20 U.S.C. § 9573). Several procedures have 

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

agreements shown in Appendix F.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

12. Estimates of Response Burden 

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

web and telephone interview. Burden estimates—including number of sample members, expected 

response rates, and estimated time per respondent—are shown in table 2. 

Burden estimates for the FAFS will be provided with the submission for the full-scale data 

collection, once the final sample size and results of the ELS:2002 FAFS are known. There will be up to 

four methods of data collection available for providing student records data, two involve keying directly

into a Web application and two involve preparing data and then uploading it to the website. At the time of 

this submission, average time per institution is estimated to be about 3.3 hours. 
15

Table 2. Estimated BPS:12/14 field test cost and response burden

Sample Size Expected 

Eligible

Expected 

Response Rate

Number 

Respondents

Ave Burden 

(mins)

Total Burden 

(hours)

Rate per 

hour ($)

Total cost 

($)

BPS:12/14 Field test

Panel Maintenance (address updates) 3,496 N/A 33% 1,154 5 96 $10 $960

Student Interview:

 Confirmed FTB’s 2,003 N/A 82% 1,642 35 958 $10 $9,580

 Potential FTB’s - Full interview 747 80% 52% 311 35 181 $10 $1,810

 Modified interview 746 80% 68% 406 25 169 $10 $1,690

Student Reinterview* 340 310 70% 217 10 36 $10 $360

BPS:12/14 Full-scale

Panel Maintenance (address updates) 31,045** N/A 33% 10,245 5 854 $10 $8,540

Student Interview 31,045** N/A 80% 24,836 30 12,418 $10 $124,180

* - The student reinterview is given to a subset of interview respondents and includes a reduced number of interview questions. See Appendix H

for a list of included questions. 

** - The BPS:12/14 full-scale sample will be derived from the NPSAS:12 full-scale study, which is ongoing. The sample sizes used to estimate 

cost and burden is based on the NPSAS:12 sampling plan. See Appendix C for more details.

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

Potential FTB’s = NPSAS:12 non-respondents that appear to be FTB’s in NPSAS:12 student records data.

13. Estimates of Cost to Respondents

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

participation in this study.

14. Costs to the Federal Government

A summary of the estimated costs to the federal government for the BPS:12/14 field test is shown in 

Table 3. Included in the contract estimates are all staff time, reproduction, postage, and telephone costs 

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

A more detailed breakdown of contract costs is provided in table 4.

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

Costs to NCES Amount ($)

BPS:12/14 Field Test Study

Salaries and expenses $ 111,290

Contract costs 2,845,927

Total 2,957,217

BPS:12/14 Full-Scale Study

Salaries and expenses 333,870

Contract costs 7,508,204

Total 7,842,074

BPS:12/14 Total Costs

Salaries and expenses 445,160

Contract costs 10,354,130

Total 10,799,290

NOTE: BPS:12/14 = 2012/14 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study.
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Table 4. Contract costs for BPS:12/14

Study area and task management Budgeted amount ($)

110 Initial meeting with NCES 38,245

120 Schedules 40,235

130 Monthly reports 367,732

140 Integrated monitoring system 471,607

150 Technical review panels 865,358

Field test (FT)

210 FT Sampling 38,140

220 FT RIMG/OMB forms clearance 90,983

231 Instrumentation 696,220

232 Tracing 68,368

234 Training for Web/CATI data collection 126,693

236 Web/CATI data collection 393,288

237 Data processing 358,230

240 Methodology report 182,416

Full-scale (FS) data collection

310 FS Sampling 47,419

320 FS RIMG/OMB forms clearance 56,630

331 Instrumentation 673,805

332 Tracing 402,399

334 Training for web/CATI data collection 309,055

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

Web/CATI data collection – incentives 576,898

337 Data processing 720,259

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

339 Data disclosure planning and prevention 57,574

340 Methodology report 311,049

Descriptive reporting

410 First Look report 73,163

420 Data analysis system 440,612

430 Additional special tabulations 135,937

440 Descriptive reports 108,415

450 Respond to information requests 267,645

460 Final technical memo 12,907

Total $ 10,354,130

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

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

Regulatory Information Management Group.

15. Reasons for Changes in Response Burden and Costs 

No changes in response burden or cost are anticipated. The respondent burden shows an increase 

because the last OMB approval was discontinued in September 2010.

16. Publication Plans and Time Schedule

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

releases:

 A First Look report and Web Tables;
17

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

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

collection procedures; and

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

NCES

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

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

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

Table 5. Operational schedule for BPS:12/14

Activity Start date End date

Field Test

Update/deliver sample specifications 7/10/2012 5/16/2013

Conduct locating and tracing activities

Conduct help desk and CATI training

8/16/2012

12/19/2012

6/28/2013

4/10/2013

Data collection

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

Conduct telephone interviews of students 4/11/2013 6/28/2013

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

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

Full-scale

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

Conduct locating and tracing activities

Conduct help desk, CATI, and CAPI training

7/23/2013

11/25/2013

9/15/2014

6/11/2014

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

Data collection

Self-administered web interviews 2/8/2014 9/15/2014

Conduct telephone interviews of students 3/14/2014 9/15/2014

Conduct field interviews of students 6/12/2014 9/15/2014

Process data, construct data files 2/16/2013 9/4/2015

Prepare and submit reports 9/16/2014 5/16/2016

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

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

interview; CAPI = Computer assisted personal interview

17. Approval to Not Display Expiration Date for OMB Approval

No special exception is requested.

18. Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions

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

Reduction Act Submissions of OMB Form 8.