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OMB Approval No: 1840-0640 

Expiration Date: xx/xx/xxxx 

Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement (McNair) Program

Instructions for Completing the 2012-13 Annual Performance Report (APR)

Background Information on the McNair APR

The Department of Education (Department) uses the information provided in the McNair Annual

Performance report to assess a grantee’s progress in meeting its approved goals and objectives and to 

determine a grantee’s prior experience points in accordance with the program regulations (34 CFR 647). 

The following outline is provided to answer questions you may have about the APR submission.

Who

 All grantees funded under the McNair Program must submit an annual performance report as a 

condition of the grant award.

What

 The APR consists of two sections. Section I gathers project information and Section II gathers 

detailed information on individual McNair participants as defined in 34 CFR 647.3.

 The project and individual participant information provided in the report must cover the 12-

month academic year of the grantee institution instead of the 12-month budget/project year for 

the grant. For example, the 2012-13 academic year is roughly August/September 2012 through 

August 2013 while the budget/project year for most McNair grants is October 1, 2012, through 

September 30, 2013.

 Projects must retain participant records for a period of ten (10) years after the attainment of a 

bachelor’s degree. In the Fall of 2013, the Department implemented a one-time verification 

process that required projects to verify the student cohorts for project participants who have 

already attained a bachelor’s degree between academic years 2002-03 and 2011-12. This 

process is the McNair Tier 1A—Student Verification for the Bachelor’s Degree Attainment. 

These verified records are required to be retained for a period of ten years. In future reporting 

periods, new bachelor’s degree cohorts will be established at the time the project successfully

submits their APR data. This ten (10) year period is necessary to accurately report on the 

doctorate degree objective.

When:

 The annual report is submitted within 90 days after the end of the 12-month budget period. 

Where:

 Because the APR requests personal and confidential information on project participants; the 

secured Web site meets the Department of Education’s data security standards for sensitive data, 

including password and site access procedures. Further, to ensure that the data is accessible only

to authorized individuals and protected from unauthorized uses, a grantee must submit the 
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participant level data via the Web application; under no circumstances should a grantee transmit 

the data to the Department or the APR Help Desk via e-mail. 

 The actual Web application will be available on Month Day, Year at the following Web address: 

http://www.ed.gov/programs/triomcnair/report.html

 Web application registration and features are provided below.

Why:

 Title IV, Section 402E, of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (Public Law 102-325), 

the program regulations in 34 CFR Part 647; and sections 75.590, and 75.720 of the Education 

Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) requires the collection of this 

information. 

How:

 By constructing a tab delimited (.csv) or Excel (xls or .xlsx) file that contains all of the 

individual participant information requested in Section II of the APR which is the Record 

Structure for Participants. The file must mirror the order of the field name and the content of the 

database column name. 

o Section I, Part 1—Project Identification/Characteristics Certification and Warning 

Statements

o Section I, Part 2—Project Services

o II.A. Project Identifiers (pre-populated)

o II.B. Participant’s Personal Information 

o II.C. Participant’s Demographic Information 

o II.D. Participant’s Eligibility Status

o II.E. Participant’s Enrollment Status Information

o II.F. Participant’s Academic and Degree Status

o II.G. Participant’s Research and Internships during the Academic Year

o II.H. Participant’s Graduate School Information

 In the construction of the file, all date fields must be formatted as follows: 2 digits for month; 2 

digits for day; 4 digits for year. Also, slashes must be used between the month, day and year 

(e.g., 09/01/2012). 

Web Registration:

 Go to https://trio.ed.gov/mcnair,

 Click on "Register Here Each Year,”

 Enter the project's PR award number (found on the Grant Award Notification),

 Enter project director's first and last names,

 Enter project director’s e-mail address, 

 Select and answer two security questions,

 If the project director’s information matches the data that the Department currently has on file, a 

user ID and temporary password will be sent to the e-mail address on file. 

o If the project director’s information does not match the data that the Department 

currently has on file, you will be directed to a "Registration Failed" page. Your program 

specialist and the Help Desk will be sent an e-mail message requesting verification of 

project director. Verification will occur within 24 hours if the program specialist can 

readily confirm a change in project director or e-mail address. Once the Help Desk has 

received verification from the program specialist, you will be notified to continue with 

registration.
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 You may enter the user ID and temporary password right below the Register Here Each Year 

link. 

 You will be guided to select a new password. Password requirements are:

o at least eight characters, and include combinations of the following,

o at least one English uppercase character (A-Z),

o at least one English lowercase character (a-z),

o at least one numeric number (0-9), and

o at least one non-alphanumeric special character (e.g.,:, !, @, #, $, &, *, %, /, +, -).

 If you forget your password, a "Forgot Password" link is available on the log-in page. The link 

will route you to a screen that will allow you to retrieve your password by answering the two 

security questions you provided at initial registration. Once you answer the two security 

questions, your password will be sent to the email on file.

 After three failed attempts to access the Web site, you will be locked out and must call the Help 

Desk to obtain access.

Web Features:

 A Web form for completing Sections I and II on-line.

 Access to a grantee’s bachelor’s degree cohort file (McNair Student Verification for the 

Bachelor’s Degree Attainment—Tier 1A File) to ensure that all participants that should be on 

the 2012-13 data file are included.

 Functionality to upload a file with the individual participant records (Section II) to the Web 

application using a tab delimited (.csv) or EXCEL (.xls, xlsx) file format. 

 Functionality to download a file of the individual participant records (Section II).

 Functionality to view/delete/add participant data online. 

 Online data field validations and error checks. In order for a grantee to be able to submit the 

APR, all of the sections of the APR must pass the first level of data field validations; therefore, 

following the initial submission of the participant data, additional data quality checks will be 

run. If any errors or data inconsistencies are found, the grantee will be notified via email of 

needed corrections and the due date for resubmitting the Section II data. 

 A print button to generate a hard copy of the information entered online for Sections I and II.

 A submit button to send the entire report to the Department.

 An e-mail confirmation will be automatically generated and sent to the person on file notifying 

them that the report has been submitted (a valid e-mail address must be provided in Section I). 

Contact the Help Desk or your program specialist if you:

 have technical problems accessing the Web site or using the Web application

 do not receive an e-mail confirmation

 need to revise your performance report data after it has been submitted but prior to the deadline 

date (mm/dd/yyyy)

 have questions regarding the performance report requirements 

Contact Information:

 APR Help Desk at (703) 846-8248 or via e-mail at: mcnairweb@cbmi.com. 

 Program Specialist—Use the State listing provided at: 

http://www.ed.gov/programs/triomcnair/report.html. 
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Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement (McNair) Program

Specific Instructions for Completing the Performance Report

For 2012-13

SECTION I, Part 1—Project Identification/Reporting Periods/Contact Information/ Certification 

and Warning Statements

A. Project Identification 

1. Pre-populated 

2. Pre-populated 

3. Pre-populated 

4. Pre-populated 

5. Choose one

B. Reporting Periods

6a. Pre-populated 

6b. Enter the date for the first day of classes, that is, the official date when courses first began. 

B. Contact Information 

7a. Pre-populated

7b. Pre-populated

7c. Pre-populated

7d. Pre-populated

8a. Pre-populated 

8b. Pre-populated 

8c. Pre-populated 

D. Certification 

Signatures for the both the project director and the certifying official are required in this section. You 

must fax a signed copy of Section I of the report form to703-832-1360. 

With the exception of Section I of the report, please do not fax a paper copy of the performance 

report.

SECTION I, Part 2—Project Services

Enter the number of participants who received the required services and permissible services. A 

participant may be counted only one time in each category. For example, if the number of participants 

served is 30, none of the eleven categories will have a number exceeding 30.

Please refer to the definitions provided in the instructions for the required services and permissible 

services.
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SECTION II: PARTICIPANT RECORD STRUCTURE

Before you begin, please familiarize yourself with the participant data fields and the “Definitions 

That Apply” to the APR. The McNair participant record structure contains forty-seven (47) data fields. 

The first two fields are project identifiers. The remaining 45 fields are student data fields and may or 

may not require/allow updates as noted with an “X” below.

Field 

#

Field Name

You 

cannot 

update

You 

should not 

have to 

update

You may

update

1 Pr/Award Number X

2 Batch Year X

3 Social Security Number X

4 Student’s Last Name X

5 Student’s First Name X

6 Student’s Middle Initial X

7 Student’s Date of Birth X

8 Gender X

9 Ethnicity—Hispanic X

10 Race—American Indian/Alaskan Native X

11 Race—Asian X

12 Race—Black or African American X

13 Race—White X

14 Race—Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander X

15 Low-income X

16 First-generation X

17 Under-represented racial/ethnic 

group

X

18 First Postsecondary Education Enrollment Date X

19 Attendance at Community College/2-year Institution X

20 Project Entry Date X

21 Grade Level at Project Entry X

22 Participant Status (during academic year being reported) X

23 Enrollment Status

(during academic year being reported)

X

24 Project Participation (during academic year being reported) X

25 Funding Source (during academic year being reported) X

26 STEM Discipline X

27 Bachelor’s Degree (or equivalent) X

28 Date of Bachelor’s Degree (or equivalent) X

29 Graduating Cohort Year of Bachelor’s Degree X

30 Main field of Study (Bachelor’s Degree Earned) X

31 Cumulative GPA (upon graduation with a bachelor’s degree) X

32 Research Activity (2012–13 academic year) X

33 Other Scholarly Activity (2012–13 academic year) X
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Field 

#

Field Name

You 

cannot 

update

You 

should not 

have to 

update

You may

update

34 McNair Research Internship (2012–13 academic year) X

35 Graduate School Admissions Test X

36 Date of First Graduate School Enrollment X

37 Graduate Institution First Attended X

38 Graduate School Enrollment Status 

(at the beginning of the 2013–14 academic year)

X

39 First-Year Graduate Student Persistence Status 

(at the beginning of the 2013–14 academic year)

X

40 Current Year of Graduate Study (during academic 

year being reported)

X

41 Graduate Student’s Main Field of Study 

(at time of entrance)

X

42 Graduate Assistantships 

(for 1st year graduate students only)

X

43 Reason Left Graduate School X

44 Highest Graduate Degree Earned 

(as of the end of the academic year)

X

45 Date Highest Graduate Degree Earned X

46 Institution Where Doctorate Degree was Earned X

47 Doctorate Recipient’s Employment Activity X

Definitions That Apply

Bachelor’s Degree:

 Equivalent of a bachelor’s degree means any McNair participant who did not earn a 

baccalaureate degree upon completion of their undergraduate studies because their institution 

does not confer baccalaureate degrees until the student is enrolled in a graduate program or has

completed their graduate studies. 

 Graduating Cohort Year of Bachelor’s Degree means the year in which the participant earned 

their bachelor’s degree. For participants who attained their bachelor’s degree prior to the 2012-

13 academic year, the cohort year was established via the McNair Tier 1A student verification 

process. For baccalaureate degree recipients not identified through the McNair Tier 1A process, 

the graduating cohort year will be established based on the APR data submitted by the project. 

Current Participant means a participant who was served by the project in the reporting period. (Note: 

The sum of new and continuing participants should equal the total number of participants served during 

the 2012-13 reporting period.)

Eligibility Status:

 Low-income individual means an individual whose family’s taxable income did not exceed 150 

percent of the poverty level amount in the calendar year preceding the year in which the 

individual initially participated in the project. The poverty level amount is determined using 
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criteria of poverty established by the Bureau of the Census of the U.S. Department of 

Commerce. 

 First-generation college student means (1) an individual neither of whose natural or adoptive 

parents received a baccalaureate degree; or (2) an individual who, prior to the age of 18, 

regularly resided with and received support from only one parent and whose supporting parent 

did not receive a baccalaureate degree; or (3) an individual who, prior to the age of 18, did not 

regularly reside with or receive support from a natural or adoptive parent. 

 Groups underrepresented in graduate education currently include the following ethnic and racial 

groups: Black (non-Hispanic), Hispanic, American Indian, Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiians 

and Native American Pacific Islanders.

Enrollment Status:

 Enrolled is defined as a student who was enrolled in postsecondary education at least one term 

in the academic year being reported. 

 Not enrolled is defined as a student who was not enrolled in postsecondary education for any of 

the terms in the academic year being reported.

Ethnicity/Race:

 Hispanic or Latino – means a person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American or 

other 

Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race. 

 American Indian or Alaska Native - American Indian/Alaskan Native refers to a person having 

origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), 

and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.

 Asian - A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian 

subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the 

Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam. 

 Black or African American - A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.

 White - A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. 

 Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander – A person having origins in any of the original peoples of 

Hawaii or other Pacific islands such as Samoa and Guam.

 

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) is the primary source for data on 

colleges, universities, and technical and vocational postsecondary institutions in the United States.

Participant Status:

 A new participant is an individual who was served by the project for the first time in the this

reporting period.

 A continuing is an individual who was served by the project for the first time in any prior reporting 

period and also received services in the this reporting period.

 A prior year is an individual served by the project in any prior reporting period but did not receive 

services in this reporting period.

 A prior-year participant who is deceased is an individual served by the project in any prior 

reporting period but is now deceased.

Project Services

 Research or Other Scholarly Activities means an educational activity that meets all of the 

following criteria:

o is more rigorous than is typically available to undergraduates in a classroom setting,

o is definitive in its start and end dates,
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o contains appropriate benchmarks for completion of various components; and

o is conducted under the guidance of an appropriate faculty member with experience in the 

relevant discipline.

 Summer Internships that are research-based means an educational activity that (1) is more 

rigorous than is typically available to undergraduates in a classroom setting, (2) is definitive in 

its start and end dates, (3) contains appropriate benchmarks for completion of various 

components, and (4) is conducted under the guidance of the an appropriate faculty member with 

experience in the relevant discipline. Summer Internships that are not research-based means an 

educational experience in which participants, under the guidance and direction of experienced 

faculty researchers, are provided an opportunity to engage in research or other scholarly 

activities.

 Seminars/workshops means group activities that provide participants with the opportunity to 

receive information or practice methodology in one or more areas necessary for the successful 

navigation of the educational system relative to the attainment/completion of their doctoral 

studies. 

 Tutoring means academic assistance provided by an advanced undergraduate student, graduate 

student or a professional staff. 

 Academic counseling means assisting students in making educational plans, selecting

appropriate courses, meeting academic requirements, and planning for graduation and graduate 

education. 

 Admission assistance to graduate school means assisting students in choosing graduate or 

professional programs and applying for admission to those programs.

 Financial aid assistance to graduate school means assisting students individually or in small 

groups in completing financial aid applications and securing fellowships and other forms of 

financial assistance for graduate study. 

 Education/Counseling to improve financial and economic literacy means knowledge about 

personal financial decision-making, which may include but is not limited to knowledge about

o Personal and family budget planning;

o Understanding credit-building principles to meet long-term and short-term goals ( e.g., 

loan to debt ratio, credit scoring, negative impacts on credit scores);

o Cost planning for postsecondary or postbaccalaureate education (e.g., spending, saving, 

personal budgeting);

o College cost of attendance ( e.g., public vs. private, tuition vs. fees, personal costs);

o Financial assistance ( e.g., searches, application processes, and differences between 

private and government loans, assistanceships); and

o Assistance in completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

 Mentoring means professionals, other than project staff, working with project students to expose 

them to careers that require doctoral degrees. 

 Exposure to cultural events and academic programs means any project sponsored activities, such 

as field trips, special lectures, and symposiums that have as their purpose the improvement of 

the project participants’ academic progress and personal development.

 Other means additional activities not listed above that are designed to meet the purpose of the 

McNair Program.

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), in the Institute of Education Sciences, is the 

statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Education and the primary federal provider of education 

statistics on the condition of American education.
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NCES IPEDS ID is unique identification number assigned to postsecondary institutions surveyed 

through the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and is also referred to as the 

UNITID.

Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) means a program of study in the fields 

of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and includes disciplines such as 

 Computer and Information Sciences

 Engineering

 Life Sciences, including agricultural sciences/natural resources, biological/biomedical sciences, 

and health sciences.

 Mathematics

 Physical Sciences, including astronomy, atmospheric science and meteorology, chemistry, 

geological and earth sciences, ocean/marine sciences, and physics.

Survey of Earned Doctorate (SED) is a federal agency survey conducted by the National Opinion 

Research Center (NORC) for the National Science Foundation and five other federal agencies. The 

SED gathers information annually on research doctorate graduates about their educational histories, 

funding sources, and post-doctoral plans. The SED questionnaire can be found at: 

http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvydoctorates/surveys/srvydoctorates_2011.pdf

Instructions for Participant Data File

II.A. Project Identifiers

Field 1—Use the PR/Award Number that corresponds to the reporting year even if you have been

awarded a new grant and PR/Award Number for the next reporting year. 

Field 2—Enter 2012.

II.B. Participant’s Personal Data

Field 3—Enter SSN. If a project does not know a student’s SSN, leave it blank or enter zeros, 

“000000000.” Not changeable in subsequent reporting periods.

Field 4—Enter Student’s Last Name. Not changeable in subsequent reporting periods.

Field 5—Enter Student’s First Name. Not changeable in subsequent reporting periods.

Field 6—Enter Student’s Middle Initial. 

Field 7—Enter Student’s Date of Birth. Not changeable in subsequent reporting periods.

II.C. Participant’s Demographic Information and Eligibility Status

Field 8—Select Student’s Gender. 

Field 9—Select whether or not the participant is identified/self-identifies as Hispanic/Latino. 

Field 10—Select whether or not the participant is identified/self-identifies as American Indian/Alaskan 

Native.

Field 11—Select whether or not the participant is identified/self-identifies as Asian.
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Field 12—Select whether or not the participant is identified/self-identifies as Black or African 

American.

Field 13—Select whether or not the participant is identified/self-identifies as White.

Field 14—Select whether or not the participant is identified/self-identifies as Native Hawaiian or 

Pacific Islander

Field 15—Select whether or not the participant is low-income.

Field 16—Select whether or not the participant is first-generation college.

Field 17—Select whether or not the participant is from one of the following underrepresented groups in 

graduate education: Black (non-Hispanic), Hispanic, American Indian, Alaskan 

Native, Native Hawaiians and Native American Pacific Islanders.

II.D. Participant’s Enrollment Status

Field 18—Enter participant’s date of first enrollment in postsecondary education. The first 

postsecondary enrollment date is the first date a participant enrolled in a program of postsecondary

education; however, this date does not include the date a participant enrolled in a high school bridge-tocollege program/dual enrollment program nor the first enrollment date a participant took college 

courses while enrolled in high school. 

Field 19—Select whether or not a participant attended a community college/2-year institution following 

high school graduation or having earned their GED.

Field 20—Enter participant’s date of first project service.

Field 21—Select the participant’s college grade level at the time of project entry. Use your institution’s 

classification grade level criteria when determining the participant’s college grade level. 

Field 22—Select the participant’s status.

Field 23—Select the participant’s enrollment status. Select “Yes” if the participant was enrolled in 

undergraduate or graduate studies at any time during the reporting period; otherwise, select “No”.

Field 24—Select the length of project participation by the participant. You must select “9” if the 

student was a prior-year participant.

Field 25—Select the types of funds used in this reporting period to serve the participant.

II.E. Participant’s Academic and Degree Status

Field 26—For participants who were served in this reporting period, select the participant’s major field 

of study at the time of project entry. For prior year participants, select option 9. Generally, the social 

and behavioral sciences includes disciplines such as economics, econometrics, psychology, sociology, 

anthropology, political science, etc. For assistance and guidance, use the Main Field of Study list in the 

instructions. 

Field 27—Select whether or not the participant has earned a bachelor’s degree or equivalent of a 

bachelor’s degree. If the participant is on your McNair Tier 1A—Student Verification for the 

Bachelor’s Degree Attainment data file, you must select “Yes”. 

Field 28—Enter the date the participant earned their bachelor’s degree or equivalent of a bachelor’s 

degree. 

Field 29—Select the applicable graduating cohort year the participant earned their bachelor’s degree. 

If the participant is on your McNair Tier 1A—Student Verification for the Bachelor’s Degree 

Attainment data file, you must select the cohort as it appears on the file. Hint: If you select “Yes” in 

field 27, then you must select a cohort year in field 29. NOTE: Once the cohort year is established,

it cannot be changed in subsequent reporting periods.
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Field 30—Use the Main Field of Study list located at the end of this document to enter the three-digit 

code for participants who have EARNED a bachelor’s degree. If the participant is a graduate or first 

professional student, enter the three-digit code at the time they attained their bachelor’s degree. For 

participants who are double majors, you may use your discretion.

Field 31—Enter the cumulative GPA upon graduation with a bachelor’s degree.

II. F. Research or Other Scholarly Activities 

IMPORTANT: Per regulatory definition of what constitutes research or other scholarly activities, in 

order to determine whether the student participated in research or other scholarly activities (including 

McNair research internships), you must answer “Yes” to all of the four (4) questions (i.e., criteria) listed 

below. For example, if the activity does not have a definitive start and end date, then the activity is not 

considered research

1. Was the educational activity more rigorous than is typically available to undergraduates in a 

classroom setting?

2. Was the educational activity definitive in its start and end dates?

3. Did the educational activity contain appropriate benchmarks for completion of various 

components? AND

4. Was the educational activity conducted under the guidance of an appropriate faculty member 

with experience in the relevant discipline?

Field 32—Select the participant’s research activity completion status in this reporting period.

Field 33—Select the participant’s other scholarly activity completion status in this reporting period.

Field 34—Select the participant’s McNair research internship activity completion status in this 

reporting period. 

II. F. Participant’s Graduate School Information

Field 35—Select whether or not the bachelor’s degree recipient completed a graduate school 

admissions test.

Field 36—Enter the date of first graduate school enrollment.

Field 37—Enter the six-digit postsecondary institution NCES IPEDS ID for graduate institution first 

attended.

Field 38—Select the participant’s graduate school enrollment status at the beginning of the 2013-14 

academic year (i.e., Fall) for participants who earned a bachelor’s degree in this reporting period.

Field 39—Select the participant’s graduate school persistence status at the beginning of the 2013-14 

academic year (i.e., Fall) for participants who were first-year graduate students in this reporting 

period.

Field 40—Select the participant’s graduate year of study for participants who are enrolled in 

graduate school in this reporting period.

Field 41— Using the Main Field of Study list located at the end of this document; enter the three-digit 

code for the main field of study at the time of entry into graduate school. For students who are no 

longer enrolled in graduate school or for students who completed their graduate studies, the project 

should provide, to the extent possible, the main field of study at the time the participant first entered 

graduate school.

Field 42—Select the type of assistantship the first-year graduate participant received in this 

reporting period.

Field 43—Select the reason the participant left graduate school. 
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Field 44—Select the highest degree earned by the end of the academic year. Once reported, do not 

change the degree unless a new or more advanced degree has been earned. Select option 4 only if the 

other doctorate degree was in a research-intensive program. Select option 5 only if the other 

doctorate degree was in a non-research-intensive program. If a participant earned a professional 

degree but subsequently earns a research-intensive doctorate, select the type of doctorate earned (e.g., 

PhD).

Field 45—Enter the date of the highest degree earned.

Field 46—If you selected option 2, 3, or 4 in field 44, enter the six-digit code postsecondary institution 

NCES IPEDS ID. 

Field 47—Select the primary employment activity for participants who have earned a researchintensive doctorate degree. Hint: Options 1 thru 4 only apply if you selected option 2, 3, or 4 in field 

44. In addition to a university setting, the primary employment can occur at organizations such as the 

National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), private 

industry, etc. Once reported, do not update in subsequent reporting periods. 
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Main Field of Study List

For Fields 26, 30, and 41
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