National Postsecondary Student Aid Study 1999-2000 (NPSAS:2000) Methodology Report
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NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS Technical Report June 2002 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study 1999-2000 (NPSAS:2000) Methodology Report U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Research and Improvement NCES 2002-152 NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS Technical Report June 2002 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study 1999-2000 (NPSAS:2000) Methodology Report John A. Riccobono, Project Director Melissa B. Cominole Peter H. Siegel Tim J. Gabel Michael W. Link RTI Lutz K. Berkner MPR Associates, Inc. Project Officer Andrew G. Malizio National Center for Education Statistics U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Research and Improvement NCES 2002-152 U.S. Department of Education Rod Paige Secretary Office of Educational Research and Improvement Grover J. Whitehurst Assistant Secretary National Center for Education Statistics Gary W. Phillips Deputy Commissioner The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for collecting, analyzing and reporting data related to education in the United States and other nations. It fulfils a congressional mandate to collect, collate, analyze, and report full and complete statistics on the condition of education in the United States; conduct and publish reports and specialized analyses of the meaning and significance of such statistics; assist state and local education agencies in improving their statistical systems; and review and report on education activities in foreign countries. NCES activities are designed to address high priority education data needs; provide consistent, reliable, complete, and accurate indicators of education status and trends; and report timely, usefully, and high quality data to the U.S. Department of Education, the Congress, the state, other education policymaker, practitioners, data users and the general public. We strive to make our products available in a variety of formats and in language that is appropriate to a variety of audiences. You, as our customer, are the best judge of our success in communicating information effectively. If you have any comments or suggestions about this or any other NCES product or report, we would like to hear from you. Please direct your comments to: National Center for Education Statistics Office of Educational Research and Improvement U.S. Department of Education 1990 K Street, NW Washington, DC 20006 June 2002 The NCES World Wide Web Home Page address is: http://nces.ed.gov/ Suggested Citation U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, 1999–2000 (NPSAS:2000), Methodology Report, NCES 2002-152, by John A. Riccobono, Melissa B. Cominole, Peter H. Siegel, Timothy J. Gabel, Michael W. Link, and Lutz K. Berkner. Project officer, Andrew G. Malizio. Washington, DC: 2001. Contact: Aurora M. D’Amico or Andrew G. Malizio Aurora.D’[email protected] [email protected] (202)502-7334 Foreword This report describes the methods and procedures used for the 2000 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:2000). NPSAS:2000 included notable changes from previous NPSAS surveys (conducted in 1987, 1990, 1993, and 1996) in its sample design and collection of data. For example, the current study is the first to restrict institutional sampling to Title IV participating institutions. It is also the first in the NPSAS series to employ web-based instrumentation for institutional records collection. However, sufficient comparability in survey design and instrumentation was maintained to ensure that important comparisons with past NPSAS studies could be made. We hope that the information provided in this report will be useful to a wide range of interested readers. We also hope that the results reported in the forthcoming descriptive summary reports will encourage use of the NPSAS:2000 data. We welcome recommendations for improving the format, content, and approach, so that future methodology reports will be more informative and useful. C. Dennis Carroll Associate Commissioner Postsecondary Studies Division iii iv Acknowledgments The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of staff members of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the Office of Education Research and Improvement (OERI) for their advice, guidance, and review in conducting the study and in preparing this document. We are particularly grateful to C. Dennis Carroll, Associate Commissioner, Postsecondary Studies Division, Paula R. Knepper, Senior Technical Advisor, Andrew G. Malizio, Project Officer for NPSAS and Program Director for Postsecondary Longitudinal Studies and Sample Surveys. Particular thanks are also extended to the study technical review panel members, who provided considerable insight and guidance in development of the design and instrumentation of this study and an earlier major field test. Thanks are also extended to the project staff member of the three involved contractors—Research Triangle Institute (RTI), MPR Associates, and the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA). A cadre of staff from each of these organizations, including statisticians, analysts, survey managers, programmers, data collectors and interviewers—too numerous to list here worked long hours to produce the data files and reports of the 2000 NPSAS. At RTI we are especially indebted to Ms. Lil Clark, who prepared the graphics, integrated the text, and produced the drafts and final version of this report. We also wish to thank all of those from OERI/NCES, who reviewed earlier drafts of this report and offered many helpful suggestions, including: Arnold A. Goldstein, Lisa Hudson, and Karen O'Conor; Dan Goldenberg (Office of the Under Secretary) and David A. Bergeron (Office of Postsecondary Education). Most of all, we are greatly indebted to the staff of the 1,000 postsecondary education institutions who assisted in the institution records collection and to the over 44,000 students who generously participated in the telephone survey. Their willingness to take the time to share information has made this study a success. v vi The 1999–2000 National Student Aid Study (NPSAS:2000) Methodology Report Executive Summary Introduction The National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), a comprehensive study of financial aid among postsecondary education students in the United States and Puerto Rico, provides information on trends in financial aid and on the ways in which families pay for postsecondary education. NPSAS represents students attending all types and levels of institutions, including public, private for-profit, private not-for-profit, less-than-2-year, 2-year, and 4-year institutions. The NPSAS data are part of the comprehensive information that the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) provides on student financial aid receipt and other characteristics of those enrolled in postsecondary education. NPSAS also serves as the base-year survey for longitudinal studies of postsecondary students. Thus, the 1999–2000 NPSAS (NPSAS:2000) was the base-year survey for a sample of baccalaureate degree recipients who were interviewed again in 2001. This report describes the methods and procedures used for NPSAS:2000. The NPSAS:2000 sample design and collection procedures included notable changes from those used for previous NPSAS cycles. For example, NPSAS:2000 was the first to restrict institutional sampling to institutions having Title IV Program Participation Agreements with the U.S. Department of Education. It was also the first to employ a Web-based instrument for collection of institutional records. However, sufficient comparability in survey design and instrumentation was maintained to ensure that important comparisons with data from previous NPSAS cycles could be made. Target Population and Sample Design The target population for NPSAS:2000 consisted of all students who were enrolled in postsecondary institutions in the United States or Puerto Rico that had Title IV Program Participation Agreements with the U.S. Department of Education at any time between July 1, 1999, and June 30, 2000 (defined as the NPSAS:2000 year). The institutional sampling frame for NPSAS:2000 was constructed from the 1998–99 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Institutional Characteristics (IC) file and, because NPSAS:2000 also served as the base-year survey for a longitudinal study of baccalaureate recipients, the 1996–97 IPEDS Completions file. Eligible institutions were partitioned into 22 institutional strata based on institutional control, highest level of offering, and percentage of baccalaureate degrees awarded in education. Approximately 1,100 institutions were initially selected for NPSAS:2000, and all but 10 of these institutions were found to be vii Executive Summary eligible. Sampling frames for selecting students consisted of enrollment lists or data files provided by the institutions for those students enrolled during the NPSAS:2000 year. The desired number of sample students was determined by accounting for expected rates of nonresponse and ineligibility among sample students in different strata and rates of misclassification of baccalaureate recipients (as determined from NPSAS:93 and the NPSAS:2000 field test). These sampling procedures resulted in the selection of about 70,200 students for NPSAS:2000, including 16,600 potential baccalaureate recipients. Almost 6,000 of these sample members were determined to be ineligible for NPSAS:2000 during various phases of data collection, resulting in