2020/22 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:20/22) Full-scale
Supporting Statement Part A
2020/22 Beginning Postsecondary Students (BPS:20/22) Full-Scale Study
Supporting Statement Part A
OMB # 1850-0631 v.19
Submitted by
National Center for Education Statistics
U.S. Department of Education
December 2021
Section 1 – Circumstances Making Collection of Information Necessary 1
Section 2. Information Purpose 4
Section 3. Collection Techniques 8
Section 4. Duplication Prevention 9
Section 5. Burden on Small Business 10
Section 6. Consequences Not Conducted/Conducted Less 10
Section 7. Special Circumstances 11
Section 8. Outside Agency Consultation/Federal Register Notice 11
Section 9. Respondent Gift/Payment 11
Section 10. Assurance of Confidentiality 13
Section 11. Questions of Sensitive Nature 20
Section 12. Estimates of Burden 21
Section 13. Total Annual Burden Cost 23
Section 14. Annualized Cost to Federal Government 23
Section 15. Reasons for Program Changes/Adjustments 23
Section 16. Tabulation and Publication 23
Section 17. Reasons to Not Display OMB Expiration 24
Section 18. Paperwork Reduction Act Exception 24
This
request is for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES),
within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), a part of the U.S.
Department of Education, to conduct the full-scale data collection
for the 2020/22 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study
(BPS:20/22). The primary contractor for this study is RTI
International (Contract# 919900-18-C-0039).
This
submission includes:
- A membership list of the Technical Review
Panel (TRP) (appendix A);
- A description of the confidentiality
procedures in place for the administrative record matching (appendix
B);
- Student data collection contacting materials (appendix
C);
- Results of the BPS:20/22 field test procedures and methods
(appendix D); and
- Survey instrument (appendix E).
This submission covers BPS:20/22 full-scale materials and procedures required for conducting the student survey and for matching data to administrative records. Along with this full-scale package NCES will provide the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) with a memorandum summarizing changes from the field test for the full-scale data collection. The materials for the BPS:20/22 full-scale study are based upon the field test materials. This submission is designed to adequately justify the need for and overall practical utility of the full study, presenting the overarching plan for all of the phases of the data collection and providing as much detail about the measures to be used as is available at the time of this submission. As part of the completed field test, NCES published a notice in the Federal Register allowing first a 60- and then a 30-day public comment period. Field test materials, procedures, and results have informed this request for clearance for the full-scale study. For this full-scale study NCES will publish a notice in the Federal Register allowing an additional 30-day public comment period on the final details of the BPS:20/22 full-scale study.
The 2020/22 Beginning Postsecondary Students Full-Scale (BPS:20/22) is conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics, part of the Institute of Education Sciences, within the Department of Education, and is part of the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study data collection program at https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/bps/.
The BPS:20/22 Full-scale Data Collection will begin 03/01/22 and end 11/11/22. The primary Contractor for this activity is RTI International. The secondary collector is HR Directions.
The
collection is authorized under Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA)
of 2002 (20 U.S.C. §9543) and the Higher Education Opportunity
Act (HEOA) of 2008, 20 U.S.C. §1015(a)(k). The full text of the
authorizing law is: Student aid recipient survey
(1) Survey
required: The Secretary, acting through the Commissioner for
Education Statistics, shall conduct, on a State-by-State basis, a
survey of recipients of Federal student financial aid under
subchapter IV of this chapter and part C of subchapter I of chapter
34 of title 42—
(A) to identify the population of students
receiving such Federal student financial aid;
(B) to describe
the income distribution and other socioeconomic characteristics of
recipients of such Federal student financial aid;
(C) to
describe the combinations of aid from Federal, State, and private
sources received by such recipients from all income categories;
(D)
to describe the--
(i) debt burden of such loan recipients, and
their capacity to repay their education debts; and
(ii) the
impact of such debt burden on the recipients' course of study and
post-graduation plans;
(E) to describe the impact of the cost of
attendance of postsecondary education in the determination by
students of what institution of higher education to attend; and
(F)
to describe how the costs of textbooks and other instructional
materials affect the costs of postsecondary education for
students.
(2) Frequency: The survey shall be conducted on a
regular cycle and not less often than once every four years.
(3)
Survey design: The survey shall be representative of students from
all types of institutions, including full-time and part-time
students, undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, and
current and former students.
(4) Dissemination: The Commissioner
for Education Statistics shall disseminate to the public, in printed
and electronic form, the information resulting from the survey.
This data collection, either in total or in part, is Voluntary.
This data collection is a Longitudinal survey. The name of the base-year survey in the longitudinal series is 2020/22 Beginning Postsecondary Students Full-Scale; the name of the survey in the longitudinal series that immediately preceded the survey to which this clearance applies is 2020/22 Beginning Postsecondary Students Full-Scale.
BPS
studies are designed to follow a cohort of students who enroll in
postsecondary education for the first time during the same academic
year, irrespective of the date of high school completion. The study
collects data on students' 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 are
the early employment and wage outcomes for certificate and degree
attainers, and why students leave school.
BPS is one of
several studies conducted by NCES to respond to the need for a
national, comprehensive database concerning significant issues in
access, choice, enrollment, persistence, progress, and attainment in
undergraduate postsecondary education, in graduate and professional
school access, and in post-enrollment experiences. The base study for
BPS is the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), a
recurring survey of a nationally representative, cross-sectional
sample of postsecondary students. The NPSAS surveys have been
implemented every 3 to 4 years since 1986–87.
There
are four previous cohorts of the Beginning Postsecondary Students
(BPS) Longitudinal Study: BPS:90, BPS:96, BPS:04, and BPS:12. The
BPS:20/22 cohort was identified from NPSAS:20 as the previous BPS
cohorts, and the Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B) study cohorts,
have originated from prior NPSAS studies. Unlike BPS, which follows a
cohort of first-time beginning students at institutions at all levels
of postsecondary education, B&B follows a cohort of baccalaureate
recipients at institutions awarding 4-year degrees and above. As the
B&B cohort is necessarily made up of degree recipients,
persistence in undergraduate education is not an emphasis in B&B,
as it is in BPS. Additionally, B&B places a special emphasis on
the experiences of new elementary and secondary teachers.
The
chronology of the previous administrations of the NPSAS study and its
associated BPS and B&B longitudinal components are shown in Table
1 below.
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 |
— |
NPSAS:2000 |
B&B:2000/01 |
— |
— |
NPSAS:04 |
BPS:04/06 |
BPS:04/09 |
— |
NPSAS:08 |
B&B:08/09 |
B&B:08/12 |
B&B:08/18 |
NPSAS:12 |
BPS:12/14 |
BPS:12/17 |
— |
NPSAS:16 |
B&B:16/17 |
B&B:16/20 |
B&B:16/26 (anticipated) |
NPSAS:18-AC |
— |
— |
— |
NPSAS:20 |
BPS:20/22 |
BPS:20/25 (anticipated) |
— |
— Not applicable.
NOTE: NPSAS = National Postsecodnary Student Aid Study, BPS = Beginning Postsecondary Students; B&B = Baccalaureate and Beyond.
With
the first BPS cohort starting in 1990 (BPS:90), the BPS:20 cohort is
the fifth study of beginning postsecondary students. Beginning with
the BPS:96 cohort, FTB students are surveyed at three points in time
for up to 6 years: in the base year (through the NPSAS student
interview) and 3 and 6 years later in the BPS follow-up interviews.
The BPS:90 cohort was also surveyed at three points in time, but the
second follow-up was 5 years later.
BPS follows a cohort
of students who entered postsecondary education for the first time in
the same academic year. BPS differs from other studies in two key
ways: the population it follows and the sources of data from which it
draws. First, it is the only nationally representative study of all
beginning college students. Unlike other studies, it includes
students entering postsecondary education immediately after high
school as well as those entering after being away from school for
years. In addition, unlike other studies that focus only on
baccalaureate students, BPS includes not just students seeking
bachelor's degrees but also students pursuing certificates, working
toward associate's degrees, and taking postsecondary classes outside
of a degree or certificate program. BPS is also unique in that it
includes a student interview and does not rely solely on
institution-reported data. The inclusion of a student interview
allows BPS to provide a more accurate portrait of students'
persistence and attainment anywhere within postsecondary education
and not just their retention and attainment at a specific
institution.
BPS:20/22 will be a nationally-representative
sample of approximately 37,000 students who were first-time beginning
students (FTBs) during the 2019-20 academic year. The BPS:20/22 field
test included approximately 3,700 students who first began in the
2018-19 academic year. These students are asked to complete a survey
and administrative data are also collected for them. Administrative
data matching will be conducted with sources including the National
Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), which contains federal loan and
grant files; the Central Processing System (CPS), which houses and
processes data contained in the Free Application for Federal Student
Aid (FAFSA) forms; the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) which
provides enrollment and degree verification; vendors of national
undergraduate, graduate, and professional student admission tests;
and possible other administrative data sources such as the Veterans
Benefits Administration (VBA). These data will be obtained through
file matching and downloading. In addition, this request includes
conducting panel maintenance activities for the BPS:20/25 field test
sample. BPS:20/25 is anticipated but has not yet been authorized.
Data on the first academic year for this BPS cohort were
collected in 2020. Data on their second and third years will be
collected in the BPS:20/22 first follow-up study in 2022. The
BPS:20/25 second follow-up study will provide data on these sample
members' fourth, fifth, and sixth year after entering postsecondary
education. Academic transcripts from all known institutions attended
by sample members may be collected in 2026.
An unusual
circumstance for the BPS:20 cohort is global outbreak of COVID-19
during their first year of postsecondary enrollment (the NPSAS:20
year). Several questions were added to the NPSAS:20 survey related to
COVID-19, and questions related to COVID-19 are included in the
first-follow-up BPS:20/22 student survey as well. Since NPSAS:20 is
also the base year for BPS:20/22, these data collections will provide
unique data on COVID-19 and postsecondary enrollment and outcomes.
The BPS:20 cohort may also be unique compared to prior BPS cohorts by
providing selected state-representative data. BPS:20 will attempt to
build on the state-representative NPSAS:20 design to provide state
representative BPS data sets for selected states and postsecondary
institution types where sufficient sample can be obtained.
This data collection is primarily about Students.
The age groups of the individuals that the data collection is primarily about is older than 21.
This data collection is primarily about Postsecondary.
Details regarding the subject population include: BPS is a nationally representative study of students who began postsecondary education at Title IV postsecondary institutions during the same academic year (2018-19 for the BPS:20/22 field test, 2019-20 for the full-scale study).
Instruments provided to respondents are also available in the following languages, other than English: Spanish.
The survey is representative at the Survey Representativeness level. Survey Representativeness Description.
The
purpose of BPS is to track first-time beginning students' pathways
through postsecondary education, helping to answer questions related
to undergraduates' persistence and attainment outcomes.
Following
a cohort of students who are enrolling in postsecondary education for
the first time regardless of age, the study collects data on:
•
student persistence in, and completion of, postsecondary education
programs,
• academic performance and other transcript
information,
• transition to employment,
•
demographic characteristics, and
• changes over time in
their goals, marital status, income, and debt.
With its
longitudinal perspective, BPS provides key measures for understanding
undergraduate persistence and attainment, transfer patterns,
employment while enrolled, and student loan debt over time. It also
tracks changes over time in students' goals, marital status, income,
and debt. Because BPS traces a student's path throughout the
postsecondary education system over a number of years, it provides a
much more complete picture of postsecondary persistence and success
than studies that cannot track students once they leave a particular
institution.
First, BPS:20/22 will be following a cohort
of students who first began postsecondary education during the
2019-20 academic year, when the coronavirus pandemic began. The
impacts of this event on education are expected to be substantial.
BPS:20/22 sample members may experience changes in course format,
shifts to online-only education, changes in housing, and loss or
reductions in employment. BPS:20/22 is uniquely positioned to examine
persistence, attainment, educational experiences and employment
outcomes for students whose educational experiences may be impacted
by coronavirus.
Second, as demographics change in the
U.S., policymakers and practitioners are increasingly concerned about
the difference between who enters postsecondary education and who
attains postsecondary credentials. BPS:20/22 will be able to provide
the latest nationally representative numbers on how key populations
are entering and faring in postsecondary education, particularly
students from low socioeconomic and minority backgrounds. These data
will allow researchers and policymakers to explore the factors
related to populations experiencing greater success on persistence,
attainment, and labor market outcomes.
Third, policymakers
and researchers are more focused on how the education and employment
outcomes of students are shaped by the control and level of the
institution they attend. For example, the U.S. Department of
Education manages the College Scorecard, a web tool designed to
publicize key metrics about student outcomes such as graduation rate
and average salary after graduation across a variety of institution
types so students and families can make more informed college choice
decisions. By providing the sample size and key student- and
institution-level measures for these analyses, BPS:20/22 enables
researchers and policymakers to analyze students' attainment and
employment by sector, while also controlling for other variables that
may be related to these outcomes.
Fourth, the cost of
college, the percentage of students borrowing, and the amounts
borrowed have increased. As a result, the impact of college costs,
financial aid, and student loans on students' ability to complete
credentials is an ever more pressing issue. In recent years, Pell
Grant eligibility has been expanded, and the amount of the grant
increased. There have been changes in state-based aid programs.
BPS:20/22 can help inform these policy decisions by providing data on
how grants, and other financial aid, impact students' road to a
credential.
Finally, researchers and policymakers are
interested in how attainment and employment are affected by several
aspects of the postsecondary experience, such as remedial education,
online education, and employment while in school. Students' lack of
college readiness and need for remedial or developmental education
have been identified as impediments in students' time to degree, as
well as factors in students dropping out without a credential. In
fact, the Department of Education launched a new Center for the
Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness to strengthen the research,
evaluation, and support of college readiness efforts across the
nation. BPS:20/22 includes information on high school coursetaking,
grades, and test scores as well as developmental coursetaking in
different subjects while in college, which can provide key data for
the Center's work. The growth of online courses and degree programs
has also attracted attention, with researchers and practitioners
wanting to better understand its potential in speeding students' time
to degree and the ways such courses and programs are perceived by
employers. The degree to which working while enrolled helps or hurts
postsecondary attainment, time to degree, and later employment
outcomes is a key debate. Through its employment history, BPS:20/22
will be able to add real data to this discussion.
Following
are some of the many research and policy issues to be addressed with
BPS:20/22 data:
Postsecondary
Enrollment Characteristics and Experiences
-How
are FTB students distributed across institutions of varying control
and levels, and different degree programs?
-What fields of study
do FTB students pursue, and in which fields do they obtain
degrees?
-How frequently do FTB students change their field of
study, particularly from science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics (STEM) to non-STEM fields and vice versa?
-On
average, how many credits do students earn before completing a
certificate or degree program?
-To what extent do FTB students
participate in online, night, and weekend courses and programs?
-How
did the coronavirus pandemic impact the enrollment patterns for FTB
students?
-How do answers to the above questions differ by
factors like demographic characteristics, control and level of
institution, and field of study?
Employment
During Enrollment
-What
percentage of students work while enrolled, and how many hours do
they work?
-Did students lose employment, gain employment, or
experience a shift in work hours due to the coronavirus
pandemic?
-How do students' individual patterns in working while
enrolled change by year of enrollment and U.S. economic
conditions?
-How do answers to the above questions differ by
factors like demographic characteristics, control and level of
institution, and field of study?
Financial
Aid and Borrowing
-How
much financial support do dependent FTB students receive from their
parents or other relatives and friends for their postsecondary
education?
-What proportion of FTB students receive federal Pell
Grants or veterans or other Department of Defense education
benefits?
-What proportion of FTB students take out private
loans, and in what amount?
-Did the coronavirus pandemic lead
students to increase their borrowing amounts?
-How does the
percentage of FTB students taking out federal loans and the average
amount borrowed vary by demographic and enrollment
characteristics?
-How does the amount of grants and loans FTB
students receive from federal, institutional, and private sources
differ during each year of enrollment?
-How much do FTB students
borrow in private loans?
-What kinds of borrowers struggle in
repayment and default on their student loans after 6 years?
-How
do answers to the above questions differ by factors like demographic
characteristics, control and level of institution, and other
enrollment characteristics?
Education
and Career Expectations
-What
degrees or certificates do FTB students expect to attain, when do
they expect to complete them, and how confident are they in these
expectations?
-What is the relationship between these attainment
expectations and actual attainment outcomes 6 years after students
begin college?
-How much social and emotional support do FTB
students receive from their families and friends in their pursuit of
their educational goals?
-Did the coronavirus pandemic lead
students to change their programs of study?
-To what careers do
FTB 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?
-How do answers to
the above questions differ by demographic
characteristics?
Persistence
-At
what rate do students stop out of postsecondary education, how often
do they do it, and when do they do it?
-At what rate do 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?
-What proportion of certificate
attainers enter another certificate or degree program? Are their
subsequent certificates and degrees in related fields of study?
-What
proportion of FTB students are enrolled in their first institution 6
years after initially enrolling but have yet to earn a
credential?
-What proportion of FTB students left postsecondary
education as a result of the coronavirus pandemic?
-What
proportion of FTB students are enrolled in any institution 6 years
after first enrolling but have yet to earn a credential?
-Among
students who leave postsecondary education without a credential, in
what year did they leave?
-How do answers to the above questions
differ by demographic characteristics, high school preparation,
control and level of institution, attendance intensity, employment
during enrollment, financial aid and borrowing, physical and mental
health, sense of belonging at institution, discount rate, and
education and career expectations?
Attainment
-What
percentage of FTB students earn a certificate, associate's degree, or
bachelor's degree?
-How long does it take FTB students to earn
each of these credentials?
-How do answers to the above
questions differ by institution level and control, attendance
intensity, transfer patterns, stop-outs, changes in major and major
choice? What role do demographic characteristics, high school
preparation, employment during enrollment, financial aid and
borrowing, physical and mental health, sense of belonging at
institution, discount rate, and education and career expectations
play?
Employment
Outcomes After Leaving Postsecondary Education
-How
much do FTB students earn after 6 years, and what benefits do they
receive?
-Did students attribute changes in their employment
after leaving postsecondary education to the coronavirus
pandemic?
-What percentage of FTB students are employed in their
field of study? How do their employment outcomes compare to those who
are not employed in their field of study?
-Among FTB students
who did not enter postsecondary education directly from high school,
to what extent does their employment before and after postsecondary
education differ? To what extent does employment prior to
postsecondary education influence employment outcomes after
postsecondary education?
-How do FTB students' employment
outcomes after leaving postsecondary education compare to their
employment during their postsecondary education?
-What
percentage of FTB students have experienced unemployment spells? How
many spells have they had, and how many months has each spell
lasted?
-How do answers to the above questions differ by degree
and certificate attainment; field of study; and level, control, and
selectivity of institution attended? What role do demographic
characteristics, employment prior to and during postsecondary
enrollment, debt, and earlier education and career expectations
play?
Previous agency use of the data: NCES has used data
from the previous cycles of BPS in a variety of publications. NCES
also makes BPS data available for use by researchers, policymakers,
and others via both restricted-use data files and the public-use data
tool PowerStats.
Approximately 100% of the information will be collected electronically.
For Student (copy), the primary methods through which information will be collected include Web. While not the primary method, information will also be collected via CATI.
Details of the information collected are as follows: The BPS:20/22 student survey will use web-based questionnaires across two electronic modes of data collection: a self-administered survey, which is mobile-friendly to allow completion of the survey on a tablet or smartphone, and interviewer-led computer assisted telephone interviews (CATI).
The
BPS:20/22 student survey will use web-based questionnaires across two
electronic modes of data collection: a self-administered survey,
which is mobile-friendly to allow completion of the survey on a
tablet or smartphone, and interviewer-led computer assisted telephone
interviews (CATI). The survey will be available through the study
website that resides on NCES servers.
On a nightly basis,
the data collection contractor will download student survey data to
their Enhanced Security Network (ESN) via a secure web service. Once
in the ESN, data will be cleaned and undergo quality analysis. The
website used for the BPS:20/22 data collection will reside on NCES'
Secure Socket Layer-certified (SSL) servers with a secure data
connection. SSL protocol is used to encrypt the data transmitted over
the Internet, and all parts of the websites that collect student data
are password protected. The forms that gather data on these websites
will require session cookies to run in accordance with the U.S.
Department of Education's privacy policy for the use of cookies. The
most recent versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome,
and Mozilla Firefox allow for rejecting all cookies other than those
required for session tracking.
Included in this section is information describing any efforts to identify duplication of this data collection.
Efforts
to identify duplication have included NCES consultations with other
federal offices, such as the U.S. Department of Education's Office of
Postsecondary Education; the Office of Planning, Evaluation, and
Policy Development; and other agencies, such as the Government
Accountability Office; the Congressional Budget Office (CBO); and the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB). In addition, NCES collaborates
with the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics
(NCSES) at the National Science Foundation (NSF) to ensure that each
unit is kept up to date on each other's studies pertaining to
postsecondary students and institutions. NCES and NSF meet on a
regular basis to cover topical issues relevant to both offices, and
each has staff serving on study TRPs. NCES routinely consults with
nonfederal associations, such as the American Council on Education,
the Career Education Colleges and Universities, the National
Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, the National
Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the Council of
Graduate Schools, the Institute for Higher Education Policy, the
State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, and the
National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs to
confirm that data collected through NPSAS are not available from any
other sources.
NCES also consults with academic
researchers, several of whom attend the NPSAS and BPS TRP meetings.
Beyond identification of duplication, these consultations provide
methodological insights from the results of similar and related
studies conducted by NCES, other federal agencies, and nonfederal
sources. The consultations also assure that data collected through
BPS will meet the needs of the federal government and relevant
organizations. No studies in the United States singularly duplicate
the data produced by BPS.
Included in this section is information describing any methods used to minimize the burden of this data collection.
The target respondents for BPS:20/22 interviews are individuals and the data collection activities will not involve burden to small businesses or entities.
Included in this section is information describing consequences to Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently, as well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.
BPS
studies have been conducted periodically since 1990. BPS:20/22 will
be the first follow-up data collection following NPSAS:20, which
served as the base-year, and from which the BPS student sample was
selected. BPS:20/25 will be the second follow-up.
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, first, 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 first time beginning
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.
Included in this section is information explaining any special circumstances required for this data collection.
No special circumstances of data collection are anticipated.
Included in this section is a copy and details identifying the date and page number of publication in the Federal Register of the agency's notice, required by 5 CFR 1320.8(d).
Recognizing
the significance of the BPS:20/22 data collection, several strategies
have been incorporated into the project work plan to create
opportunities 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,
the U.S. Department of Education, and the federal
government.
Previous BPS implementations have benefited
from consultations with a TRP composed of staff from several offices
in the Department of Education; representatives of NSF, OMB, and CBO;
and nonfederal members who are considered experts in postsecondary
education issues (a list of the TRP members is provided in Appendix
A). These consultations provide methodological insights from the
results of similar and related studies conducted by NCES, other
federal agencies, and nonfederal sources. The consultations also
assure that data collected through BPS will meet the needs of the
federal government and relevant organizations.
In May
2019, members of the NPSAS:20 TRP were consulted regarding specific
questions included in the NPSAS:20 student survey that were targeted
to the BPS cohort. In June 2020, the BPS TRP reviewed the BPS:20/22
field test plan and content of the student survey. In July 2021, a
second BPS TRP meeting was held to review the field test results and
collect recommendations for the full-scale collection.
Included in this section is information describing the incentives to be provided to respondents.
The
monetary incentives for this respondent class are valued at $30-$67
and include the following: BPS:20/22 full-scale data collection will
involve two distinct data collection groups (i.e., a default and an
aggressive group) and four main data collection phases (i.e., early
completion, production phases 1 and 2, and nonresponse conversion).
This general setup builds upon the designs implemented in other
longitudinal studies where it has contributed to maximizing response
rates and minimizing the potential for nonresponse bias (e.g.,
BPS:12/14, BPS:12/17, B&B:16/17, B&B:08/18, and the BPS:20/22
field test).
In BPS:20/22 we plan to implement
differential treatments based on prior round response status, an
approach that was successfully implemented in the B&B:16/17 field
test, where NPSAS:16 field test nonrespondents received either an
aggressive or a default protocol. The response rate among NPSAS:16
field test nonrespondents who received the aggressive protocol was
about 12% higher than the group that received the default protocol
(37% response rate for the aggressive protocol versus 25% response
rate t(2,097) = 3.52, p < .001).
For the BPS:20/22
full-scale design, we will distinguish the following data collection
groups and design protocols:
• Default Protocol: NPSAS:20
survey respondents.
• Aggressive Protocol: NPSAS:20 survey
nonrespondents, including sample members who failed to respond to
NPSAS:20 and those who are NPSAS:20 administrative-only sample
members (who were never invited to complete the NPSAS:20 student
survey), who are potential academic year 2019-20 FTBs based on
administrative data.
The baseline incentive for the
default protocol will be $30 along with the possibility of a $10
boost incentive applied later in data collection.
The
baseline incentive for the aggressive protocol will be $45. The
baseline incentive will be paid in addition to a $2 prepaid
incentive, and a $20 boost incentive applied later in data
collection. The maximum possible total incentive is $40 for the
default data collection protocol and $67 for this aggressive data
collection protocol.
Aggressive protocol prepaid
incentives:
$2 prepaid incentive - cash prepaid incentives
have been shown to significantly increase response rates in both
interviewer-administered as well as self-administered surveys and
hence reduce the potential for nonresponse bias (e.g., Church 1993;
Cantor et al. 2008; Goeritz 2006; Medway and Tourangeau 2015; Messer
and Dillman 2011; Parsons and Manierre 2014; Singer 2002). During the
early completion phase in the B&B:16/17 field test, prepaid
incentives ($10 via check or PayPal) in combination with telephone
prompting also significantly increased response rates by 4.4
percentage points in the aggressive protocol implemented for prior
round nonrespondents. Further, in a B&B:16/20 calibration
experiment, the overall response rate for sample members who were
given a prepaid incentive in cash did not statistically significantly
different from those who were prepaid using PayPal, indicating that
both prepayment methods can achieve similar response rates (Kirchner
et al. 2021). Given these positive findings combined with general
recommendations in the literature (e.g., Singer and Ye 2013; DeBell
et al. 2019), BPS:20/22 will send all prior round nonrespondents in
the aggressive protocol a $2 prepaid "visible" cash
incentive and notify them of this prepaid incentive in the data
collection announcement letter. Where necessary due to low address
quality, a $2 prepaid PayPal incentive announced on a separate index
card will be sent in lieu of a cash incentive.
$10 and $20
post-paid boost incentive for nonresponse conversion - incentive
boosts are successful nonresponse conversion strategies, increasing
response rates across various modes of data collection (e.g., Singer
and Ye, 2013; Dykema et al., 2015; Stevenson et al., 2016; Lynn,
2017) especially among sample members who have implicitly or
explicitly refused to complete the survey (e.g., Groves and Heeringa
2006). Incentive boosts are especially common in large federal
surveys during their nonresponse follow-up phase (e.g., The Center
for Disease Control and Prevention's National Survey of Family
Growth) and have been implemented successfully in other postsecondary
education surveys (e.g., HSLS:09 Second Follow-up; BPS:12/17;
NPSAS:20). For BPS:20/22, a $20 post-paid incentive boost is planned
for all remaining nonrespondents in the aggressive protocol, and $10
for all remaining nonrespondents in the default protocol. This
incentive boost will be offered during Production Phase 2 for both
protocols. This boost incentive will be offered in addition to the
baseline incentive, so the total incentive for completing the survey
can include the combined totals of the baseline and boost
amounts.
Prior to the start of data collection, BPS:20/22
sample members will be matched to a federal database maintained by
the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets
Controls (OFAC). OFAC administers and enforces economic and trade
sanctions based on U.S. foreign policy and national security goals.
As part of its enforcement efforts, OFAC publishes a list of
individuals and companies called the “Specially Designated
Nationals List” or SDN. Their assets are blocked and U.S.
entities are prohibited from conducting trade or financial
transactions with those on the list
(https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Pages/default.aspx).
In order to determine if there are any BPS:20/22 sample members to
whom NCES cannot offer an incentive, the sample members will be
matched to the SDN using the Jaro-Winkler and Soundex algorithms
recommended by OFAC. To avoid over-matching, BPS:20/22 staff will
review the cases based on full name, date of birth, and address. The
small number of individuals who cannot be confirmed as not matching
the SDN list will receive a survey request without an incentive
offer.
The justification for the aforementioned incentives is as follows: The use of incentives for completion of the student survey can provide significant advantages to the government in terms of increased response rates and higher quality data with minimal nonresponse bias. In addition, the use of incentives may also result in decreased data collection costs due to improved efficiency.
The use of incentives for completion of the student survey can provide significant advantages to the government in terms of increased response rates and higher quality data with minimal nonresponse bias. In addition, the use of incentives may also result in decreased data collection costs due to improved efficiency.
Included in this section is information pertaining to the confidentiality restrictions for this data collection.
In terms of confidentiality, this study collects Personally Identifiable Information with Direct Identifiers (PII-DI). Also, this study has a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA).
The
confidentiality language cited to respondents in any of the materials
provided to them is: Student survey:
Respondents to the
student survey will be required to confirm their identity with each
log in session. Respondents who begin the survey but do not complete
it will have the option to re-enter by logging in as they did the
first time around, or using a link provided to them in reminders to
begin on the welcome page (the page right after the log in). To
protect the confidentiality of survey responses in the student
survey, the respondent will not be able to view the answers they
completed (i.e., no ability to use the survey's navigation buttons to
go to “Previous” survey questions from previous log in
sessions). Therefore, student respondents are limited to viewing only
survey responses that occur in each unique log in session. To further
ensure confidentiality, the student survey automatically logs out of
a survey session after 10 minutes of inactivity.
Security
measures have been put in place to protect data during data
collection as described in section A.3 Collection Techniques. NCES
has a secure data transfer system, which uses SSL technology,
allowing the transfer of encrypted data over the Internet. The IES
File Transfer System will be used for all administrative data sources
that do not have their own secure file transfers systems. All data
transfers will be encrypted.
The Department of Education
has established a policy regarding the personnel security screening
requirements for all contractor employees and their subcontractors.
The contractor must comply with these personnel security screening
requirements throughout the life of the contract, including 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 upon
the level of harm that a person in the position can cause to the
Department'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 the
Department will occur.
Administrative data:
BPS:20/22
and other NCES postsecondary studies include data linkages with many
existing sources of valuable data, including Department of
Education's CPS for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid
(FAFSA) data, the NSLDS, and the NSC. NPSAS:20, the base-year data
collection for BPS:20/22, collected data from postsecondary
institution student records, information on military service records
from the VBA, and admissions test scores from ACT and The College
Board. Many of these administrative data matches are not guaranteed
and will require separate memorandums of understanding, agreements,
or contracts with the entities owning or responsible for the
individual data elements.
Regarding file matching with
administrative sources, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
(FERPA) of 1974 (20 U.S.C. §1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) allows the
disclosure of personally identifiable information from students'
education records without prior consent for the purposes of NPSAS:20
according to the following excerpts: 34 CFR §99.31 asks, “Under
what conditions is prior consent not required to disclose
information?” and explains in 34 CFR §99.31(a) that “An
educational agency or institution may disclose personally
identifiable information from an education record of a student
without the consent required by §99.30 if the disclosure meets
one or more” of several conditions. These conditions include,
at 34 CFR §99.31(a)(3):
“The disclosure is,
subject to the requirements of §99.35, to authorized
representatives of--
(i) The Comptroller General of the United
States;
(ii) The Attorney General of the United States;
(iii)
The Secretary; or
(iv) State and local educational
authorities.”
BPS:20/22 is collecting data under the
Secretary's authority. Specifically, NCES, as an authorized
representative of the Secretary of Education, is collecting this
information for the purpose of evaluating a federally supported
education program. Any personally identifiable information is
collected with adherence to the security protocol detailed in 34 CFR
§99.35:
“(a)(1) Authorized representatives of the
officials or agencies headed by officials listed in §99.31(a)(3)
may have access to education records in connection with an audit or
evaluation of Federal or State supported education programs, or for
the enforcement of or compliance with Federal legal requirements that
relate to those programs.
(2) The State or local educational
authority or agency headed by an official listed in §99.31(a)(3)
is responsible for using reasonable methods to ensure to the greatest
extent practicable that any entity or individual designated as its
authorized representative—
(i) Uses personally
identifiable information only to carry out an audit or evaluation of
Federal- or State-supported education programs, or for the
enforcement of or compliance with Federal legal requirements related
to these programs;
(ii) Protects the personally identifiable
information from further disclosures or other uses, except as
authorized in paragraph (b)(1) of this section; and
(iii)
Destroys the personally identifiable information in accordance with
the requirements of paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section.
(b)
Information that is collected under paragraph (a) of this section
must—
(1) Be protected in a manner that does not permit
personal identification of individuals by anyone other than the State
or local educational authority or agency headed by an official listed
in §99.31(a)(3) and their authorized representatives, except
that the State or local educational authority or agency headed by an
official listed in §99.31(a)(3) may make further disclosures of
personally identifiable information from education records on behalf
of the educational agency or institution in accordance with the
requirements of §99.33(b); and
(2) Be destroyed when no
longer needed for the purposes listed in paragraph (a) of this
section.
(c) Paragraph (b) of this section does not apply
if:
(1) The parent or eligible student has given written consent
for the disclosure under §99.30; or
(2) The collection of
personally identifiable information is specifically authorized by
Federal law.”
Additionally, the study, including the
administrative data linkage, qualifies for a 45 CFR Part 46 waiver of
consent based on the following factors:
- There is minimal risk
to the participants. There is no physical risk and only minimal risk
associated with linkage of data to sample members. The public-use and
restricted-use data, prepared as part of the contract with the data
collection contractor, will not include Social Security Numbers
(SSNs) or other extremely sensitive Personally Identifiable
Information (e.g., name, birthdate, etc.) even though these data
elements are used for the linkage. Data will undergo disclosure
avoidance analysis and disclosure treatment steps to further reduce
the risk.
- The waiver will not affect the rights and welfare of
sampled students. Public-use and restricted-use data are only used
for research purposes and lack direct individually-identifying
information. The data are further protected through disclosure
avoidance procedures approved by the NCES Disclosure Review Board.
-
The study cannot be conducted practicably without the waiver. Data
will be collected from postsecondary institutions and other
administrative data offices and agencies, and there will be no direct
contact with sampled students. To obtain written consent from sampled
students, multiple forms would have to be sent to them with multiple
follow-up telephone and in-person visits. This process would add
weeks to the data collection process and is not feasible from a time
standpoint. Additionally, the value of these data would be
jeopardized from a nonresponse bias perspective.
Appendix
B includes additional information regarding confidentiality for
administrative record matching.
The law cited to respondents defining the voluntary and confidential nature of this collection is: 20 U.S.C. §1232g; 34 CFR §99.31.
To collect data from student (copy) respondents, this data collection includes survey consent type consent. The longitudinal follow-up informed consent language utilized by one or more respondent class is as follows: "In about three years, we would like to be able to get in touch with you again to see what you're doing and what has changed in your life. To find you then, we need to collect some contact information. Help Text: Any and all contact information you provide will be kept in secure and protected data files, and will be separate from the responses you've already provided in this survey." This text is shown at the completion of the survey, making the respondent aware of a future follow-up data collection. Informed consent language appears at the beginning of the survey and on study materials, as described below.
The verbatim voluntary and confidential collection language utilized in the data collection instruments (IC) by one or more respondent class is as follows:
Question
wording:
Recently, we sent you material about the U.S.
Department of Education's Beginning Postsecondary Students
Longitudinal Study (BPS). The BPS survey is being conducted to better
understand the education and employment experiences of students who
began their postsecondary education during the 2019-2020 academic
year.
[If the respondent is not on the OFAC no-pay list
and is a base-year survey nonrespondent] You should have already
received a $2 prepaid incentive. If you have not received the $2,
please contact our Help Desk toll-free at 1-800-247-6056 for
assistance.
[If the respondent is on the OFAC no-pay list] The survey takes about [{if full survey} 30 minutes to complete {else if abbreviated survey} 15 minutes to complete]. [If the respondent is not on the OFAC no-pay list] The survey takes about [{if full survey} 30 minutes {else if abbreviated survey} 15 minutes] and, as a token of our appreciation, you will receive [{if respondent is not on the OFAC no-pay list and is a base-year nonrespondent} an additional] $[incentive amount] for participating.
In
addition to your survey responses, we collect other
enrollment-related data from your institution and sources such as
student loan databases and admissions testing agencies. Your
responses, combined with any student record information, may be used
for statistical purposes and will not be disclosed, or used, in
personally identifiable forms for any other purpose, except as
required by law (20 U.S.C. §9573 and 6 U.S.C. §151).
Sometimes
there are opportunities for researchers to use data from previous
studies or to share data with each other if they are conducting
similar research. For these reasons, we may use or share your
deidentified data with other researchers. If we do so, we will not
contact you to ask for your additional informed consent.
Your
participation is voluntary and will not affect any aid or other
benefits that you may receive. You may decline to answer any question
or stop the survey at any time. The risks of participating in this
study are small and relate to data security. We have the following
precautions in place - your responses are stored within an enhanced
security network, only authorized project staff have access to data,
and all staff have participated in privacy training, signed
confidentiality agreements, and undergone rigorous background checks.
All personally identifiable information will be kept in secure and
protected data files, and will be separate from the responses you've
already provided in this survey.
If you are located in the
European Union (EU) or the United Kingdom (UK), you have rights under
the EU's General Data Protection Regulation and the UK Data
Protection Act. By providing consent, you agree and understand that
your personal information will be transferred to a data center
located in the United States.
If you wish to exercise any
of your data subjects' rights or have additional questions regarding
the use and protection of your information, or have any questions
about the study, you should contact the study director, Michael
Bryan, at 800-844-8959. For questions about your rights as a
participant, please contact RTI's Office of Research Protection
toll-free at 866-214-2043.
To review the letter that we
mailed, click here (PDF letter).
To review the study
brochure, click here (PDF brochure).
Do you want to begin
the survey now?
Help text:
• You are one of
approximately 37,000 students who will be taking part in this
study.
• The risk of participating in this study is small
and relates to data security. However, we have put strict security
procedures in place to protect your information. Procedures include:
1.Responses are collected and stored on RTI's network which
complies with all applicable security and privacy regulations
including strong encryption during internet transmission (Secure
Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol).
2.All data entry modules are
password protected and require the user to log in before accessing
confidential data.
3.Project staff are subject to large fines
and/or imprisonment if they knowingly publish or communicate any
individually identifiable information.
The verbatim voluntary and confidential collection language utilized in the contact materials by one or more respondent class is as follows: NCES is authorized to conduct the 2020/22 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:20/22) by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA, 20 U.S.C. §9543) and to collect students' education records from educational agencies or institutions for the purpose of evaluating federally supported education programs under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA, 34 CFR §§ 99.31(a)(3)(iii) and 99.35). The data are being collected for NCES by RTI International, a U.S.-based nonprofit research organization. All of the information you provide 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 and 6 U.S.C. §151).
The
verbatim voluntary and confidential collection language utilized in
the FAQ by one or more respondent class is as follows: Website text:
Confidentiality
The National Center for Education
Statistics (NCES) is required to follow strict procedures to protect
personal information in the collection, reporting, and publication of
data. All of the information provided by individuals or institutions
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 and 6 U.S.C §151).
Data
security procedures for BPS are reviewed and approved by NCES data
security staff. Your answers are secured behind firewalls and are
encrypted during internet transmission using Secure Sockets Layer
(SSL) protocol. All data entry modules are password protected and
require the user to log in before accessing confidential data.
Project staff are subject to large fines and/or imprisonment if they
knowingly publish or communicate any individually identifiable
information.
Congress has authorized the National Center
for Education Statistics (NCES) of the U.S. Department of Education's
Institute of Education Sciences to collect data about the costs of
postsecondary education because policymakers at all levels need
reliable and current national data in order to make decisions about
postsecondary education.
NCES is authorized to conduct the
2020/22 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study by the
Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA, 20 U.S.C. §9543)
and to collect students' education records from educational agencies
or institutions for the purposes of evaluating federally supported
education programs under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy
Act of 1974 (FERPA, 34 CFR §§ 99.31(a)(3)(iii) and
99.35).
The study has been approved by the U.S. Office of
Management and Budget (OMB). The valid OMB control number for this
information collection is 1850-0631. The expiration date is
xx/xx/20xx.
The
verbatim voluntary and confidential collection language utilized in
the brochure by one or more respondent class is as follows: How will
my information be protected?
NCES is required to follow strict
procedures to protect personal information in the collection,
reporting, and publication of data. All of the information provided
by individuals or institutions 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 and
6 U.S.C §151).
Data security procedures for BPS are
reviewed and approved by NCES data security staff. Your answers are
secured behind firewalls and are encrypted during internet
transmission using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol. All data
entry modules are password protected and require the user to log in
before accessing the data. NCES employees and contractors are subject
to large fines or imprisonment if individual responses are disclosed.
The
primary contractor for this study is RTI International.
Confidentiality and data security protection procedures have been put
in place for BPS:20/22 to ensure that the contractor and its
subcontractors comply with all privacy requirements, including:
1.
The statement of work of this contract;
2. Family Educational
Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 (20 U.S.C. §1232(g));
3.
Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. §552a);
4. Privacy Act
Regulations (34 CFR Part 5b);
5. Computer Security Act of
1987;
6. U.S.A. Patriot Act of 2001 (P.L. 107-56);
7.
Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA 2002, 20 U.S.C.
§9573);
8. Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015 (6 U.S.C.
§151);
9. Foundations of Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of
2018, Title III, Part B, Confidential Information Protection;
10.
The U.S. Department of Education General Handbook for Information
Technology Security General Support Systems and Major Applications
Inventory Procedures (March 2005);
11. The U.S. Department of
Education Incident Handling Procedures (February 2009);
12. The
U.S. Department of Education, ACS Directive OM: 5-101, Contractor
Employee Personnel Security Screenings;
13. NCES Statistical
Standards; and
14. All new legislation that impacts the data
collected through the contract for this study.
Furthermore,
the contractor will comply with the Department of Education'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 (FISMA), Federal Information
Processing Standards (FIPS) publications, Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) Circulars, and the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST) standards and guidance. All data products and
publications will also adhere to the revised NCES Statistical
Standards, as described at the website:
https://nces.ed.gov/statprog/2012/.
By law (20 U.S.C.
§9573), a violation of the confidentiality restrictions is a
felony, punishable by imprisonment of up to 5 years and/or a fine of
up to $250,000. The BPS:20/22 procedures for maintaining
confidentiality include notarized nondisclosure affidavits obtained
from all personnel who will have access to individual identifiers;
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. BPS:20/22 follows
detailed guidelines for securing sensitive project data, including,
but not limited to: physical/environment protections, building access
controls, system access controls, system login restrictions, user
identification and authorization procedures, encryption, and project
file storage/archiving/destruction.
Included in this section is additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private.
The
student survey collects information about earnings, assets, marital
and family statuses, gender identity and sexual orientation, student
basic needs, and mental health during the coronavirus pandemic.
Regulations governing the administration of these questions require:
(a) clear documentation of the need for such information as it
relates to the primary purpose of the study, and (b) provisions to
clearly inform sample members of the voluntary nature of
participation in the study, as well as information about how their
responses will be protected and 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 and
6 U.S.C. §151).
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 are important post-graduate
outcomes of students and are important indicators of the rate of
return of educational experiences to the respondent.
The
collection of information about marital and family status likewise
facilitates the exploration of key policy issues. Financial and
family-related obligations also influence decisions about enrollment,
employment, and loan repayment so it is important to collect
information about marital status and dependents. Gender identity and
sexual orientation can impact enrollment and employment experiences
and outcomes, a topic of growing interest for social research and
policy.
Financial data related to earnings and assets, as
well as marital and dependency statuses are key items used in
calculating need for financial aid, parental contributions, and
financial aid awards. Consequently, the data elements are critical to
the conduct of policy-related analyses and to the modeling and
projection of the effects of federal program changes on students and
on program costs.
New data elements capturing food and
housing security are critical to measure how well the basic needs of
postsecondary students are being met. The NPSAS:20 student survey,
which served as the base-year data collection for BPS:20/22, will be
the first federal survey to collect food security data on a national
postsecondary student population.
Consultation with U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) staff and other external content
experts identified U.S. Household Food Security items appropriate to
include. The U.S. Household Food Security items from the USDA have
been rigorously tested using a postsecondary student population to
collect data for policy-related analyses on the basic needs of
students.
Although NPSAS:16 included a measure of
homelessness based upon FAFSA questions, NPSAS:20, and now BPS:20/22
in the follow-up, include an additional measure of homelessness. This
item maps onto the McKinney-Vento (42 U.S.C. §§11431-11435)
definition of homelessness and has been used in several large-scale
postsecondary student studies.
Homelessness is one
indicator of housing security, which is a multidimensional construct.
To capture more nuanced information on student housing security,
BPS:20/22 will collect additional indicators of housing security such
as housing affordability, stability, and safety. The addition of
these indicators will allow researchers to understand the impact that
housing security can have on student persistence and attainment and
other outcomes of interest. The addition of the food security and
housing security measures will allow us to use nationally
representative data to better understand whether the basic needs of
postsecondary students are being met.
BPS:20/22 will also
field items related to student experiences during the coronavirus
pandemic. The pandemic caused disruptions to student's academic,
social, and personal experiences. Given strong feedback from
Technical Review Panel members, student mental health during this
period is a key construct of interest. Data will be collected on how
the coronavirus pandemic impacted students' levels of stress or
anxiety, difficulty concentrating, loneliness or isolation, and
feeling down, depressed, or hopeless. Several studies conducted by
federal agencies, including the Census, have used similar measures to
collect information on experiences during the coronavirus
pandemic.
SSNs also will be needed to: 1) conduct file
matches to administrative records and 2) maintain the sample for
future follow-up BPS studies. File matching to administrative records
is a crucial element of the BPS study and would not be possible
without the collection of SSNs. Data obtained from file matching will
both minimize respondent burden and increase data quality.
Several
procedures have been implemented (see section A.10) to provide
assurances to sample members about the voluntary nature of
participation in the study as well as the confidentiality provisions
for survey responses.
Included in this section is information describing the hour burden of the collection of information.
For the student (copy), responses via Abbreviated Survey, Address Update, Administrative Records, CPS, NSLDS, and Survey are expected to be collected from approximately 72% of the sample. BPS is a nationally representative study of students who began postsecondary education at Title IV postsecondary institutions during the same academic year (2018-19 for the BPS:20/22 field test, 2019-20 for the full-scale study). Table 2 summarizes estimated maximum burden of the BPS:20/22 full-scale study.
Table 2. Average estimated maximum burden to student respondents for the BPS:20/22 full-scale data collection and panel maintenance
Data collection activity |
Sample |
Expected eligible |
Expected response rate (percent) |
Expected number of respondents |
Expected number of responses |
Average time burden per response (mins) |
Total time burden (hours) |
BPS:20/22 full-scale |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Panel maintenance (address updates)1 |
37,330 |
NA |
15 |
5,6003 |
5,600 |
3 |
280 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Student survey |
37,330 |
34,950 |
72 |
25,030 |
25,030 |
30 |
12,515 |
NPSAS:20 Respondents |
26,470 |
26,470 |
82 |
21,710 |
21,710 |
30 |
10,855 |
NPSAS:20 Nonrespondents |
5,510 |
4,300 |
22 |
950 |
950 |
30 |
475 |
NPSAS:20 Administrative-only |
5,350 |
4,170 |
57 |
2,380 |
2,380 |
30 |
1,190 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BPS:20/25 field test |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Panel maintenance (address updates)2 |
3,510 |
NA |
15 |
530 |
530 |
3 |
27 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
|
|
|
25,560 |
25,610 |
|
12,544 |
1 Greyed out rows represent tasks for which burden is not currently being requested. In this case, project burden for the administration of full-scale panel maintenance was approved in the BPS:20/22 field test package, OMB # 1850-0631 v.18. However, because in v. 18 we estimated 5,550 responses and 278 burden hours associated with this activity and have since revised that estimate slightly upward, a contribution of 50 responses and 2 burden hours from this activity line have been added to the total in this request.
2 BPS:20/25 is anticipated but not yet exercised.
3 The expected numbers of respondents (5,600) is not included in the total count because they are acccounted for in the adjacent student survey respondent cells. These cases are included in the total expected number of responses.
Response types for the full-scale student survey are a complete or partial survey. Response types for panel maintenance will be updating contact information or acknowledgement that existing contact information is correct.
Burden estimates for this request are based on a full-scale sample of approximately 37,330 students and a field test sample of 3,510. The full-scale sample will be asked to complete a student survey. The field test sample will be asked to complete an address update activity.
Based on NPSAS:20 and the BPS:20/22 field test we expect the student survey to take approximately 30 minutes and to be completed by approximately 72% of the eligible sample. This results in a total survey time burden of 12,515 hours. This is a maximum estimated burden at this response rate. While an abbreviated interview is part of data collection plans, the number of respondents who will complete the abbreviated interview is not known. Therefore, to estimate the maximum potential burden, the burden estimate uses the full, 30-minute survey for all respondents.
Based
on prior rounds of BPS we expect the address update to take
approximately 3 minutes and to be completed by approximately 15% of
the sample. This results in a 27-hour time burden.
Students
in the sample are estimated to earn an hourly rate of $20, calculated
by averaging the median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary
workers among high school graduates with no college and individuals
with some college or an associate's degree (Table 5,
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/wkyeng.pdf). This hourly rate
multiplied by the 12,544 total burden hours equates to a respondent
burden time cost of approximately $250,880.
Included in this section is information describing an estimate of the total annual cost burden to respondents or record keepers resulting from the collection of information.
Respondents will incur no costs associated with participation in this study beyond the response burden time cost.
Included in this section is information describing annualized cost to the Federal government.
The total cost to the federal government for all activities included in this package is $4,680,807. This includes the total cost for the full-scale study as well as all costs for the field test panel maintenance.
Table 3. Costs to NCES for the 2020/22 Beginning Postsecondary Students Full-scale Study
BPS:20/22 study implementation |
Costs to NCES |
NCES Salaries and expenses |
$378,813 |
BPS:20/22 full-scale student survey |
|
Contract costs |
$4,288,794 |
Instrumentation and materials |
$349,553 |
Data collection |
$2,492,288 |
Systems and data processing |
$979,085 |
Planning and documentation |
$467,868 |
|
|
BPS:20/25 field test panel maintenance (address updates)1 |
$13,200 |
Total |
1 BPS:20/25 is anticipated but not yet exercised.
The total estimated burden time is 12,544 hours. The increase in burden is due to the collection of student interview data in this phase of the study.
The
contract for BPS:20/22 requires multiple reports, publications, and
other public information releases. Results of the field test will be
published as an appendix to the full-scale data file documentation.
The operational schedule for the BPS:20/22 full-scale
study is seen in Table 4 below.
Table 4.Operational schedule for BPS:20/22 Full-scale Study
|
Start date |
End date |
BPS:20/22 activity |
|
|
Full-scale study |
|
|
Select student sample |
Sep. 27, 2021 |
Nov. 24, 2021 |
Panel maintenance |
Oct. 19, 2021 |
Feb. 28, 2022 |
Self-administered web-based data collection |
Mar. 1, 2022 |
Nov. 11, 2022 |
Conduct telephone surveys of students |
Mar. 1, 2022 |
Nov. 11, 2022 |
Process data, construct data files |
Mar. 1, 2022 |
Dec. 2, 2022 |
Prepare/update data collection reports |
Jan. 11, 2022 |
Dec. 15, 2022 |
|
|
|
BPS:20/25 activity1 |
|
|
Field test |
|
|
Panel maintenance (address updates) |
Oct 19, 2022 |
Feb. 28, 2023 |
1
BPS:20/25 is
anticipated but not yet exercised.
Recruitment for this collection is planned to begin on 03/01/22, with data collection planned to begin on 03/01/22 and to end on 11/11/22.
Tabulation and publication details include:
Descriptive summaries of significant findings for dissemination to a broad audience (including First Look reports)
Detailed data file documentation describing all aspects of the full-scale study design and data collection procedures, including an appendix summarizing the methodological findings from the field test
Complete data files and documentation for research data users in the form of both a restricted-use file; and PowerStats, which allows users to create their own tables and charts using all of the variables
Special tabulations of issues of interest to the higher education community, as determined by NCES.
The expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection will be displayed on data collection instruments and materials. No special exception is being requested.
There are no exceptions to the certification statement identified in the Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions of OMB Form 83-I.
File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
Author | William West |
File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
File Created | 2021-12-16 |