The Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B) is based on the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) and provides information concerning education and work experience after completing the bachelor’s degree. B&B provides cross-sectional information 1 year after bachelor’s degree completion (comparable to the Recent College Graduates study), while at the same time providing longitudinal data concerning entry into and progress through graduate level education and the workforce. It also provides information on entry into, persistence and progress through, and completion of graduate level education. This information is difficult to gather through follow-ups involving high school cohorts or even college entry cohorts, both of which are restricted in the number who actually complete a bachelor’s degree and continue their education.
B&B followed NPSAS baccalaureate degree completers for a 12-year period after completion, beginning with NPSAS:93. About 11,000 students who completed their degrees in the 1992–93 academic year were included in the first B&B (B&B:93/94). In addition to the student data, B&B collected postsecondary transcripts covering the undergraduate period, which provided complete information on progress and persistence at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The second B&B follow-up took place in spring 1997 (B&B:93/97), and gathered information on employment history, family formation, and enrollment in graduate programs. The most recent B&B cohort was associated with the NPSAS:2000 and included 11,700 students who completed their degrees in the 1999–2000 academic year. The first, and only planned follow-up survey of this cohort, was conducted in 2001 and focused on time to degree completion, participation in post-baccalaureate education and employment, and the activities of newly qualified teachers (NCES 2003-165).
Further information on B&B may be obtained from:
Paula R. Knepper
Postsecondary Studies Division
National Center for Education Statistics
1990 K Street NW
Washington, DC 20006
Paula.Knepper@ed.gov
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/b&b/
NCES Sources