Technical Report:

Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study Second Follow-up (BPS:90/94) Final Technical Report

March 1996

(NCES 96-153) Ordering information

Introduction

This document provides a summary and evaluation of the methodological procedures and results of the full-scale implementation of the Beginning Postsecondary Student Longitudinal Study Second Follow-up, 1990-94 (BPS:90/94). The study was conducted for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC, as authorized by law [20 U.S.C. 1221.1] and the Higher Education Amendments of 1986, as amended by the Hawkins Stafford Amendments of 1988 [PL 100-297, Sections 300(I) and 300(k)]. BPS:90/94 (Contract No. RN92073001) was conducted by Research Triangle Institute (RTI), with the assistance of Abt Associates, Inc. (AAI) and Management Planning Research Associates, Inc. (MPR).

BPS:90/94 involved locating and computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) of a sample of individuals identified initially in the 1990 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:90) as first time beginning postsecondary students. The BPS:90/94 study was the second follow-up survey subsequent to NPSAS:90; BPS:90/92, the first follow-up, occurred in the spring of 1992. The BPS:90/94 sample included known-eligible BPS:90/92 respondents as well as BPS:90/92 nonrespondents for whom BPS-eligibility had not yet been determined. The remainder of this introductory chapter provides a brief overview of the background, purposes, and scheduled products of the BPS:90/94 full-scale study. Chapter II describes the design and method of the study, including sample design, respondent locating, data collection, and design of the operating control system. Chapter III presents the results of the locating and data collection activities and Chapter IV provides an evaluation of the quality of data collected. The final three chapters present issues related to construction of the BPS:90/94 data file, sample weighting, and estimation techniques.

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For more information about the content of this report, contact Aurora D'Amico at Aurora.D'Amico@ed.gov.

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