The Beginning Postsecondary Students (BPS) Longitudinal Study is designed specifically to collect data related to persistence in and completion of postsecondary education programs; relationships between work and education efforts; and the effect of postsecondary education on the lives of individuals.
BPS follows students who are enrolled in a postsecondary institution for the first time. Initially, these individuals are surveyed through the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) to find out how they and their families pay for education beyond high school. These same students are surveyed 2- and 5-years later through BPS to find out about their undergraduate experiences, persistence in school, degree completion, and employment following enrollment.
Recent Publications
March 25, 2008:
Digest of Education Statistics, 2007The 43rd in a series of publications initiated in 1962, the Digest’s primary purpose is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field of American education from prekindergarten through graduate school.
December 11, 2007:
2004/06 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:04/06) Methodology ReportThis report describes and evaluates the methods and procedures used in the 2004/06 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:04/06), the first follow-up of the cohort of first-time beginning students who were identified as part of the 2003–04 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:04).
October 11, 2007:
2004/06 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study Data Analysis SystemThe BPS:04/06 DAS contains data on a sample of about 18,600 students who first entered postsecondary education in the 2003-04 academic year and were first surveyed as part of the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study.
August 15, 2007:
Persistence and Attainment of 2003-04 Beginning Postsecondary Students: After Three YearsThis First Look report provides a brief description of the persistence and degree attainment of a nationally representative sample of students who began postsecondary education for the first time in the 2003-04 academic year.
