2004/09 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:04/09) Field Test

This report describes the methodology and findings for the field test of the 2004/09 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:04/09). These students, who started their postsecondary education during the 2002-03 academic year, were first interviewed as part of the 2004 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:04) field test. BPS:04/09 is the second follow-up of this cohort. The BPS:04/09 field test was used to plan, implement, and evaluate methodological procedures, instruments, and systems proposed for use in the full-scale study scheduled for the 2008-09 school year. The report provides the sampling design and methodologies used in the field test. It also describes data collection outcomes, including response rates, interview burden, and results of incentive, mailing, and prompting experiments. In addition, the report provides details on the evaluation of data quality for reliability of responses, item nonresponse, and question delivery and data entry error. Recommendations for the full-scale study are provided for the sampling design, locating and tracing procedures, interviewer training, data collection, and instrumentation.

To view, download and print the report in PDF format please visit:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=200901

Web Tables: Choosing a Postsecondary Institution: Considerations Reported by Students

Data presented in these tables come from the 2003–04 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:04/06), a survey that tracks new postsecondary students through their postsecondary education and into the labor force. In 2003-04, BPS:04/06 students had just entered postsecondary education for the first time. These tables focus on these students’ demographic characteristics as well as the factors they considered before selecting a postsecondary institution and the reasons they chose the postsecondary institution in which they enrolled. Results are displayed separately for recent high school graduates and nonrecent high school graduates by the type of institution in which they were enrolled: public 2-year, public 4-year, or private not-for-profit 4-year colleges.

To view, download and print the report in PDF format please visit:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2009186.

Students Who Study Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in Postsecondary Education

Using data from the 1995-96 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01), this Statistics in Brief focuses on undergraduates who enter STEM programs and examines their characteristics and postsecondary outcomes (persistence and degree completion) several years after beginning postsecondary education. Findings include:

• Twenty-three percent of 1995–96 beginning postsecondary students had majored in a STEM field at some point between their initial enrollment in 1995–96 and about 6 years later, as of 2001.
• STEM entrants generally did better than non-STEM entrants in terms of bachelor's degree attainment and overall persistence.
• Among all STEM entrants between 1995–96 and 2001, some 53 percent persisted in a STEM field by either completing a degree in a STEM field or staying enrolled in a STEM field, and the remaining 47 percent left STEM fields by either switching to a non-STEM field or leaving postsecondary education without earning any credential.

To view, download and print the report in PDF format please visit:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2009161.