OMB83 Change Memo v21

Memorandum United States Department of Education

Institute of Education Sciences

National Center for Education Statistics

DATE: January 18, 2018

TO: Robert Sivinski, OMB

THROUGH: Kashka Kubzdela, OMB Liaison, NCES

FROM: Sean Simone, NPSAS:18-AC Project Officer, NCES

SUBJECT: 2017–18 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study Administrative Collection (NPSAS:18-AC) Change Request (OMB# 1850-0666 v.21)

The 2017–18 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, Administrative Collection (NPSAS:18-AC) is conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), within the U.S. Department of Education (ED). NPSAS is a nationally representative study of how students and their families finance education beyond high school. NPSAS provides the finance-related data along with comprehensive descriptions of the undergraduate and graduate student populations in terms of their demographic characteristics, academic programs undertaken, types of institutions attended, and attendance patterns.

The 2018 administration of NPSAS:18-AC will be the first NPSAS study to provide state-level estimates of undergraduate students for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. In order to allow for the larger sample of institutions participating in NPSAS:18-AC that is required to produce the state estimates, NPSAS:18-AC will not include a student interview – it will rely solely on the data available from postsecondary institutions and administrative sources. NPSAS:18-AC will also be the first NPSAS study to be conducted at the midway point in a typical 4-year NPSAS cycle.

Going forward, NPSAS will be conducted every two years, with consecutive NPSAS administrations alternating between NPSAS-AC, characterized by no student interviews and larger institutional samples needed for state estimates, and traditional NPSAS collections that have smaller institutional samples, include student interviews, provide national but not state estimates, and serve as the base-year data for either the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS) or the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B), alternating between the two every four years. The reduced time between NPSAS collections, from every four to every two years, will meet the demand among policymakers and researchers for more frequent and timely data on postsecondary education and student financial aid in the United States.

The request to conduct NPSAS:18-AC data collection was approved by OMB in November 2017 (OMB# 1850-0666 v.20). This request is to modify the materials used for recruiting and collecting data from postsecondary institutions, including modifying institution contact materials, the data collection instrument, introducing data feedback reports, and utilizing instructional videos. Additionally, this request updates institution sample size (adding 23 institutions) and updates the list of endorsing organizations. This memo details the revisions made to the approved NPSAS:18-AC clearance documents (OMB# 1850-0666 v.20) and is accompanied by the revised versions of those documents. The changes described here do not affect the approved total cost to the federal government for this study.

Revised Contacting Materials

Many of the institutions sampled for NPSAS:18-AC have also been asked to participate in the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) transcript and student records collection, which was approved under OMB #1850-0852 v.17. When clearance was initially obtained for NPSAS:18-AC, it was expected that HSLS:09 data collection would end prior to the start of NPSAS:18-AC data collection. However, in November 2017, data collection for HSLS:09 was approved to be extended into 2018 (OMB# 1850-0666 v.20); therefore, the NPSAS:18-AC contact materials will be updated to reference HSLS:09 for the institutions that are sampled for both studies.

We have also added new institution contacting materials. A flyer includes basic information about NPSAS:18-AC and the NCES sample studies in an attractive, eye-catching format. A bookmark includes information about the Postsecondary Data Portal (PDP) and its benefits to institutions, including a simple calendar showing the 2018 collections utilizing the site. This can be used by institution staff to assist with planning and scheduling and will serve as a visual reminder to institution staff throughout the data collection period. Finally, we have added a letter to state organizations requesting that they encourage specific non-respondent institutions to participate. The new and revised contacting materials are provided in Appendix D.

Instrument Revisions

Several small instrument changes were made based on expert review of the instrument content and feedback obtained from institutions during current data collection for BPS:12 and HSLS:09. These changes are designed to improve the quality of the data, increase clarity of instrument items, and reduce burden on participants. These revisions are listed below and reflected in a revised Appendix E.

Data Feedback Reports

NCES intends to provide stakeholders, including participating institutions, state agencies, and associations with a data feedback report, which will provide comparative data for the institutions’ sector and/or for the state. These publications will be sent to the institutions after NPSAS:18-AC data collection has ended. We have revised Part A, section 2a to include a brief description of the data feedback reports.

Instructional videos

Five brief instructional videos will be added to the student records instrument. The videos, which will be approximately one minute in length, will walk users through the major steps required to provide student records data. The videos are designed to anticipate users’ questions and reduce the burden of providing student records data. Scripts for the videos are included in the revised Appendix E.

Revised Sample Sizes

We revised the institution sample size based on a sample frame derived from the most recent IPEDS data. The total institutions sample has increased from 3,103 to 3,126 institutions. The final sample of institutions will include a census of all public 2-year and all public 4-year institutions and a sample of 1,394 institutions from the “all other institutions” stratum. Due to the change in institution sample sizes, the estimated burden associated with participation has increased. We have revised Part A, table 1 to reflect the revised respondent burden and have revised Part B, tables 1, 2, and 3 to reflect the increased institution sample size (see below).

Additional Endorsements

Additional organizations confirmed their endorsement of NPSAS:18-AC. These organizations were added to the list in the revised Appendix B (see also below).

Revisions to the Approved NPSAS:18-AC Clearance Package Documents

Part A:

In the Justification – Circumstances Making Collection of Information Necessary – Purpose of this Submission section (p. 1), the last paragraph:

While changes to this submission are not anticipated, there are several uncertainties in the data collection which may yield a change request at a later date:

• For students attending multiple postsecondary institutions: If NCES can determine a method to obtain data from all institutions a student attended (requiring the collection of data from institutions that weren’t originally in the sample), a change request will be submitted by January 12, 2018.

• If the proposed sampling design does not meet the precision goals for the study, a change request updating the sampling design will be submitted by January 12, 2018.

• If the list of endorsing organization in appendix B changes, we will provide the final list by January 12, 2018.

• If NCES or its data collection contractor is unable to secure an agreement with any of the listed desired administrative data providers, a change request will be submitted by December 17, 2018 to update the listing of matched data sources.

has been revised to:

While changes to this submission are not anticipated, if NCES or its data collection contractor is unable to secure an agreement with any of the listed desired administrative data providers, a change request will be submitted by December 17, 2018 to update the listing of matched data sources

The first three bullet points were deleted, because (1) NCES determined that it would not seek data on any one student from multiple institutions until such collection can be field tested in the future; (2) the number of postsecondary institutions was updated in the burden estimate, and no further sample design changes are expected; and (3) the list of endorsing organizations has been updated.

The following text describing the data feedback reports was added to section 2a (p. 3):

“The data collected will also be used to generate data feedback reports, which will be distributed to participating institutions, state agencies, and associations. These publications will include data and figures comparing institutional measures from IPEDS with estimates from NPSAS:18-AC by sector at the national and state level (if the sector/state level response rate is sufficient), depending on the institution and student type. The reports will underscore the importance of NPSAS data and ‘give back’ to institutions by providing comparative data with their peers.”

In section 5, Method Used to Minimize Burden on Small Businesses (p. 7), we updated the section to reflect the addition of instructional videos: “Additionally, NCES will provide resources to reduce burden on institutions including frequently asked questions and instructional videos.”

In section 12, Estimates of Response Burden (p. 10-11), the sample size, and respondent estimates were revised to reflect the increased sample sizes (23 more institutions in the sample than originally estimated, and thus 23 more respondents, 79 more responses, and 457 more burden hours). Changes were made to table 1, resulting in the final estimates shown below (revised numbers are highlighted in yellow).

Table 1. Average estimated burden to respondents for the NPSAS:18-AC data collection

	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)
Institutional Collection
	Eligibility-screening calls		3,126		3,095		100		3,095			3,095			5			258
	Institution Registration Page		†		3,095		85		2,631			2,631			5			220
	Institutional enrollment lists		†		3,095		85		2,631			2,631			165			7,236
	Institution Student Records
	Student record collection1		2,631		2,631		96		2,526			2,526			1,332			56,078
	Total								3,095			10,883						63,792

† Not applicable.

* Unduplicated counts of respondents.

¹ “Sample” is the number of institutions that provided enrollment lists for student sampling.

In section 12 (p. 11), we removed references to collecting student records for multiple institutions per student, which is not being requested for this collection: For those students who attend more than one postsecondary institution in the academic year, NCES may opt to collect student records from multiple institutions per student (see section B.2.) If this option is exercised, we will provide an updated submission with a revised table 1 by January 12, 2018.

Part B:

Section 2a, Statistical Methodology (p. 3-4), has been updated with the increased sample sizes. The total institution sample has increased from 3,103 institutions to 3,126 institutions. The final institution population estimates and sample sizes are listed in Part B, table 1, which is copied below (changes are highlighted):

Table 1. NPSAS:18-AC institution sample sizes

	Number of institutions
	Public 2-year				Public 4-year			Other sectors			All sectors
State	Population estimate	Sample size			Population estimate	Sample size		Population estimate	Sample size		Population estimate	Total sample size
Alabama	25	25			14	14		50	30		89	69
Alaska	1	1			3	3		5	5		9	9
Arizona	20	20			10	10		92	30		122	60
Arkansas	22	22			11	11		46	30		79	63
California	107	107			46	46		508	30		661	183
Colorado	14	14			16	16		82	30		112	60
Connecticut	13	13			9	9		61	30		83	52
Delaware	0	0			3	3		13	13		16	16
District of Columbia	0	0			2	2		20	20		22	22
Florida	35	35			39	39		290	30		364	104
Georgia	24	24			30	30		110	30		164	84
Hawaii	6	6			4	4		15	15		25	25
Idaho	4	4			4	4		30	30		38	38
Illinois	48	48			12	12		208	30		268	90
Indiana	1	1			15	15		102	30		118	46
Iowa	16	16			3	3		69	30		88	49
Kansas	25	25			8	8		49	30		82	63
Kentucky	16	16			8	8		71	30		95	54
Louisiana	16	16			17	17		87	30		120	63
Maine	7	7			8	8		23	23		38	38
Maryland	16	16			13	13		58	30		87	59
Massachusetts	16	16			15	15		146	30		177	61
Michigan	25	25			21	21		121	30		167	76
Minnesota	31	31			12	12		71	30		114	73
Mississippi	15	15			8	8		34	34		57	57
Missouri	17	17			13	13		149	30		179	60
Montana	11	11			6	6		14	14		31	31
Nebraska	8	8			7	7		34	34		49	49
Nevada	1	1			6	6		35	35		42	42
New Hampshire	7	7			6	6		26	26		39	39
New Jersey	19	19			13	13		115	30		147	62
New Mexico	19	19			9	9		21	21		49	49
New York	38	38			43	43		364	30		445	111
North Carolina	60	60			16	16		101	30		177	106
North Dakota	5	5			9	9		15	15		29	29
Ohio	35	35			35	35		242	30		312	100
Oklahoma	25	25			17	17		90	30		132	72
Oregon	17	17			9	9		62	30		88	56
Pennsylvania	17	17			45	45		301	30		363	92
Puerto Rico	5	5			14	14		126	30		145	49
Rhode Island	1	1			2	2		21	21		24	24
South Carolina	20	20			13	13		72	30		105	63
South Dakota	5	5			7	7		16	16		28	28
Tennessee	38	38			10	10		118	30		166	78
Texas	60	60			47	47		304	30		411	137
Utah	4	4			7	7		61	30		72	41
Vermont	1	1			5	5		19	19		25	25
Virginia	24	24			16	16		119	30		159	70
Washington	12	12			31	31		70	30		113	73
West Virginia	11	11			13	13		51	30		75	54
Wisconsin	16	16			15	15		71	30		102	61
Wyoming	7	7			1	1		3	3		11	11
Total	986	986			746	746		4,981	1,394		6,713	3,126

NOTE: For some states, the institution population counts represent systems of schools instead of individual campuses (i.e. the public 2-year schools in Indiana are all counted under the Ivy Tech Community College system, so IPEDS only contains one record for public 2-year institutions in Indiana)

SOURCE: Population estimates based on the IPEDS 2016-17 Header file.

In section 2b, the student population estimates in tables 2 and 3 were revised to coincide with the revised institution population estimates in table 1. The total student sample sizes are unchanged, but the undergraduate sample across the types of institutions within states has been reallocated proportionally to the revised population estimates, as shown in table 2. The revised tables are below (changes are highlighted):

Table 2. NPSAS:18-AC estimated undergraduate-student sample sizes

	Number of students
	Public 2-year			Public 4-year			Other sectors			All sectors
State	Population estimate	Sample size		Population estimate	Sample size		Population estimate	Sample size		Population estimate	Total sample size
Alabama	119,569	2,577		149,126	3,214		65,953	1,421		334,648	7,212
Alaska	731	113		42,629	6,616		3,106	482		46,466	7,212
Arizona	302,896	2,822		155,408	1,448		315,754	2,942		774,058	7,212
Arkansas	72,149	2,793		92,024	3,563		22,103	856		186,276	7,212
California	1,872,066	4,031		961,767	2,071		515,204	1,109		3,349,037	7,212
Colorado	108,507	1,899		199,385	3,490		104,115	1,822		412,007	7,212
Connecticut	73,781	2,401		60,963	1,984		86,821	2,826		221,565	7,212
Delaware	0	0		43,868	5,201		16,959	2,011		60,827	7,212
District of Columbia	0	0		5,754	687		54,671	6,525		60,425	7,212
Florida	80,606	423		921,388	4,834		372,468	1,954		1,374,462	7,212
Georgia	166,575	2,024		310,481	3,773		116,390	1,414		593,446	7,212
Hawaii	37,234	3,362		27,806	2,511		14,818	1,338		79,858	7,212
Idaho	33,484	1,511		51,423	2,321		74,860	3,379		159,767	7,212
Illinois	597,286	4,249		157,578	1,121		258,917	1,842		1,013,781	7,212
Indiana	165,959	2,379		230,112	3,299		106,954	1,533		503,025	7,212
Iowa	137,962	3,134		69,413	1,577		110,108	2,501		317,483	7,212
Kansas	129,996	3,514		88,106	2,382		48,686	1,316		266,788	7,212
Kentucky	107,432	2,842		116,447	3,081		48,709	1,289		272,588	7,212
Louisiana	101,722	2,500		142,847	3,510		48,880	1,201		293,449	7,212
Maine	24,207	2,099		31,744	2,752		27,220	2,360		83,171	7,212
Maryland	179,824	3,307		163,047	2,999		49,211	905		392,082	7,212
Massachusetts	132,612	2,038		116,507	1,791		220,046	3,382		469,165	7,212
Michigan	236,953	2,559		314,301	3,395		116,403	1,257		667,657	7,212
Minnesota	174,564	3,106		131,696	2,343		99,011	1,762		405,271	7,212
Mississippi	99,755	3,695		74,057	2,743		20,865	773		194,677	7,212
Missouri	133,685	2,246		145,315	2,441		150,298	2,525		429,298	7,212
Montana	13,372	1,674		37,997	4,758		6,225	779		57,594	7,212
Nebraska	65,121	3,152		51,816	2,508		32,047	1,551		148,984	7,212
Nevada	15,582	796		108,339	5,537		17,171	878		141,092	7,212
New Hampshire	22,129	1,155		26,820	1,400		89,181	4,656		138,130	7,212
New Jersey	224,484	3,322		168,685	2,496		94,189	1,394		487,358	7,212
New Mexico	105,066	4,443		55,639	2,353		9,815	415		170,520	7,212
New York	444,214	2,324		397,157	2,077		537,285	2,810		1,378,656	7,212
North Carolina	325,435	3,665		202,368	2,279		112,575	1,268		640,378	7,212
North Dakota	9,423	1,176		41,532	5,185		6,807	850		57,762	7,212
Ohio	264,456	2,478		323,021	3,027		182,212	1,707		769,689	7,212
Oklahoma	94,852	2,615		117,736	3,246		48,990	1,351		261,578	7,212
Oregon	165,123	3,867		107,545	2,519		35,252	826		307,920	7,212
Pennsylvania	191,925	1,790		256,369	2,392		324,726	3,029		773,020	7,212
Puerto Rico	3,410	95		59,683	1,669		194,718	5,447		257,811	7,212
Rhode Island	21,677	1,792		24,187	1,999		41,384	3,421		87,248	7,212
South Carolina	123,511	3,212		97,899	2,546		55,888	1,453		277,298	7,212
South Dakota	8,312	970		41,792	4,879		11,666	1,362		61,770	7,212
Tennessee	135,385	2,677		127,671	2,525		101,603	2,009		364,659	7,212
Texas	1,061,421	3,940		651,149	2,417		230,433	855		1,943,003	7,212
Utah	54,255	1,065		164,501	3,229		148,640	2,918		367,396	7,212
Vermont	9,497	1,446		19,919	3,033		17,949	2,733		47,365	7,212
Virginia	255,360	2,977		192,691	2,246		170,610	1,989		618,661	7,212
Washington	97,861	1,528		311,334	4,860		52,796	824		461,991	7,212
West Virginia	24,884	950		63,113	2,411		100,814	3,851		188,811	7,212
Wisconsin	131,427	2,439		193,963	3,600		63,197	1,173		388,587	7,212
Wyoming	30,952	5,175		11,301	1,890		876	146		43,129	7,212
Total	8,988,689	122,353		8,657,419	152,227		5,755,579	100,421		23,401,687	375,000

NOTE: Sample sizes may not sum to totals due to rounding.

SOURCE: Population estimates based on 2015-2016 IPEDS 12-month Enrollment files

Table 3. NPSAS:18-AC estimated graduate-student sample sizes

Institution sector	Population estimate	Sample size
Public 4-year non-doctorate-granting primarily subbaccalaureate	912	78
Public 4-year non-doctorate-granting primarily baccalaureate	171,424	1,510
Public 4-year doctorate-granting	1,618,400	7,040
Private not-for-profit 4-year non-doctorate-granting	250,031	2,623
Private not-for-profit 4-year doctorate-granting	1,394,812	6,490
Private for-profit 4-year	430,276	7,260
Total	3,865,855	25,000

NOTE: Sample sizes may not sum to totals due to rounding.

SOURCE: Population estimates based on 2015-2016 IPEDS 12-month Enrollment files

In section 2b (p. 7), we removed references to collecting student records for multiple institutions per student, which is no longer being requested for this collection:

Sampling Students at Multiple Institutions

NCES will pursue student records from only one institution per student, and the institution sample sizes presented in this section are based on this assumption. However, using prior cohort data, we estimate that approximately 10 percent of the undergraduate student sample in NPSAS:18-AC will attend two or more institutions during the academic year. In order to create key measures of state and institution financial aid and net price for these students, NCES is considering the option of obtaining student records from all schools attended in the NPSAS year for students who were sampled from public institutions. To obtain a list of these institutions, the data collection contractor would match sampled students to the National Student Clearinghouse prior to fielding the sample. Student records data would then be requested from every postsecondary institution that each student attended in the 2017–2018 academic year. If NCES opts to pursue student records data from all institutions attended by sampled students, we will submit this revision to OMB as a change request by January 12, 2018.

In section 3, Methods for Maximizing Response Rates (p. 8-9), references the HSLS:09 PETS were added next to BPS:12/17 PETS to reflect the extension of the HSLS:09 PETS data collection:

Additionally, the letter acknowledges that during 2018 NCES is also collecting postsecondary transcripts from institutions attended by 2011-12 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:12) and High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) sample members.

Similar addition were made throughout the section and in the figure below:

Figure 2. NPSAS:18-AC, BPS:12, and HSLS:09 PETS data collection overlap

Appendix B:

The list of endorsing organizations listed in Appendix B was revised to include additional organizations that agreed to endorse NPSAS:18-AC since the clearance documents were submitted. The following organizations have been added to the appendix:

• Association of Public and Land-grant Universities

• Career Education Colleges and Universities

• Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

• Council of Graduate Schools

• Education Commission of the States

• National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs

• New England Board of Higher Education

Three organizations are still being contacted, but have not yet confirmed their endorsement. If they endorse NPSAS:18-AC prior to the start of data collection, they will be added to the list of endorsing associations on contact materials and the PDP. We added the following text to Appendix B:

The following organizations have not yet confirmed their endorsement of NPSAS:18-AC, but will be added to the list of endorsing associations if they confirm prior to the start of data collection:

Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions

National Accrediting Commission of Career Arts and Sciences

National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education

Appendix D:

In Appendix D overview (the page immediately following the title page) we added the following sentence:

HSLS:09 PETS was recently extended until May 30, 2018, and thus references to BPS:12 PETS in the materials have been updated to reflect BPS:12/HSLS:09 PETS.

We have revised existing and added new contacting materials as detailed below.

Revisions to existing materials

In the following approved communication materials, we added: a reference to HSLS:09 each time the BPS:12 transcript collection is mentioned and text indicating that NCES will provide a feedback report: “We are also planning to provide a data feedback report to participating institutions that allows staff to see how their institution compares to financial aid estimates at the sector, state, and/or national levels (depending on responses rates).” We also edited the letters to clarify who the data collection is for by changing a title from “RTI’s Institution Records Coordinator” to “NPSAS:18-AC Institution Records Coordinator.”

• Chief Administrator Letter and E-mail (p. D-4 to D-5)

• Coordinator Welcome Letters (pp. D-11 to D-14)

Additionally, in the Coordinator Welcome Mailing description (p. D-10) we added text to indicate that a bookmark and a flier will be included with the Coordinator Welcome Letters.

We added the “After the data are collected, we will provide a data feedback report to participating institutions that allows staff to see how their institution compares to financial aid estimates at the sector, state, and/or national levels (depending on responses rates).” sentence to the following materials:

• Coordinator Enrollment List Request letter (and E-mail) (p. D-20) with an additional revision of “RTI’s Institution Records Coordinator” to “NPSAS:18-AC Institution Records Coordinator”

• Student Records request letter (and E-mail) (p. D-22)

• Reminder E-mail 1 for Various Tasks (p. D-27)

• Reminder E-mail 2 for Student Records (p.D-28)

• Thank You E-mail for Student Records (p. D-31)

• Letter to Nonrespondent Institutions (p. D-33)

• Non-Respondent Flyers (pp. D-35 and D-37)

In the description of the Nonrespondent Follow-Up Materials section (p. D-34) we added the sentence: “This section also includes a letter to state organizations requesting that they encourage specific non-respondent institutions to participate.”

In PDP Website Content – Pre-Login (not study specific), under FAQs – General, section on “Why is participation important?” (p. D-44) text was edited as shown in tracked changes below:

For example, NPSAS is the primary source of data used by federal government agencies and higher education associations to analyze the effectiveness of current federal student financial aid programs. In addition, many agencies and by organizations, including the U.S. Department of Education, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the American Council on Education (ACE), the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), and the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA), and many others use NPSAS data to prepare reports that influence the direction of federal student aid policies.

The data collected through the studies on this website are used by researchers, policymakers, and administrators to analyze and nationally benchmark information about current postsecondary students; to analyze local and national trends over time; and to inform decisions at the institutional, state, and national levels. Participation of each sampled institution assures that the data thus used accurately represent students attending all different types of postsecondary institutions in the United States. After the data are collected, participating institutions will receive a data feedback report that allows staff to see how their institution compares to financial aid estimates at the sector, state, and/or national levels (depending on responses rates).

We edited text in the Institution Registration Page (IRP) section (p. D-47) and Institution Registration Page- version for systems of institutions (p. D-49) where listing the information to include in the Student Enrollment List:

Degree level program

Academic class

Class level

We revised the FAQs – Specific to NPSAS, section on “Whom should I exclude from my student list? Which students at my institution are ineligible for NPSAS?” (p. D-54) as shown in tracked changes below:

Please exclude all any students who were was not enrolled at your institution between July 1, 2017, and April 30, 2018, or who meets at least one of the following criteria:

• The student was not eligible for Title IV financial aid.

• The student was not enrolled in either an academic program, a for-credit course, an occupational or vocational program that requires at least 3 months or 300 clock hours of instruction to receive a degree, certificate, or other formal award, or a noncredit course within a Title IV eligible program.

• The student was enrolled concurrently in high school and your institution during this entire period.

• The student was enrolled in your institution during this entire period solely for the purpose of earning a general educational development (GED®) credential or finishing another high school completion program during this entire period.

• The student was only enrolled in your institution during this period but noncredit courses that were not receiving credit part of a Title IV eligible program.

• The student dropped out of your institution early enough to receive a full tuition refund.

• The student paid tuition solely to a different institution during this period.

In the FAQs – Specific to NPSAS, we rephrased a section name from “If all students enrolled between July 1, 2017, and April 30, 2018 are eligible, does it matter when the terms began or ended?” to “When considering dates of enrollment to determine eligibility, the student needs to have been enrolled between July 1, 2017 and April 30, 2018, but do the student’s specific term begin and end dates matter if they fall outside of that range?” (p. D-55).

We revised the FAQs – Specific to NPSAS, section on “Should I include graduate students on the list of enrolled students if they were enrolled in a graduate program but were only auditing courses (e.g., because they did not need any more credits for graduation)?” (p. D-55) as follows:

Yes, students enrolled in academic programs are eligible for this study, even if they are not currently no longer enrolled in courses for credit.

We added the following text in the NPSAS Reference Materials section (p. D-56):

• Student Records request letter

• Quick Guide to Providing Student Records Data (included on p. D-26)

• Student Records Handbook

In the Student Enrollment List Preparation Instructions, Step 3: Check for Errors section (p. D-63) we revised the last bullet point as follows:

All students are omitted from the list Students who are or have been concurrently enrolled in high school or a high school completion program are included or omitted erroneously. Students should be included if they complete high school or a high school completion program and continue to be enrolled in a postsecondary course at your institution any time during the period between July 1, 2017, and April 30, 2018. Students who remain concurrently enrolled in high school or who completed high school and did not enroll in a postsecondary course at your institution as of April 30, 2018 should be omitted from your list.

We revised text from the Student Records Item Overview Handout section (p. D-69 to p. D-71) to reflect the changes to the student instrument items in Appendix E (details of the changes is shown under Appendix E below).

New materials

• Bookmark (p. D-15)

• Informational flyer (p. D-16 to D-17) (replaced the previously approved Postsecondary Data Portal Flyer (which was deleted from the last page of the approved Appendix D)

• Request to State Organizations to Encourage Institution Participation (D-38)

• Student Records Handbook (p.D-65 to D-68)

Appendix E:

The introductory paragraphs (p. E-1) were updated to document how changes are reflected since the package was last approved in November of 2017:

This appendix includes the 2017–18 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, Administrative Collection (NPSAS:18-AC) student records data collection instrument. In order to reduce burden on institutions that are selected to participate in multiple NCES studies, the NPSAS:18-AC student records instrument has been designed to be as consistent as possible across studies that collect student records data, including the 2015–16 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:16) [OMB #1850-0666 v.17], the 2012 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:12) student record collection [OMB #1850-0631 v.10], and the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) student record collection [OMB #1850-0852 v.17].

Table 1 lists all instrument items and provides a summary of changes to the content of the instrument when compared to the instrument currently being used for BPS:12 and HSLS:09, which is the student records instrument most recently in data collection. The instrument presented in this appendix was approved for use on NPSAS:18-AC in November 2017 (OMB# 1850-0666 v.20). The table includes color coding to indicate whether items have remained the same (black), were revised (purple), removed (red), or added (green) when compared to the BPS:12 and HSLS:09 student records instrument. Items that refer to a specific academic year have been updated to apply to the 2017-2018 academic year, which is the focus of NPSAS:18-AC. For items with no changes beyond updating the academic year, the table indicates “no change.” For items with any other changes to the item wording, response options, or help text beyond the academic year reference, the table indicates “revised.” Any new changes requested to the NPSAS:18-AC instrument since it was approved in November 2017 are marked with an asterisk (*).

The NPSAS:18-AC student records instrument presented in this change memorandum remains largely unchanged from both the instrument approved for BPS:12 and HSLS:09 and the instrument previously approved for NPSAS:18-AC. The changes noted below were developed based on the results of the NPSAS:16, BPS:12, and HSLS:09 collections, and are intended to reduce respondent burden and improve data quality.

We updated the revisions detailed in table 1 (p. E-6 to E-11) to reflect the instrument changes. The updated rows are presented below:

Item Name	Item Description	Change Removed (X), Added (A), Revised (R) *= new revision	Revision from BPS:12/HSLS:09 Student Records Instrument
Institution Information
BTMBEG[01-12]	Term start date [1-12]	R*	Revised to improve clarity of instructions for terms section and to collect only month and year of start date.
BTMEND[01-12]	Term end date [1-12]	R*	Revised to improve clarity of instructions for terms section and to collect only month and year of end date.
Eligibility
BELIG	Student eligible for NPSAS:18-AC?	A*	Added to streamline section for respondents. Eligibility section revised to collect a Y/N and a single ineligible reason, rather than collect up to 8 separate reasons.
BELIGRSN	Ineligible reason	A*	Added to replace separate items for each ineligible reason.
BELIGENR	Reason not eligible: Not enrolled	X*	Items were not included in the BPS:12/HSLS:09 instrument. They were approved for part of NPSAS:18-AC in November 2017, but are being dropped in this change memorandum. They are replaced by BELIG and BELIGRSN.
BELIGREF	Reason not eligible: Tuition refund	X*
BELIGJNT	Reason not eligible: Enrolled in another institution	X*
BELIGCLHR	Reason not eligible: Length of program	X*
BELIGNC	Reason not eligible: Non-credit	X*
BELIGDUENR	Reason not eligible: Completing high school	X*
BELIGGED	Reason not eligible: GED or high school completion	X*
BELIGREM	Reason not eligible: Adult basic education program	X*
Enrollment
BEFSTTM	First-time beginning student	R*	Revised to improve clarity of help text
BREMEVER	Ever taken a remedial course	R*	Revised to improve clarity of help text
BENR	Enrolled in academic year	X*	Removed due to overlap with eligibility items
BERECVBA	Received bachelor’s degree	R*	Revised to change item label from “baccalaureate” to “bachelor’s” degree; maintains consistency with terminology used elsewhere in the instrument
BEBADATE	Date bachelor’s degree received	R*
BTTUITOT	Total tuition and required fees charged	R*	Revised help text to specify that tuition charged should be reported prior to any financial aid *Changed item wording from “mandatory” to “required” for consistency with IPEDS terminology; revised help text to provide definition for required fees (consistent with IPEDS definition)
BTUNJURI	Residency for Tuition Purposes	R*	Revised: added response option and revised help text to distinguish between reasons that a student may receive in-state tuition *Revised help text to provide guidance for reporting reduced tuition

The Institution Information – Subsection: Terms (p. E-12 – E-13) section was revised to reflect guidance on how to report single terms and separate terms. Pop-up instructions were added to clarify these instructions.

Note that summer sessions should be included if any portion of the term falls within the period of July 1 through June 30.

If your institution has more than one term that starts and ends in the same month, you only need to report the term one time. For example, if the general college and medical school both have fall semesters that start in August and end in December, you need only provide one fall semester, even if they don’t start on the same days of the month. If the terms start or end in different months, please provide the terms separately. For additional help, click here.

[Pop-up instructions]

The following terms may be reported as a single term because they start and end in the same month:

Term name Start Date End Date

General college fall 2017 08/07/2017 12/05/2017

Medical school fall 2017 08/09/2017 12/07/2017

Law school fall 2017 08/14/2017 12/14/2017

The following terms should be reported as separate terms because they start and end in different months:

Term name Start Date End Date

General college spring 2017 01/22/2018 05/05/2018

Medical school spring 2017 01/09/2018 04/28/2018

Law school spring 2017 02/04/2018 05/14/2018

BTMNAM[01-12]

Term Name [01-12] ___________________

The following items were added or revised:

• BTMNAM, BTMBEG, & BTMEND (p. E-13) [Note that variable names were corrected to match the table]

• BELIG & BELIGRSN (pp. E-13 – E-14)

• BEFSTTM (p. E-21)

• BERECVBA (p. E-22)

• BEBADATE (p. E-22)

• BREMEVER (p. E-22)

• BTUITOT (p. E-26)

• BTUNJURI (p. E-26)

The following items were deleted and no longer appear in Appendix E, other than in the revisions table:

• BELIGENR

• BELIGREF

• BELIGJNT

• BELIGCLHR

• BELIGNC

• BELIGDUENR

• BELIGGED

• BELIGREM

• BENR

The Excel template codebook (p. E-42 to E-51) was revised the incorporate the instrument changes noted above.

We added the following five scripts for instructional videos (p. E-52 to E-53) that will be embedded in the student records instrument on the PDP:

• Institution Information Page

• Mode Selection

• Web Mode

• Excel Mode

• CSV Mode

The details of the item edits listed above are shown tracked changes below:

Eligibility

BELIG

Student is eligible for NPSAS:18?

(Note: this item defaults to Yes unless you change the selection.)

If you think that this student is ineligible for NPSAS:18, change the response to No and select a reason that the student is ineligible. If more than one reason applies, choose the reason that appears first on the list. You do not need to provide any other data for ineligible students.

The student is ineligible for NPSAS:18 if he or she meets any of the following conditions:

•Not enrolled at institution: Student was not enrolled at this institution at any time from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018.

•Tuition refund: Student was enrolled at one time but received a full tuition refund for all terms in study period from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018.

•Pays tuition to another institution: Student attends this institution under joint arrangements with another institution and pays tuition solely to the other institution.

•Length of program: Student was enrolled, but not in a program of study that required at least 3 months or 300 clock/contact hours of instruction for granting a certificate, award, or diploma.

•Non-credit program: Student was enrolled, but not in at least one course that could be applied toward fulfilling requirements for an academic degree, a certificate program, or in a term for credit that could be transferred to another school.

•Completing high school: Student was still completing high school requirements as of the last term enrolled in the July 1, 2017 - June 30, 2018 academic year.

•GED or high school completion program: Student was enrolled solely in a GED or high school completion program as of the last term enrolled in the July 1, 2017 - June 30, 2018 academic year.

•Adult basic education program: Student was enrolled solely in an adult basic education program (e.g., ESL, literacy) as of the last term enrolled in the July 1, 2017 - June 30, 2018 academic year.

1=Yes

0=No

BELIGRSN

Ineligible reason

Select the reason that the student is not eligible for NPSAS:18.

1=Student was not enrolled at this institution at any time from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018.

2=Student was enrolled at one time but received a full tuition refund for all terms in study period from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018.

3=Student attends this institution under joint arrangements with another institution and pays tuition solely to the other institution.

4=Student was enrolled, but not in a program of study that required at least 3 months or 300 clock/contact hours of instruction for granting a certificate, award, or diploma.

5=Student was enrolled, but not in at least one course that could be applied toward fulfilling requirements for an academic degree, a certificate program, or in a term for credit that could be transferred to another school.

6=Student was still completing High School requirements (for the last term enrolled).

7=Student was enrolled solely in a GED or High School completion program (for the last term enrolled).

8=Student was enrolled solely in an adult basic education program (i.e., ESL, literacy) (for the last term enrolled).

1=Not enrolled at institution

2=Tuition refund

3=Pays tuition to another institution

4=Length of program

5=Non-credit program

6=Completing high school

7=GED or high school completion program

8=Adult basic education program

BEFSTTM

First time Beginning Student?

A student is considered a first-time beginner (FTB) for NPSAS:18-AC if he or she is as an undergraduate student who enrolled in college for the first time at this institution between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018.

• Students are NOT FTBs if they were enrolled in a postsecondary class for credit at this or any other postsecondary institution prior to July 1, 2017

, unless the credit was advanced placement (AP) credit, international baccalaureate (IB) credit, or any other postsecondary credit or formal award earned while the student was still completing high school.

Please note that this is not the same as the first-time full-time designation reported to IPEDS.

0 = No

1 = Yes

BETRANSFER

Accepted transfer credit

Indicate whether your institution accepted transfer credits for this student from another postsecondary institution. Please exclude remedial or developmental courses.

0 = No

1 = Yes

BERECVBA

Received bachelor’s degree

Select Yes if the graduate student has already obtained a bachelor’s degree, even if it was not awarded by this institution.

0 = No

1 = Yes

BEBADATE

Date bachelor’s degree received

If the graduate student has obtained a bachelor’s degree, enter the date the degree was received.

Month: January - December

Date: 01 - 31

Year: 1920-2018

BREMEVER

Ever taken a remedial course

Since completing high school, has the student taken any remedial/developmental courses to improve their basic skills in English, math, reading, or writing? Please answer Yes if your records indicate that the student took any remedial courses since high school, even if they were not taken at your institution.

0 = No

1 = Yes

BTUITOT

Total Tuition and Required Fees Charged ___________________

The amount entered should be the amount CHARGED for the period(s) in which the student was enrolled between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018, prior to any aid, discounts, or waivers.

Required fees include all fixed sum charges that are required of such a large proportion of all students that the student who does not pay the charges is an exception.

Include any out-of-state/out-of-district fees for applicable students.

Please enter the specific amount charged for this student (typically obtained from the business or bursar's office), not the budgeted tuition amount or the average tuition amount charged for students.

BTUNJURI

Residency for Tuition Purposes

Please indicate the student’s tuition classification for the 2017-2018 academic year.

An in-district student is a student who is a legal resident of the locality in which he/she attends school and thus is entitled to reduced tuition charges if offered by the institution.

An in-state student is a student who is a legal resident of the state in which he/she attends school.

A student may receive in-state or reduced tuition even if he/she is not a legal resident of the state, such as through programs that offer in-state tuition to veterans or through tuition reciprocity agreements with adjacent states. Report these students as “in-state tuition for other reason,” even if the reduced tuition is higher than in-state tuition.

An out-of-state student is a student who is not a legal resident of the state in which he/she attends school.

1 = In-district

2 = In-state tuition based on legal residence

3 = In-state tuition for other reason (e.g., veteran status)

4 = Out-of-state

5 = No differential tuition based on residency

-1 = Unknown

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