BPS 2020-22 FS Supporting Statement Part A

This request is for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), a part of the U.S. Department of Education, to conduct the full-scale data collection for the 2020/22 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:20/22). The primary contractor for this study is RTI International (Contract# 919900-18-C-0039).

This submission includes:
- A membership list of the Technical Review Panel (TRP) (appendix A);
- A description of the confidentiality procedures in place for the administrative record matching (appendix B);
- Student data collection contacting materials (appendix C);
- Results of the BPS:20/22 field test procedures and methods (appendix D); and
- Survey instrument (appendix E).

This submission covers BPS:20/22 full-scale materials and procedures required for conducting the student survey and for matching data to administrative records. Along with this full-scale package NCES will provide the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) with a memorandum summarizing changes from the field test for the full-scale data collection. The materials for the BPS:20/22 full-scale study are based upon the field test materials. This submission is designed to adequately justify the need for and overall practical utility of the full study, presenting the overarching plan for all of the phases of the data collection and providing as much detail about the measures to be used as is available at the time of this submission. As part of the completed field test, NCES published a notice in the Federal Register allowing first a 60- and then a 30-day public comment period. Field test materials, procedures, and results have informed this request for clearance for the full-scale study. For this full-scale study NCES will publish a notice in the Federal Register allowing an additional 30-day public comment period on the final details of the BPS:20/22 full-scale study.

Section 1 – Circumstances Making Collection of Information Necessary

The 2020/22 Beginning Postsecondary Students Full-Scale (BPS:20/22) is conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics, part of the Institute of Education Sciences, within the Department of Education, and is part of the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study data collection program at https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/bps/.

The BPS:20/22 Full-scale Data Collection will begin 03/01/22 and end 11/11/22. The primary Contractor for this activity is RTI International. The secondary collector is HR Directions.

The collection is authorized under Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA) of 2002 (20 U.S.C. §9543) and the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) of 2008, 20 U.S.C. §1015(a)(k). The full text of the authorizing law is: Student aid recipient survey
(1) Survey required: The Secretary, acting through the Commissioner for Education Statistics, shall conduct, on a State-by-State basis, a survey of recipients of Federal student financial aid under subchapter IV of this chapter and part C of subchapter I of chapter 34 of title 42—
(A) to identify the population of students receiving such Federal student financial aid;
(B) to describe the income distribution and other socioeconomic characteristics of recipients of such Federal student financial aid;
(C) to describe the combinations of aid from Federal, State, and private sources received by such recipients from all income categories;
(D) to describe the--
(i) debt burden of such loan recipients, and their capacity to repay their education debts; and
(ii) the impact of such debt burden on the recipients' course of study and post-graduation plans;
(E) to describe the impact of the cost of attendance of postsecondary education in the determination by students of what institution of higher education to attend; and
(F) to describe how the costs of textbooks and other instructional materials affect the costs of postsecondary education for students.
(2) Frequency: The survey shall be conducted on a regular cycle and not less often than once every four years.
(3) Survey design: The survey shall be representative of students from all types of institutions, including full-time and part-time students, undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, and current and former students.
(4) Dissemination: The Commissioner for Education Statistics shall disseminate to the public, in printed and electronic form, the information resulting from the survey.

This data collection, either in total or in part, is Voluntary.

This data collection is a Longitudinal survey. The name of the base-year survey in the longitudinal series is 2020/22 Beginning Postsecondary Students Full-Scale; the name of the survey in the longitudinal series that immediately preceded the survey to which this clearance applies is 2020/22 Beginning Postsecondary Students Full-Scale.

BPS studies are designed to follow a cohort of students who enroll in postsecondary education for the first time during the same academic year, irrespective of the date of high school completion. The study collects data on students' persistence in and completion of postsecondary education programs; their transition to employment; demographic characteristics; and changes over time in their goals, marital status, income, and debt, among other indicators. Data from BPS are used to help researchers and policymakers better understand how financial aid influences persistence and completion, what percentages of students complete various degree programs, what are the early employment and wage outcomes for certificate and degree attainers, and why students leave school.

BPS is one of several studies conducted by NCES to respond to the need for a national, comprehensive database concerning significant issues in access, choice, enrollment, persistence, progress, and attainment in undergraduate postsecondary education, in graduate and professional school access, and in post-enrollment experiences. The base study for BPS is the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), a recurring survey of a nationally representative, cross-sectional sample of postsecondary students. The NPSAS surveys have been implemented every 3 to 4 years since 1986–87.

There are four previous cohorts of the Beginning Postsecondary Students (BPS) Longitudinal Study: BPS:90, BPS:96, BPS:04, and BPS:12. The BPS:20/22 cohort was identified from NPSAS:20 as the previous BPS cohorts, and the Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B) study cohorts, have originated from prior NPSAS studies. Unlike BPS, which follows a cohort of first-time beginning students at institutions at all levels of postsecondary education, B&B follows a cohort of baccalaureate recipients at institutions awarding 4-year degrees and above. As the B&B cohort is necessarily made up of degree recipients, persistence in undergraduate education is not an emphasis in B&B, as it is in BPS. Additionally, B&B places a special emphasis on the experiences of new elementary and secondary teachers.

The chronology of the previous administrations of the NPSAS study and its associated BPS and B&B longitudinal components are shown in Table 1 below.

Table 1. Chronology of NPSAS and its longitudinal components

Base year	First follow-up	Second follow-up	Third follow-up
NPSAS:90	BPS:90/92	BPS:90/94	—
NPSAS:93	B&B:93/94	B&B:93/97	B&B:93/03
NPSAS:96	BPS:96/98	BPS:96/01	—
NPSAS:2000	B&B:2000/01	—	—
NPSAS:04	BPS:04/06	BPS:04/09	—
NPSAS:08	B&B:08/09	B&B:08/12	B&B:08/18
NPSAS:12	BPS:12/14	BPS:12/17	—
NPSAS:16	B&B:16/17	B&B:16/20	B&B:16/26 (anticipated)
NPSAS:18-AC	—	—	—
NPSAS:20	BPS:20/22	BPS:20/25 (anticipated)	—

— Not applicable.

NOTE: NPSAS = National Postsecodnary Student Aid Study, BPS = Beginning Postsecondary Students; B&B = Baccalaureate and Beyond.

With the first BPS cohort starting in 1990 (BPS:90), the BPS:20 cohort is the fifth study of beginning postsecondary students. Beginning with the BPS:96 cohort, FTB students are surveyed at three points in time for up to 6 years: in the base year (through the NPSAS student interview) and 3 and 6 years later in the BPS follow-up interviews. The BPS:90 cohort was also surveyed at three points in time, but the second follow-up was 5 years later.

BPS follows a cohort of students who entered postsecondary education for the first time in the same academic year. BPS differs from other studies in two key ways: the population it follows and the sources of data from which it draws. First, it is the only nationally representative study of all beginning college students. Unlike other studies, it includes students entering postsecondary education immediately after high school as well as those entering after being away from school for years. In addition, unlike other studies that focus only on baccalaureate students, BPS includes not just students seeking bachelor's degrees but also students pursuing certificates, working toward associate's degrees, and taking postsecondary classes outside of a degree or certificate program. BPS is also unique in that it includes a student interview and does not rely solely on institution-reported data. The inclusion of a student interview allows BPS to provide a more accurate portrait of students' persistence and attainment anywhere within postsecondary education and not just their retention and attainment at a specific institution.

BPS:20/22 will be a nationally-representative sample of approximately 37,000 students who were first-time beginning students (FTBs) during the 2019-20 academic year. The BPS:20/22 field test included approximately 3,700 students who first began in the 2018-19 academic year. These students are asked to complete a survey and administrative data are also collected for them. Administrative data matching will be conducted with sources including the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), which contains federal loan and grant files; the Central Processing System (CPS), which houses and processes data contained in the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms; the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) which provides enrollment and degree verification; vendors of national undergraduate, graduate, and professional student admission tests; and possible other administrative data sources such as the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA). These data will be obtained through file matching and downloading. In addition, this request includes conducting panel maintenance activities for the BPS:20/25 field test sample. BPS:20/25 is anticipated but has not yet been authorized.

Data on the first academic year for this BPS cohort were collected in 2020. Data on their second and third years will be collected in the BPS:20/22 first follow-up study in 2022. The BPS:20/25 second follow-up study will provide data on these sample members' fourth, fifth, and sixth year after entering postsecondary education. Academic transcripts from all known institutions attended by sample members may be collected in 2026.

An unusual circumstance for the BPS:20 cohort is global outbreak of COVID-19 during their first year of postsecondary enrollment (the NPSAS:20 year). Several questions were added to the NPSAS:20 survey related to COVID-19, and questions related to COVID-19 are included in the first-follow-up BPS:20/22 student survey as well. Since NPSAS:20 is also the base year for BPS:20/22, these data collections will provide unique data on COVID-19 and postsecondary enrollment and outcomes. The BPS:20 cohort may also be unique compared to prior BPS cohorts by providing selected state-representative data. BPS:20 will attempt to build on the state-representative NPSAS:20 design to provide state representative BPS data sets for selected states and postsecondary institution types where sufficient sample can be obtained.

Section 2 – Purposes and Uses of the Data

This data collection is primarily about Students.

The age groups of the individuals that the data collection is primarily about is older than 21.

This data collection is primarily about Postsecondary.

Details regarding the subject population include: BPS is a nationally representative study of students who began postsecondary education at Title IV postsecondary institutions during the same academic year (2018-19 for the BPS:20/22 field test, 2019-20 for the full-scale study).

Instruments provided to respondents are also available in the following languages, other than English: Spanish.

The survey is representative at the Survey Representativeness level. Survey Representativeness Description.

The purpose of BPS is to track first-time beginning students' pathways through postsecondary education, helping to answer questions related to undergraduates' persistence and attainment outcomes.

Following a cohort of students who are enrolling in postsecondary education for the first time regardless of age, the study collects data on:

• student persistence in, and completion of, postsecondary education programs,
• academic performance and other transcript information,
• transition to employment,
• demographic characteristics, and
• changes over time in their goals, marital status, income, and debt.

With its longitudinal perspective, BPS provides key measures for understanding undergraduate persistence and attainment, transfer patterns, employment while enrolled, and student loan debt over time. It also tracks changes over time in students' goals, marital status, income, and debt. Because BPS traces a student's path throughout the postsecondary education system over a number of years, it provides a much more complete picture of postsecondary persistence and success than studies that cannot track students once they leave a particular institution.

First, BPS:20/22 will be following a cohort of students who first began postsecondary education during the 2019-20 academic year, when the coronavirus pandemic began. The impacts of this event on education are expected to be substantial. BPS:20/22 sample members may experience changes in course format, shifts to online-only education, changes in housing, and loss or reductions in employment. BPS:20/22 is uniquely positioned to examine persistence, attainment, educational experiences and employment outcomes for students whose educational experiences may be impacted by coronavirus.

Second, as demographics change in the U.S., policymakers and practitioners are increasingly concerned about the difference between who enters postsecondary education and who attains postsecondary credentials. BPS:20/22 will be able to provide the latest nationally representative numbers on how key populations are entering and faring in postsecondary education, particularly students from low socioeconomic and minority backgrounds. These data will allow researchers and policymakers to explore the factors related to populations experiencing greater success on persistence, attainment, and labor market outcomes.

Third, policymakers and researchers are more focused on how the education and employment outcomes of students are shaped by the control and level of the institution they attend. For example, the U.S. Department of Education manages the College Scorecard, a web tool designed to publicize key metrics about student outcomes such as graduation rate and average salary after graduation across a variety of institution types so students and families can make more informed college choice decisions. By providing the sample size and key student- and institution-level measures for these analyses, BPS:20/22 enables researchers and policymakers to analyze students' attainment and employment by sector, while also controlling for other variables that may be related to these outcomes.

Fourth, the cost of college, the percentage of students borrowing, and the amounts borrowed have increased. As a result, the impact of college costs, financial aid, and student loans on students' ability to complete credentials is an ever more pressing issue. In recent years, Pell Grant eligibility has been expanded, and the amount of the grant increased. There have been changes in state-based aid programs. BPS:20/22 can help inform these policy decisions by providing data on how grants, and other financial aid, impact students' road to a credential.

Finally, researchers and policymakers are interested in how attainment and employment are affected by several aspects of the postsecondary experience, such as remedial education, online education, and employment while in school. Students' lack of college readiness and need for remedial or developmental education have been identified as impediments in students' time to degree, as well as factors in students dropping out without a credential. In fact, the Department of Education launched a new Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness to strengthen the research, evaluation, and support of college readiness efforts across the nation. BPS:20/22 includes information on high school coursetaking, grades, and test scores as well as developmental coursetaking in different subjects while in college, which can provide key data for the Center's work. The growth of online courses and degree programs has also attracted attention, with researchers and practitioners wanting to better understand its potential in speeding students' time to degree and the ways such courses and programs are perceived by employers. The degree to which working while enrolled helps or hurts postsecondary attainment, time to degree, and later employment outcomes is a key debate. Through its employment history, BPS:20/22 will be able to add real data to this discussion.

Following are some of the many research and policy issues to be addressed with BPS:20/22 data:

Postsecondary Enrollment Characteristics and Experiences
-How are FTB students distributed across institutions of varying control and levels, and different degree programs?
-What fields of study do FTB students pursue, and in which fields do they obtain degrees?
-How frequently do FTB students change their field of study, particularly from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to non-STEM fields and vice versa?
-On average, how many credits do students earn before completing a certificate or degree program?
-To what extent do FTB students participate in online, night, and weekend courses and programs?
-How did the coronavirus pandemic impact the enrollment patterns for FTB students?
-How do answers to the above questions differ by factors like demographic characteristics, control and level of institution, and field of study?

Employment During Enrollment
-What percentage of students work while enrolled, and how many hours do they work?
-Did students lose employment, gain employment, or experience a shift in work hours due to the coronavirus pandemic?
-How do students' individual patterns in working while enrolled change by year of enrollment and U.S. economic conditions?
-How do answers to the above questions differ by factors like demographic characteristics, control and level of institution, and field of study?

Financial Aid and Borrowing
-How much financial support do dependent FTB students receive from their parents or other relatives and friends for their postsecondary education?
-What proportion of FTB students receive federal Pell Grants or veterans or other Department of Defense education benefits?
-What proportion of FTB students take out private loans, and in what amount?
-Did the coronavirus pandemic lead students to increase their borrowing amounts?
-How does the percentage of FTB students taking out federal loans and the average amount borrowed vary by demographic and enrollment characteristics?
-How does the amount of grants and loans FTB students receive from federal, institutional, and private sources differ during each year of enrollment?
-How much do FTB students borrow in private loans?
-What kinds of borrowers struggle in repayment and default on their student loans after 6 years?
-How do answers to the above questions differ by factors like demographic characteristics, control and level of institution, and other enrollment characteristics?

Education and Career Expectations
-What degrees or certificates do FTB students expect to attain, when do they expect to complete them, and how confident are they in these expectations?
-What is the relationship between these attainment expectations and actual attainment outcomes 6 years after students begin college?
-How much social and emotional support do FTB students receive from their families and friends in their pursuit of their educational goals?
-Did the coronavirus pandemic lead students to change their programs of study?
-To what careers do FTB students aspire, and what do they think they will earn in these positions?
-How close are students' predicted earnings to actual average earnings in their expected careers?
-How do answers to the above questions differ by demographic characteristics?

Persistence
-At what rate do students stop out of postsecondary education, how often do they do it, and when do they do it?
-At what rate do students transfer between institutions, when do they transfer, and what are the most common transfer patterns in terms of the types of institutions left and entered?
-What proportion of certificate attainers enter another certificate or degree program? Are their subsequent certificates and degrees in related fields of study?
-What proportion of FTB students are enrolled in their first institution 6 years after initially enrolling but have yet to earn a credential?
-What proportion of FTB students left postsecondary education as a result of the coronavirus pandemic?
-What proportion of FTB students are enrolled in any institution 6 years after first enrolling but have yet to earn a credential?
-Among students who leave postsecondary education without a credential, in what year did they leave?
-How do answers to the above questions differ by demographic characteristics, high school preparation, control and level of institution, attendance intensity, employment during enrollment, financial aid and borrowing, physical and mental health, sense of belonging at institution, discount rate, and education and career expectations?

Attainment
-What percentage of FTB students earn a certificate, associate's degree, or bachelor's degree?
-How long does it take FTB students to earn each of these credentials?
-How do answers to the above questions differ by institution level and control, attendance intensity, transfer patterns, stop-outs, changes in major and major choice? What role do demographic characteristics, high school preparation, employment during enrollment, financial aid and borrowing, physical and mental health, sense of belonging at institution, discount rate, and education and career expectations play?
Employment Outcomes After Leaving Postsecondary Education
-How much do FTB students earn after 6 years, and what benefits do they receive?
-Did students attribute changes in their employment after leaving postsecondary education to the coronavirus pandemic?
-What percentage of FTB students are employed in their field of study? How do their employment outcomes compare to those who are not employed in their field of study?
-Among FTB students who did not enter postsecondary education directly from high school, to what extent does their employment before and after postsecondary education differ? To what extent does employment prior to postsecondary education influence employment outcomes after postsecondary education?
-How do FTB students' employment outcomes after leaving postsecondary education compare to their employment during their postsecondary education?
-What percentage of FTB students have experienced unemployment spells? How many spells have they had, and how many months has each spell lasted?
-How do answers to the above questions differ by degree and certificate attainment; field of study; and level, control, and selectivity of institution attended? What role do demographic characteristics, employment prior to and during postsecondary enrollment, debt, and earlier education and career expectations play?

Previous agency use of the data: NCES has used data from the previous cycles of BPS in a variety of publications. NCES also makes BPS data available for use by researchers, policymakers, and others via both restricted-use data files and the public-use data tool PowerStats.

Section 3 – Use of Information Technology

Approximately 100% of the information will be collected electronically.

For Student (copy), the primary methods through which information will be collected include Web. While not the primary method, information will also be collected via CATI.

Details of the information collected are as follows: The BPS:20/22 student survey will use web-based questionnaires across two electronic modes of data collection: a self-administered survey, which is mobile-friendly to allow completion of the survey on a tablet or smartphone, and interviewer-led computer assisted telephone interviews (CATI).

The BPS:20/22 student survey will use web-based questionnaires across two electronic modes of data collection: a self-administered survey, which is mobile-friendly to allow completion of the survey on a tablet or smartphone, and interviewer-led computer assisted telephone interviews (CATI). The survey will be available through the study website that resides on NCES servers.

On a nightly basis, the data collection contractor will download student survey data to their Enhanced Security Network (ESN) via a secure web service. Once in the ESN, data will be cleaned and undergo quality analysis. The website used for the BPS:20/22 data collection will reside on NCES' Secure Socket Layer-certified (SSL) servers with a secure data connection. SSL protocol is used to encrypt the data transmitted over the Internet, and all parts of the websites that collect student data are password protected. The forms that gather data on these websites will require session cookies to run in accordance with the U.S. Department of Education's privacy policy for the use of cookies. The most recent versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox allow for rejecting all cookies other than those required for session tracking.

Section 4 – Efforts to Identify Duplication

Included in this section is information describing any efforts to identify duplication of this data collection.

Efforts to identify duplication have included NCES consultations with other federal offices, such as the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education; the Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development; and other agencies, such as the Government Accountability Office; the Congressional Budget Office (CBO); and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). In addition, NCES collaborates with the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) at the National Science Foundation (NSF) to ensure that each unit is kept up to date on each other's studies pertaining to postsecondary students and institutions. NCES and NSF meet on a regular basis to cover topical issues relevant to both offices, and each has staff serving on study TRPs. NCES routinely consults with nonfederal associations, such as the American Council on Education, the Career Education Colleges and Universities, the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the Council of Graduate Schools, the Institute for Higher Education Policy, the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, and the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs to confirm that data collected through NPSAS are not available from any other sources.

NCES also consults with academic researchers, several of whom attend the NPSAS and BPS TRP meetings. Beyond identification of duplication, these consultations provide methodological insights from the results of similar and related studies conducted by NCES, other federal agencies, and nonfederal sources. The consultations also assure that data collected through BPS will meet the needs of the federal government and relevant organizations. No studies in the United States singularly duplicate the data produced by BPS.

Section 5 – Methods Used to Minimize Burden on Small Businesses

Included in this section is information describing any methods used to minimize the burden of this data collection.

The target respondents for BPS:20/22 interviews are individuals and the data collection activities will not involve burden to small businesses or entities.

Section 6 – Frequency of Data Collection

Included in this section is information describing consequences to Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently, as well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.

BPS studies have been conducted periodically since 1990. BPS:20/22 will be the first follow-up data collection following NPSAS:20, which served as the base-year, and from which the BPS student sample was selected. BPS:20/25 will be the second follow-up.

NPSAS and its longitudinal spin-off studies, BPS and B&B, are conducted to reflect the large-scale and rapid changes in federal policy concerning postsecondary student aid. Eligibility restrictions change, sizes of grant and loan amounts fluctuate, and the balance between various aid options can change dramatically. A recurring study is essential, first, to help predict future costs for financial aid because loan programs create continued obligations for the federal government as long as the loans are being repaid.

Second, repeated surveys can capture the changing nature of the postsecondary environment. With the longitudinal design of the NPSAS survey and BPS follow-ups, representative national samples of first time beginning students with similar base-year characteristics may be compared over time to determine the effects of changes in federal policy and programs. Third, repeated surveys can help researchers understand the effect of economic conditions on the employment outcomes for subbaccalaureate educational certificate holders.

Section 7 – Special Circumstances of Data Collection

Included in this section is information explaining any special circumstances required for this data collection.

No special circumstances of data collection are anticipated.

Section 8 – Consultants Outside the Agency

Included in this section is a copy and details identifying the date and page number of publication in the Federal Register of the agency's notice, required by 5 CFR 1320.8(d).

Recognizing the significance of the BPS:20/22 data collection, several strategies have been incorporated into the project work plan to create opportunities for the critical review and acquisition of comments relating to project activities, interim and final products, and projected and actual outcomes. These strategies include consultations with persons and organizations both internal and external to NCES, the U.S. Department of Education, and the federal government.

Previous BPS implementations have benefited from consultations with a TRP composed of staff from several offices in the Department of Education; representatives of NSF, OMB, and CBO; and nonfederal members who are considered experts in postsecondary education issues (a list of the TRP members is provided in Appendix A). These consultations provide methodological insights from the results of similar and related studies conducted by NCES, other federal agencies, and nonfederal sources. The consultations also assure that data collected through BPS will meet the needs of the federal government and relevant organizations.

In May 2019, members of the NPSAS:20 TRP were consulted regarding specific questions included in the NPSAS:20 student survey that were targeted to the BPS cohort. In June 2020, the BPS TRP reviewed the BPS:20/22 field test plan and content of the student survey. In July 2021, a second BPS TRP meeting was held to review the field test results and collect recommendations for the full-scale collection.

Section 9 – Provision of Payments or Gifts to Respondents

Included in this section is information describing the incentives to be provided to respondents.

Student (copy)

The monetary incentives for this respondent class are valued at $30-$67 and include the following: BPS:20/22 full-scale data collection will involve two distinct data collection groups (i.e., a default and an aggressive group) and four main data collection phases (i.e., early completion, production phases 1 and 2, and nonresponse conversion). This general setup builds upon the designs implemented in other longitudinal studies where it has contributed to maximizing response rates and minimizing the potential for nonresponse bias (e.g., BPS:12/14, BPS:12/17, B&B:16/17, B&B:08/18, and the BPS:20/22 field test).

In BPS:20/22 we plan to implement differential treatments based on prior round response status, an approach that was successfully implemented in the B&B:16/17 field test, where NPSAS:16 field test nonrespondents received either an aggressive or a default protocol. The response rate among NPSAS:16 field test nonrespondents who received the aggressive protocol was about 12% higher than the group that received the default protocol (37% response rate for the aggressive protocol versus 25% response rate t(2,097) = 3.52, p < .001).

For the BPS:20/22 full-scale design, we will distinguish the following data collection groups and design protocols:
• Default Protocol: NPSAS:20 survey respondents.
• Aggressive Protocol: NPSAS:20 survey nonrespondents, including sample members who failed to respond to NPSAS:20 and those who are NPSAS:20 administrative-only sample members (who were never invited to complete the NPSAS:20 student survey), who are potential academic year 2019-20 FTBs based on administrative data.

The baseline incentive for the default protocol will be $30 along with the possibility of a $10 boost incentive applied later in data collection.

The baseline incentive for the aggressive protocol will be $45. The baseline incentive will be paid in addition to a $2 prepaid incentive, and a $20 boost incentive applied later in data collection. The maximum possible total incentive is $40 for the default data collection protocol and $67 for this aggressive data collection protocol.

Aggressive protocol prepaid incentives:

$2 prepaid incentive - cash prepaid incentives have been shown to significantly increase response rates in both interviewer-administered as well as self-administered surveys and hence reduce the potential for nonresponse bias (e.g., Church 1993; Cantor et al. 2008; Goeritz 2006; Medway and Tourangeau 2015; Messer and Dillman 2011; Parsons and Manierre 2014; Singer 2002). During the early completion phase in the B&B:16/17 field test, prepaid incentives ($10 via check or PayPal) in combination with telephone prompting also significantly increased response rates by 4.4 percentage points in the aggressive protocol implemented for prior round nonrespondents. Further, in a B&B:16/20 calibration experiment, the overall response rate for sample members who were given a prepaid incentive in cash did not statistically significantly different from those who were prepaid using PayPal, indicating that both prepayment methods can achieve similar response rates (Kirchner et al. 2021). Given these positive findings combined with general recommendations in the literature (e.g., Singer and Ye 2013; DeBell et al. 2019), BPS:20/22 will send all prior round nonrespondents in the aggressive protocol a $2 prepaid "visible" cash incentive and notify them of this prepaid incentive in the data collection announcement letter. Where necessary due to low address quality, a $2 prepaid PayPal incentive announced on a separate index card will be sent in lieu of a cash incentive.

$10 and $20 post-paid boost incentive for nonresponse conversion - incentive boosts are successful nonresponse conversion strategies, increasing response rates across various modes of data collection (e.g., Singer and Ye, 2013; Dykema et al., 2015; Stevenson et al., 2016; Lynn, 2017) especially among sample members who have implicitly or explicitly refused to complete the survey (e.g., Groves and Heeringa 2006). Incentive boosts are especially common in large federal surveys during their nonresponse follow-up phase (e.g., The Center for Disease Control and Prevention's National Survey of Family Growth) and have been implemented successfully in other postsecondary education surveys (e.g., HSLS:09 Second Follow-up; BPS:12/17; NPSAS:20). For BPS:20/22, a $20 post-paid incentive boost is planned for all remaining nonrespondents in the aggressive protocol, and $10 for all remaining nonrespondents in the default protocol. This incentive boost will be offered during Production Phase 2 for both protocols. This boost incentive will be offered in addition to the baseline incentive, so the total incentive for completing the survey can include the combined totals of the baseline and boost amounts.

Prior to the start of data collection, BPS:20/22 sample members will be matched to a federal database maintained by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Controls (OFAC). OFAC administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on U.S. foreign policy and national security goals. As part of its enforcement efforts, OFAC publishes a list of individuals and companies called the “Specially Designated Nationals List” or SDN. Their assets are blocked and U.S. entities are prohibited from conducting trade or financial transactions with those on the list (https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Pages/default.aspx). In order to determine if there are any BPS:20/22 sample members to whom NCES cannot offer an incentive, the sample members will be matched to the SDN using the Jaro-Winkler and Soundex algorithms recommended by OFAC. To avoid over-matching, BPS:20/22 staff will review the cases based on full name, date of birth, and address. The small number of individuals who cannot be confirmed as not matching the SDN list will receive a survey request without an incentive offer.

The justification for the aforementioned incentives is as follows: The use of incentives for completion of the student survey can provide significant advantages to the government in terms of increased response rates and higher quality data with minimal nonresponse bias. In addition, the use of incentives may also result in decreased data collection costs due to improved efficiency.

The use of incentives for completion of the student survey can provide significant advantages to the government in terms of increased response rates and higher quality data with minimal nonresponse bias. In addition, the use of incentives may also result in decreased data collection costs due to improved efficiency.

Section 10 – Assurance of Confidentiality

Included in this section is information pertaining to the confidentiality restrictions for this data collection.

2020/22 Beginning Postsecondary Students Full-Scale

In terms of confidentiality, this study collects Personally Identifiable Information with Direct Identifiers (PII-DI). Also, this study has a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA).

BPS:20/22 Full-scale Data Collection

The confidentiality language cited to respondents in any of the materials provided to them is: Student survey:

Respondents to the student survey will be required to confirm their identity with each log in session. Respondents who begin the survey but do not complete it will have the option to re-enter by logging in as they did the first time around, or using a link provided to them in reminders to begin on the welcome page (the page right after the log in). To protect the confidentiality of survey responses in the student survey, the respondent will not be able to view the answers they completed (i.e., no ability to use the survey's navigation buttons to go to “Previous” survey questions from previous log in sessions). Therefore, student respondents are limited to viewing only survey responses that occur in each unique log in session. To further ensure confidentiality, the student survey automatically logs out of a survey session after 10 minutes of inactivity.

Security measures have been put in place to protect data during data collection as described in section A.3 Collection Techniques. NCES has a secure data transfer system, which uses SSL technology, allowing the transfer of encrypted data over the Internet. The IES File Transfer System will be used for all administrative data sources that do not have their own secure file transfers systems. All data transfers will be encrypted.

The Department of Education has established a policy regarding the personnel security screening requirements for all contractor employees and their subcontractors. The contractor must comply with these personnel security screening requirements throughout the life of the contract, including several requirements that the contractor must meet for each employee working on the contract for 30 days or more. Among these requirements are that each person working on the contract must be assigned a position risk level. The risk levels are high, moderate, and low based upon the level of harm that a person in the position can cause to the Department's interests. Each person working on the contract must complete the requirements for a “Contractor Security Screening.” Depending on the risk level assigned to each person's position, a follow-up background investigation by the Department will occur.

Administrative data:

BPS:20/22 and other NCES postsecondary studies include data linkages with many existing sources of valuable data, including Department of Education's CPS for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) data, the NSLDS, and the NSC. NPSAS:20, the base-year data collection for BPS:20/22, collected data from postsecondary institution student records, information on military service records from the VBA, and admissions test scores from ACT and The College Board. Many of these administrative data matches are not guaranteed and will require separate memorandums of understanding, agreements, or contracts with the entities owning or responsible for the individual data elements.

Regarding file matching with administrative sources, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 (20 U.S.C. §1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) allows the disclosure of personally identifiable information from students' education records without prior consent for the purposes of NPSAS:20 according to the following excerpts: 34 CFR §99.31 asks, “Under what conditions is prior consent not required to disclose information?” and explains in 34 CFR §99.31(a) that “An educational agency or institution may disclose personally identifiable information from an education record of a student without the consent required by §99.30 if the disclosure meets one or more” of several conditions. These conditions include, at 34 CFR §99.31(a)(3):

“The disclosure is, subject to the requirements of §99.35, to authorized representatives of--
(i) The Comptroller General of the United States;
(ii) The Attorney General of the United States;
(iii) The Secretary; or
(iv) State and local educational authorities.”

BPS:20/22 is collecting data under the Secretary's authority. Specifically, NCES, as an authorized representative of the Secretary of Education, is collecting this information for the purpose of evaluating a federally supported education program. Any personally identifiable information is collected with adherence to the security protocol detailed in 34 CFR §99.35:
“(a)(1) Authorized representatives of the officials or agencies headed by officials listed in §99.31(a)(3) may have access to education records in connection with an audit or evaluation of Federal or State supported education programs, or for the enforcement of or compliance with Federal legal requirements that relate to those programs.
(2) The State or local educational authority or agency headed by an official listed in §99.31(a)(3) is responsible for using reasonable methods to ensure to the greatest extent practicable that any entity or individual designated as its authorized representative—
(i) Uses personally identifiable information only to carry out an audit or evaluation of Federal- or State-supported education programs, or for the enforcement of or compliance with Federal legal requirements related to these programs;
(ii) Protects the personally identifiable information from further disclosures or other uses, except as authorized in paragraph (b)(1) of this section; and
(iii) Destroys the personally identifiable information in accordance with the requirements of paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section.
(b) Information that is collected under paragraph (a) of this section must—
(1) Be protected in a manner that does not permit personal identification of individuals by anyone other than the State or local educational authority or agency headed by an official listed in §99.31(a)(3) and their authorized representatives, except that the State or local educational authority or agency headed by an official listed in §99.31(a)(3) may make further disclosures of personally identifiable information from education records on behalf of the educational agency or institution in accordance with the requirements of §99.33(b); and
(2) Be destroyed when no longer needed for the purposes listed in paragraph (a) of this section.
(c) Paragraph (b) of this section does not apply if:
(1) The parent or eligible student has given written consent for the disclosure under §99.30; or
(2) The collection of personally identifiable information is specifically authorized by Federal law.”

Additionally, the study, including the administrative data linkage, qualifies for a 45 CFR Part 46 waiver of consent based on the following factors:
- There is minimal risk to the participants. There is no physical risk and only minimal risk associated with linkage of data to sample members. The public-use and restricted-use data, prepared as part of the contract with the data collection contractor, will not include Social Security Numbers (SSNs) or other extremely sensitive Personally Identifiable Information (e.g., name, birthdate, etc.) even though these data elements are used for the linkage. Data will undergo disclosure avoidance analysis and disclosure treatment steps to further reduce the risk.
- The waiver will not affect the rights and welfare of sampled students. Public-use and restricted-use data are only used for research purposes and lack direct individually-identifying information. The data are further protected through disclosure avoidance procedures approved by the NCES Disclosure Review Board.
- The study cannot be conducted practicably without the waiver. Data will be collected from postsecondary institutions and other administrative data offices and agencies, and there will be no direct contact with sampled students. To obtain written consent from sampled students, multiple forms would have to be sent to them with multiple follow-up telephone and in-person visits. This process would add weeks to the data collection process and is not feasible from a time standpoint. Additionally, the value of these data would be jeopardized from a nonresponse bias perspective.

Appendix B includes additional information regarding confidentiality for administrative record matching.

The law cited to respondents defining the voluntary and confidential nature of this collection is: 20 U.S.C. §1232g; 34 CFR §99.31.

Student (copy)

To collect data from student (copy) respondents, this data collection includes survey consent type consent. The longitudinal follow-up informed consent language utilized by one or more respondent class is as follows: "In about three years, we would like to be able to get in touch with you again to see what you're doing and what has changed in your life. To find you then, we need to collect some contact information. Help Text: Any and all contact information you provide will be kept in secure and protected data files, and will be separate from the responses you've already provided in this survey." This text is shown at the completion of the survey, making the respondent aware of a future follow-up data collection. Informed consent language appears at the beginning of the survey and on study materials, as described below.

The verbatim voluntary and confidential collection language utilized in the data collection instruments (IC) by one or more respondent class is as follows:

Question wording:
Recently, we sent you material about the U.S. Department of Education's Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS). The BPS survey is being conducted to better understand the education and employment experiences of students who began their postsecondary education during the 2019-2020 academic year.

[If the respondent is not on the OFAC no-pay list and is a base-year survey nonrespondent] You should have already received a $2 prepaid incentive. If you have not received the $2, please contact our Help Desk toll-free at 1-800-247-6056 for assistance.

[If the respondent is on the OFAC no-pay list] The survey takes about [{if full survey} 30 minutes to complete {else if abbreviated survey} 15 minutes to complete]. [If the respondent is not on the OFAC no-pay list] The survey takes about [{if full survey} 30 minutes {else if abbreviated survey} 15 minutes] and, as a token of our appreciation, you will receive [{if respondent is not on the OFAC no-pay list and is a base-year nonrespondent} an additional] $[incentive amount] for participating.

In addition to your survey responses, we collect other enrollment-related data from your institution and sources such as student loan databases and admissions testing agencies. Your responses, combined with any student record information, may be used for statistical purposes and will not be disclosed, or used, in personally identifiable forms for any other purpose, except as required by law (20 U.S.C. §9573 and 6 U.S.C. §151).

Sometimes there are opportunities for researchers to use data from previous studies or to share data with each other if they are conducting similar research. For these reasons, we may use or share your deidentified data with other researchers. If we do so, we will not contact you to ask for your additional informed consent.

Your participation is voluntary and will not affect any aid or other benefits that you may receive. You may decline to answer any question or stop the survey at any time. The risks of participating in this study are small and relate to data security. We have the following precautions in place - your responses are stored within an enhanced security network, only authorized project staff have access to data, and all staff have participated in privacy training, signed confidentiality agreements, and undergone rigorous background checks. All personally identifiable information will be kept in secure and protected data files, and will be separate from the responses you've already provided in this survey.

If you are located in the European Union (EU) or the United Kingdom (UK), you have rights under the EU's General Data Protection Regulation and the UK Data Protection Act. By providing consent, you agree and understand that your personal information will be transferred to a data center located in the United States.

If you wish to exercise any of your data subjects' rights or have additional questions regarding the use and protection of your information, or have any questions about the study, you should contact the study director, Michael Bryan, at 800-844-8959. For questions about your rights as a participant, please contact RTI's Office of Research Protection toll-free at 866-214-2043.

To review the letter that we mailed, click here (PDF letter).

To review the study brochure, click here (PDF brochure).

Do you want to begin the survey now?

Help text:
• You are one of approximately 37,000 students who will be taking part in this study.
• The risk of participating in this study is small and relates to data security. However, we have put strict security procedures in place to protect your information. Procedures include:
1.Responses are collected and stored on RTI's network which complies with all applicable security and privacy regulations including strong encryption during internet transmission (Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol).
2.All data entry modules are password protected and require the user to log in before accessing confidential data.
3.Project staff are subject to large fines and/or imprisonment if they knowingly publish or communicate any individually identifiable information.

The verbatim voluntary and confidential collection language utilized in the contact materials by one or more respondent class is as follows: NCES is authorized to conduct the 2020/22 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:20/22) by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA, 20 U.S.C. §9543) and to collect students' education records from educational agencies or institutions for the purpose of evaluating federally supported education programs under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA, 34 CFR §§ 99.31(a)(3)(iii) and 99.35). The data are being collected for NCES by RTI International, a U.S.-based nonprofit research organization. All of the information you provide may be used only for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed, or used, in identifiable form, for any other purpose except as required by law (20 U.S.C. §9573 and 6 U.S.C. §151).

The verbatim voluntary and confidential collection language utilized in the FAQ by one or more respondent class is as follows: Website text: Confidentiality

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is required to follow strict procedures to protect personal information in the collection, reporting, and publication of data. All of the information provided by individuals or institutions may be used only for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed, or used, in identifiable form for any other purpose except as required by law (20 U.S.C. §9573 and 6 U.S.C §151).

Data security procedures for BPS are reviewed and approved by NCES data security staff. Your answers are secured behind firewalls and are encrypted during internet transmission using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol. All data entry modules are password protected and require the user to log in before accessing confidential data. Project staff are subject to large fines and/or imprisonment if they knowingly publish or communicate any individually identifiable information.

Congress has authorized the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences to collect data about the costs of postsecondary education because policymakers at all levels need reliable and current national data in order to make decisions about postsecondary education.

NCES is authorized to conduct the 2020/22 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA, 20 U.S.C. §9543) and to collect students' education records from educational agencies or institutions for the purposes of evaluating federally supported education programs under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA, 34 CFR §§ 99.31(a)(3)(iii) and 99.35).

The study has been approved by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 1850-0631. The expiration date is xx/xx/20xx.

The verbatim voluntary and confidential collection language utilized in the brochure by one or more respondent class is as follows: How will my information be protected?
NCES is required to follow strict procedures to protect personal information in the collection, reporting, and publication of data. All of the information provided by individuals or institutions may be used only for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed, or used, in identifiable form for any other purpose except as required by law (20 U.S.C. §9573 and 6 U.S.C §151).
Data security procedures for BPS are reviewed and approved by NCES data security staff. Your answers are secured behind firewalls and are encrypted during internet transmission using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol. All data entry modules are password protected and require the user to log in before accessing the data. NCES employees and contractors are subject to large fines or imprisonment if individual responses are disclosed.

The primary contractor for this study is RTI International. Confidentiality and data security protection procedures have been put in place for BPS:20/22 to ensure that the contractor and its subcontractors comply with all privacy requirements, including:

1. The statement of work of this contract;
2. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 (20 U.S.C. §1232(g));
3. Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. §552a);
4. Privacy Act Regulations (34 CFR Part 5b);
5. Computer Security Act of 1987;
6. U.S.A. Patriot Act of 2001 (P.L. 107-56);
7. Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA 2002, 20 U.S.C. §9573);
8. Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015 (6 U.S.C. §151);
9. Foundations of Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018, Title III, Part B, Confidential Information Protection;
10. The U.S. Department of Education General Handbook for Information Technology Security General Support Systems and Major Applications Inventory Procedures (March 2005);
11. The U.S. Department of Education Incident Handling Procedures (February 2009);
12. The U.S. Department of Education, ACS Directive OM: 5-101, Contractor Employee Personnel Security Screenings;
13. NCES Statistical Standards; and
14. All new legislation that impacts the data collected through the contract for this study.

Furthermore, the contractor will comply with the Department of Education's IT security policy requirements as set forth in the Handbook for Information Assurance Security Policy and related procedures and guidance, as well as IT security requirements in the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) publications, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circulars, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards and guidance. All data products and publications will also adhere to the revised NCES Statistical Standards, as described at the website: https://nces.ed.gov/statprog/2012/.

By law (20 U.S.C. §9573), a violation of the confidentiality restrictions is a felony, punishable by imprisonment of up to 5 years and/or a fine of up to $250,000. The BPS:20/22 procedures for maintaining confidentiality include notarized nondisclosure affidavits obtained from all personnel who will have access to individual identifiers; personnel training regarding the meaning of confidentiality; controlled and protected access to computer files; built-in safeguards concerning status monitoring and receipt control systems; and a secure, staffed, in-house computing facility. BPS:20/22 follows detailed guidelines for securing sensitive project data, including, but not limited to: physical/environment protections, building access controls, system access controls, system login restrictions, user identification and authorization procedures, encryption, and project file storage/archiving/destruction.

Section 11 – Sensitive Questions

Included in this section is additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private.

The student survey collects information about earnings, assets, marital and family statuses, gender identity and sexual orientation, student basic needs, and mental health during the coronavirus pandemic. Regulations governing the administration of these questions require: (a) clear documentation of the need for such information as it relates to the primary purpose of the study, and (b) provisions to clearly inform sample members of the voluntary nature of participation in the study, as well as information about how their responses will be protected and may be used only for statistical purposes and may not be disclosed, or used, in identifiable form for any other purpose except as required by law (20 U.S.C. §9573 and 6 U.S.C. §151).

The collection of data related to income, earnings, assets, indebtedness, and long-range employment outcomes is central to understanding key policy issues driving this study. Financial assets and obligations are important post-graduate outcomes of students and are important indicators of the rate of return of educational experiences to the respondent.

The collection of information about marital and family status likewise facilitates the exploration of key policy issues. Financial and family-related obligations also influence decisions about enrollment, employment, and loan repayment so it is important to collect information about marital status and dependents. Gender identity and sexual orientation can impact enrollment and employment experiences and outcomes, a topic of growing interest for social research and policy.

Financial data related to earnings and assets, as well as marital and dependency statuses are key items used in calculating need for financial aid, parental contributions, and financial aid awards. Consequently, the data elements are critical to the conduct of policy-related analyses and to the modeling and projection of the effects of federal program changes on students and on program costs.

New data elements capturing food and housing security are critical to measure how well the basic needs of postsecondary students are being met. The NPSAS:20 student survey, which served as the base-year data collection for BPS:20/22, will be the first federal survey to collect food security data on a national postsecondary student population.

Consultation with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) staff and other external content experts identified U.S. Household Food Security items appropriate to include. The U.S. Household Food Security items from the USDA have been rigorously tested using a postsecondary student population to collect data for policy-related analyses on the basic needs of students.

Although NPSAS:16 included a measure of homelessness based upon FAFSA questions, NPSAS:20, and now BPS:20/22 in the follow-up, include an additional measure of homelessness. This item maps onto the McKinney-Vento (42 U.S.C. §§11431-11435) definition of homelessness and has been used in several large-scale postsecondary student studies.

Homelessness is one indicator of housing security, which is a multidimensional construct. To capture more nuanced information on student housing security, BPS:20/22 will collect additional indicators of housing security such as housing affordability, stability, and safety. The addition of these indicators will allow researchers to understand the impact that housing security can have on student persistence and attainment and other outcomes of interest. The addition of the food security and housing security measures will allow us to use nationally representative data to better understand whether the basic needs of postsecondary students are being met.

BPS:20/22 will also field items related to student experiences during the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic caused disruptions to student's academic, social, and personal experiences. Given strong feedback from Technical Review Panel members, student mental health during this period is a key construct of interest. Data will be collected on how the coronavirus pandemic impacted students' levels of stress or anxiety, difficulty concentrating, loneliness or isolation, and feeling down, depressed, or hopeless. Several studies conducted by federal agencies, including the Census, have used similar measures to collect information on experiences during the coronavirus pandemic.

SSNs also will be needed to: 1) conduct file matches to administrative records and 2) maintain the sample for future follow-up BPS studies. File matching to administrative records is a crucial element of the BPS study and would not be possible without the collection of SSNs. Data obtained from file matching will both minimize respondent burden and increase data quality.

Several procedures have been implemented (see section A.10) to provide assurances to sample members about the voluntary nature of participation in the study as well as the confidentiality provisions for survey responses.

Section 12 – Estimates of Response Burden

Included in this section is information describing the hour burden of the collection of information.

Student (copy)

For the student (copy), responses via Abbreviated Survey, Address Update, Administrative Records, CPS, NSLDS, and Survey are expected to be collected from approximately 72% of the sample. BPS is a nationally representative study of students who began postsecondary education at Title IV postsecondary institutions during the same academic year (2018-19 for the BPS:20/22 field test, 2019-20 for the full-scale study). Table 2 summarizes estimated maximum burden of the BPS:20/22 full-scale study.

Table 2. Average estimated maximum burden to student respondents for the BPS:20/22 full-scale data collection and panel maintenance

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)
BPS:20/22 full-scale
Panel maintenance (address updates)¹	37,330	NA	15	5,600³	5,600	3	280

Student survey	37,330	34,950	72	25,030	25,030	30	12,515
NPSAS:20 Respondents	26,470	26,470	82	21,710	21,710	30	10,855
NPSAS:20 Nonrespondents	5,510	4,300	22	950	950	30	475
NPSAS:20 Administrative-only	5,350	4,170	57	2,380	2,380	30	1,190

BPS:20/25 field test
Panel maintenance (address updates)²	3,510	NA	15	530	530	3	27

Total				25,560	25,610		12,544

¹ Greyed out rows represent tasks for which burden is not currently being requested. In this case, project burden for the administration of full-scale panel maintenance was approved in the BPS:20/22 field test package, OMB # 1850-0631 v.18. However, because in v. 18 we estimated 5,550 responses and 278 burden hours associated with this activity and have since revised that estimate slightly upward, a contribution of 50 responses and 2 burden hours from this activity line have been added to the total in this request.

² BPS:20/25 is anticipated but not yet exercised.

³ The expected numbers of respondents (5,600) is not included in the total count because they are acccounted for in the adjacent student survey respondent cells. These cases are included in the total expected number of responses.

Response types for the full-scale student survey are a complete or partial survey. Response types for panel maintenance will be updating contact information or acknowledgement that existing contact information is correct.

Burden estimates for this request are based on a full-scale sample of approximately 37,330 students and a field test sample of 3,510. The full-scale sample will be asked to complete a student survey. The field test sample will be asked to complete an address update activity.

Based on NPSAS:20 and the BPS:20/22 field test we expect the student survey to take approximately 30 minutes and to be completed by approximately 72% of the eligible sample. This results in a total survey time burden of 12,515 hours. This is a maximum estimated burden at this response rate. While an abbreviated interview is part of data collection plans, the number of respondents who will complete the abbreviated interview is not known. Therefore, to estimate the maximum potential burden, the burden estimate uses the full, 30-minute survey for all respondents.

Based on prior rounds of BPS we expect the address update to take approximately 3 minutes and to be completed by approximately 15% of the sample. This results in a 27-hour time burden.

Students in the sample are estimated to earn an hourly rate of $20, calculated by averaging the median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers among high school graduates with no college and individuals with some college or an associate's degree (Table 5, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/wkyeng.pdf). This hourly rate multiplied by the 12,544 total burden hours equates to a respondent burden time cost of approximately $250,880.

Section 13 – Estimates of Cost

Included in this section is information describing an estimate of the total annual cost burden to respondents or record keepers resulting from the collection of information.

Respondents will incur no costs associated with participation in this study beyond the response burden time cost.

Section 14 – Costs to Federal Government

Included in this section is information describing annualized cost to the Federal government.

The total cost to the federal government for all activities included in this package is $4,680,807. This includes the total cost for the full-scale study as well as all costs for the field test panel maintenance.

Table 3. Costs to NCES for the 2020/22 Beginning Postsecondary Students Full-scale Study

BPS:20/22 study implementation	Costs to NCES
NCES Salaries and expenses	$378,813
BPS:20/22 full-scale student survey
Contract costs	$4,288,794
Instrumentation and materials	$349,553
Data collection	$2,492,288
Systems and data processing	$979,085
Planning and documentation	$467,868

BPS:20/25 field test panel maintenance (address updates)¹	$13,200
Total	$4,680,807

¹BPS:20/25 is anticipated but not yet exercised.

Section 15 – Reasons for Changes in Response Burden and Costs

The total estimated burden time is 12,544 hours. The increase in burden is due to the collection of student interview data in this phase of the study.

Section 16 – Publication Plans and Time Schedule

The contract for BPS:20/22 requires multiple reports, publications, and other public information releases. Results of the field test will be published as an appendix to the full-scale data file documentation.

The operational schedule for the BPS:20/22 full-scale study is seen in Table 4 below.

Table 4.Operational schedule for BPS:20/22 Full-scale Study

	Start date	End date
BPS:20/22 activity
Full-scale study
Select student sample	Sep. 27, 2021	Nov. 24, 2021
Panel maintenance	Oct. 19, 2021	Feb. 28, 2022
Self-administered web-based data collection	Mar. 1, 2022	Nov. 11, 2022
Conduct telephone surveys of students	Mar. 1, 2022	Nov. 11, 2022
Process data, construct data files	Mar. 1, 2022	Dec. 2, 2022
Prepare/update data collection reports	Jan. 11, 2022	Dec. 15, 2022

BPS:20/25 activity¹
Field test
Panel maintenance (address updates)	Oct 19, 2022	Feb. 28, 2023

¹BPS:20/25 is anticipated but not yet exercised.

Recruitment for this collection is planned to begin on 03/01/22, with data collection planned to begin on 03/01/22 and to end on 11/11/22.

Tabulation and publication details include:

Descriptive summaries of significant findings for dissemination to a broad audience (including First Look reports)
Detailed data file documentation describing all aspects of the full-scale study design and data collection procedures, including an appendix summarizing the methodological findings from the field test
Complete data files and documentation for research data users in the form of both a restricted-use file; and PowerStats, which allows users to create their own tables and charts using all of the variables
Special tabulations of issues of interest to the higher education community, as determined by NCES.

Section 17 – Approval to Not Display Expiration Date for OMB Approval

The expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection will be displayed on data collection instruments and materials. No special exception is being requested.

Section 18 – Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions

There are no exceptions to the certification statement identified in the Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions of OMB Form 83-I.

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File Type	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
Author	William West
File Modified	0000-00-00
File Created	2021-12-16

BPS 2020-22 FS Supporting Statement Part A