VT Census Case Studies : Department of Education - National Postsecondary Student Aid Study

Created and last modified by ziemer on 12 Aug 2015

Brief Overall Description of the Dataset:

College student data

Link: https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/npsas/ 

Date Inventory Completed: 06/17/2015

Screening

  • Is the data collected opinion-based?
  • Is the data collection recurring (must be collected at least annually)?
  • Is there data available for 2013?
  • For Education: Is the data collected at least the school level? 
  • Can we access the data by August 15th?
  • Can the data be linked to other education/workforce datasets (e.g., K-12, higher education, workforce)?

If applicable, what types of schools does it cover (e.g., public, private, charter)?

All schools

Purpose

  • What is the purpose of the organization collecting the data?

National Center for Educational statistics collects data on education around the country to inform policy

  • Why is it collected and how does the organization use it?

Used to provide a dataset on financial aid including all sorts of student information

  • Who else uses the data?

Policymakers, researchers

 

  • Who do they sell the data to?

NA

 

 

Method

  • What is the data collection method? 

Application forms

  • What is the type of data collected? 

Administrative data

  • If designed, who created the questions?

Government

  • What is the raw source of the collected data (prior to any aggregation)? 

Both web survey and student reported data on aid forms

Description

 

  • What is the general topic of the data (1-2 words)?

Postsecondary education

 

  • What are the earliest and latest dates for which data is available?

1990-2012

  • Is data collected and available periodically?

Every four years

  • How soon after a reference period ends can a data source be prepared and provided? 

Depends on the variables

Selectivity

  • What is the universe (e.g., population) that the data represents?

Students who filled out aid forms or participated in the survey

Accessibility

  • How is the data accessed? 

Can be downloaded online

  • Is it open data?

Yes

  • Any legal, regulatory, or administrative restrictions on accessing the data source?

No personally identifiable data

  • Cost? - One time or annual or project based payment?

NA

Does this dataset appear to meet our needs for the Census study? NO

Explanation: Federal data


Full Inventory 

Description

  • What is the general contents of the data source?

Student

  • Features
    • What is the temporal nature of the data: longitudinal, time-series, or one time point?

 

Time series, but some longitudinal spinoffs

 

    • Geospatial? If Yes, at what level?

School

Metadata

  • Is there information available to assess the transparency and soundness of the methods to gather the data for our purposes?

No

  • Is there a description of each variable in the source along with their valid values?

Yes

  • Are there unique IDs for unique elements that can be used for linking data?

Potentially - unclear from website

  • Is there a data dictionary or codebook?

http://nces.ed.gov/datalab/postsecondary/index.aspx 

Selectivity

  • What unit is represented at the record level of the data source?

student level

  • Does this universe match the stated intentions for the data collection? If not, what has been included or excluded and why?

Unknown

  • What is the sampling technique used (if applicable)? 

Unclear

  • What was the coverage?

Unknown for the survey

Stability/Coherence

  • Were there any changes to the universe of data being captured (including geographical areas covered) and if so what were they?

Colleges participating in the FAFSA program

  • Were there any changes in the data capture method and if so what were they? 

Unknown

  • Were there any changes in the sources of data and if so what were they? 

No

Accuracy

  • Any known sources of error?

Unknown

  • Describe any quality control checks performed by the data’s owner.

Unknown

 

Accessibility

  • Any records or fields collected, but not included in data source, such as for confidentiality reasons)? 

Personally identifiable data isn’t openly available

  • Is there a subset of variables and/or data that is must be obtained through a separate process? If yes, is there a separate legal, regulatory, or administrative restrictions on accessing the data source? Cost? - One time or annual or project based payment?

Yes - student-level data requires web agreement

Privacy and security

  • Was consent given by participant? If so, how was consent given?

By submitting the application they consent


  • Are there legal limitations or restrictions on the use of the data? 

Most likely FERPA

  • What confidentiality policies does the source have? 

No personally identifiable data available

 

Research

  • What research has been done with this dataset? (e.g., impact of policies, predictors of student success)

Studies on higher education

  • Include any links to research if provided:

http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/getpubcats.asp?sid=013 

  • List any other data use notes provided by the supplier.

NA