The National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) is a study conducted every four years by the National Center for Education Statistics,[1] a division of the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education. This study captures data regarding how students pay for postsecondary education, with special attention to how families fund higher education.[2] The NPSAS, which has been conducted periodically since 1987, has a complex design, utilizing sampling and weighting to achieve a sample that represents college students nationwide.[3][4]
The NPSAS collects data from a variety of sources:
In addition, an element called the non-traditional student risk index is calculated using risk factors for dropping out of college. This index includes factors that have been correlated with low persistence such as working full-time, being a single parent, and being enrolled part-time.[10]
Aggregate NPSAS data is made available to the public via the Department of Education's website. Data containing personally identifiable information is only available to researchers who apply for and obtain a restricted use license from the Department of Education.[8]
NPSAS data is used by researchers to identify trends, for example in student loan repayments and the demographics of postsecondary students.[11] This trend data is used in a variety of ways, for example identifying best practices in decreasing inequalities in higher education[12][13] and means of increasing student persistence.[14][15]
Selected examples of NPSAS data research include:
One of the most significant trends identified by studies of NPSAS data is the rise of nontraditional undergraduate students enrolled in higher education. The term "nontraditional student" refers to a student with one or more of the following characteristics:
Some researchers also use being over the age of 24 at the start of enrollment as a non-traditional characteristic, although this is one of the criteria for FAFSA independent status. The rise in nontraditional students enrolled in colleges and universities was first brought to light by Susan Choy, who published a study in 2002 finding that 73% of college students had at least one non-traditional characteristic during the 1999–2000 school year.[21] This finding prompted postsecondary institutional leaders to reassess student needs[22] and to a review of policies related to financial aid.[23]
A 2011 follow-up study using 2007-2008 NPSAS data found a similar percentage of nontraditional learners (70%) and identified several key segments of college students that overlapped with this group.[7]
The most recently released full NPSAS data set is from 2019 to 2020,[24] about four years out-of-date at the time of this writing, and researchers have emphasized the importance of a more timely release of data, especially given the turbulence of higher education policy.[7]
Researchers have also critiqued the level of aggregation of NPSAS data sets made available without expensive and difficult-to-obtain restricted data use licenses, and have commented on limitations of the PowerStats online data analysis tool to group students by multiple variables and to create new variables.[25]
Others have found that useful variables are not included in the NPSAS, for example the status of tax return filings[18] and high school grades.[26] Another criticism is that the data collection cycle necessarily discounts students who drop out early in their studies or who enroll in a semester other than Fall.[26] Similarly, Pell Grant data is not available by semester, making it difficult to calculate eligibility for part-time students.[27] At other times, the differences in data collection between the NPSAS and other government entities makes it difficult to make direct comparisons.[28]