2017–18 NATIONAL POSTSECONDARY STUDENT AID STUDY ADMINISTRATIVE COLLECTION (NPSAS:18-AC)
Appendices
A-C
OMB # 1850-0666 v.21
Submitted by
National Center for Education Statistics
U.S. Department of Education
July 2017
Appendixes
Technical Review Panel Members
Endorsing Organizations for NPSAS:18-AC
Confidentiality for Administrative Record Matching
Appendix
A
Technical Review Panel (TRP) Members
Technical Review Panel
Amber Bloomfield
Data Scientist
Office of Institutional Research, Planning, and
Assessment
University of Maryland
1101 Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Building
College Park, MD 20742
Phone: (301) 405-5594
Email: abloomfi@umd.edu
Stephanie Cellini
Associate Professor of Public Policy and Economics
George Washington University
805 21st Street, NW
Room 601M
Washington, DC 20052
Phone: (202) 994-0019
Email: srcellini@gmail.com
Diane Cheng
Senior Research Analyst
The Institute for College Access and Success
405 14th Street
Suite 1100
Oakland, CA 94612
Phone: (510) 318-7900
Email: dcheng@ticas.org
William Doyle
Associate Professor of Higher Education
Vanderbilt University
230 Appleton Place
Nashville, TN 37203
Phone: (615) 322-2904
Email: w.doyle@vanderbilt.edu
Charlotte
Etier
Research Analyst
National Association of Student
Financial Aid Administrators
1101 Connecticut Avenue NW
Suite
1100
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 785-6943
Email:
etierc@nasfaa.org
Thomas Harnisch
Director of State Relations and Policy Analysis
American Association of State Colleges and Universities
1307 New York Ave NW
Suite 500
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 478-4660
Email: harnischt@aascu.org
Nick
Hillman
Associate Professor
University of
Wisconsin-Madison
1000 Bascom Mall
Education
Building, Room 249
Madison, WI 53706
Phone: (812)
345-1435
Email: nwhillman@wisc.edu
Aaron
Horn
Associate Director for Policy Research
Midwestern
Higher Education Compact
105 Fifth Avenue South
Suite 450
Minneapolis, MN 55401
Phone:
(612) 677-2768
Email: aaronh@mhec.org
Darlena
Jones
Director of Assessment and Research
Association for Institution Research
1983 Centre Point Boulevard
Suite 101
Tallahassee, FL 32308
Phone:
(850) 391-6566
Email: djones@airweb.org
Robert
Kelchen
Assistant Professor
Seton Hall University
413
Jubilee Hall
400 South Orange Avenue
South Orange, NJ
07079
Phone: (973) 761-9106
Email:
robert.kelchen@shu.edu
Clantha McCurdy
Senior Deputy Commissioner
Massachusetts Department of Higher Education
454 Broadway
Suite 200
Revere, MA 02151
Phone: (617) 391-6097
Email: cmccurdy@osfa.mass.edu
Demaree Michelau
Director of Policy Analysis
Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education
3035 Center Green Drive
Suite 200
Boulder, CO 80301
Phone: (303) 541-0223
Email: dmichelau@wiche.edu
Brian Prescott
Associate Vice President
National Center for Higher Education Management Systems
3035 Center Green Drive
Suite 150
Boulder, CO 80301
Phone: (303) 497-0354
Email:
brian@nchems.org
Doug Shapiro
Executive Research Director
National Student Clearinghouse
2300 Dulles Station Boulevard
Suite 300
Herndon, VA 20171
Phone: (703) 742-4864
Email: shapiro@studentclearinghouse.org
Brian Sponsler
Director of Postsecondary and Workforce Development
Education Commission of the States (ECS)
700 Broadway
Suite 810
Denver, CO 80203
Email: (303) 299-3610
Phone: bsponsler@ecs.org
David Tandberg
Principal
Policy Analyst
State Higher Education Executive Officers
(SHEEO)
3035 Center Green Drive #100
Boulder, CO
80301
Phone: (303) 541-1627
Email: dtandberg@sheeo.org
Jonathan
Turk
Senior Policy Research Analyst
American Council on
Education
One Dupont Circle NW
Suite 1B
Washington,
DC 20036
Phone: (202) 939-9321
Email: jturk@acenet.edu
Mamie Voight
Vice President of Policy Research
Institute for Higher Education Policy
1825 K Street NW
Suite 720
Washington, DC 20006
Phone: (202) 587-4967
Email: mvoight@ihep.org
Dustin Weeden
Senior
Policy Specialist
National Conference of State Legislatures
7700 East First Place
Denver, CO 80230
Phone:
(303) 856-1653
Email: dustin.weeden@ncsl.org
William Zumeta
Professor
University of Washington
Box 353055
Seattle, WA 98195
Phone: (202) 543-0743
Email:
zumeta@uw.edu
Federal Panelists
Elizabeth Ann Carson
OIRA Detailee
Office of Management and Budget
1800 G Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: (202) 395-2811
Email: Elizabeth_A_Carson@omb.eop.gov
Noah Mann
Office of Management and Budget
725 17th Street NW
Washington, DC 20503
Phone: (202) 395-3256
Email: nmann@omb.eop.gov
John
Mingus, Jr.
Assistant Director
U.S. Government
Accountability Office
441 G Street NW
Washington, DC
20548
Phone: (202) 512-4987
Email: MingusJ@gao.gov
Daniel
Pollard
Senior Advisor, Enterprise Data
U.S. Department of
Education, FSA
Office
of the Chief Operating Officer
830 First Street NE
Washington,
DC 20202
Phone: (202) 377-3389
Email:
daniel.pollard@ed.gov
Emilda
Rivers
Director, Human Resources Statistics Program
National
Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard
Suite 965
S
Arlington, VA 22230
Phone: (703) 292-7773
Email:
erivers@nsf.gov
Bob
Sivinski
Statistician
Office of Management and Budget
725
17th Street NW
Washington, DC 20503
Phone: (202)
395-1205
Email: robert_g_sivinski@omb.eop.gov
David
Smole
Specialist in Education Policy
Congressional
Research Service
101 Independence Avenue SE
Mail
Stop 7440
Washington, DC 20540
Phone: (202)
707-0624
Email: dsmole@crs.loc.gov
U.S. Department of Education, NCES
Sharon
Boivin
Senior Research and Policy Analyst
Commission on
Evidence-based Policymaking (CEP)
U.S. Census Bureau
4600
Silver Hill Road
Suitland, MD 20746
Phone: (202)
579-7448
Email: sharon.boivin@cep.gov
Peggy
Carr
Acting Commissioner
U.S. Department of Education,
NCES
550 12th Street SW
Potomac Center Plaza (PCP), Room
4061
Washington, DC 20202
Phone: (202) 245-6168
Email:
peggy.carr@ed.gov
Chris
Chapman
Associate Commissioner
U.S. Department of
Education, NCES
550 12th Street SW
Potomac Center Plaza
(PCP), Room 4054
Washington, DC 20202
Phone: (202)
245-7103
Email: chris.chapman@ed.gov
Elise
Christopher
Statistician
U.S. Department of Education,
NCES
550 12th Street SW
Potomac Center Plaza (PCP), Room
4005
Washington, DC 20202
Phone: (202) 245-7098
Email:
elise.christopher@ed.gov
Tracy
Hunt-White
Statistician
U.S. Department of Education,
NCES
550 12th Street SW
Potomac Center Plaza (PCP), Room
4007
Washington, DC 20202
Phone: (202) 245-6507
Email:
tracy.hunt-white@ed.gov
Kashka
Kubzdela
OMB Liaison
U.S. Department of Education,
NCES
550 12th Street SW
Potomac Center Plaza
(PCP)
Washington, DC 20202
Phone: (202) 245-7377
Email:
kashka.kubzdela@ed.gov
Gail
Mulligan
Longitudinal Surveys Branch Chief
U.S. Department
of Education, NCES
550 12th Street SW
Potomac Center Plaza
(PCP), Room 4178
Washington, DC 20202
Phone: (202)
245-8413
Email: gail.mulligan@ed.gov
Richard Reeves
Program Director
U.S. Department of Education, NCES
550 12th Street SW
Potomac Center Plaza (PCP), Room 4134
Washington, D.C. 20202
Phone: (202) 245-7690
Email: richard.reeves@ed.gov
David Richards
BPS Project Officer
U.S.
Department of Education, NCES
550 12th Street SW
Potomac
Center Plaza (PCP), Room 4037
Washington, DC 20202
Phone:
(202) 245-6202
Email: david.richards@ed.gov
Marilyn Seastrom
Chief Statistician
U.S. Department of Education, NCES
550 12th Street SW
Potomac Center Plaza (PCP), Room 4063
Washington, DC 20202
Phone: (202) 245-7766
Email: marilyn.seastrom@ed.gov
Nancy
Sharkey
Research Scientist
U.S. Department of Education,
NCES
550 12th Street SW
Potomac Center Plaza (PCP)
Washington,
DC 20202
Phone: (202) 245-7689
Email:
nancy.sharkey@ed.gov
Sean
Simone
Statistician
U.S. Department of Education, NCES
550
12th Street SW
Potomac Center Plaza (PCP)
Washington,
DC 20202
Phone: (202) 245-7631
Email:
sean.simone@ed.gov
Ted
Socha
Mathematical Statistician
U.S. Department of
Education, NCES
550 12th Street SW
Potomac Center Plaza
(PCP), Room 4004
Washington, DC 20202
Phone: (202)
245-7071
Email: ted.socha@ed.gov
RTI International
Austin
Caperton
Research Education Analyst
RTI International
3040
East Cornwallis Road
P.O. Box 12194
Research
Triangle Park, NC 27709
Phone: (919) 541-6333
Email:
acaperton@rti.org
Johnathan Conzelmann
Education Analyst
RTI
International
3040 East Cornwallis Road
P.O. Box 12194
Research
Triangle Park, NC 27709
Phone: (919) 541-8838
Email:
jconzelm@rti.org
Nicole Ifill
Research Education Analyst
RTI International
701 13th Street NW
Suite 750
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 728-2080
Email: nifill@rti.org
Ruby
Johnson
Research Statistician
RTI International
3040
Cornwallis Road
P.O. Box 12194
Research Triangle Park, NC
27709
Phone: (919) 597-5169
Email: rej@rti.org
Austin
Lacy
Senior Research Education Analyst
RTI
International
3040 East Cornwallis Road
P.O. Box
12194
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Phone: (919)
990-8386
Email: tlacy@rti.org
Tiffany Mattox
Research Education Analyst
RTI
International
3040 East Cornwallis Road
P.O. Box 12194
Research
Triangle Park, NC 27709
Phone: (919) 485-7791
Email:
tmattox@rti.org
Peter Siegel
Director, Statistics
RTI
International
3040 East Cornwallis Road
P.O. Box
12194
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Phone: (919)
541-6348
Email: siegel@rti.org
Jamie Wescott
Education Analyst
RTI International
3040 East Cornwallis Road
P.O. Box 12194
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Phone: (919) 485-5573
Email: jwescott@rti.org
Jennifer Wine
Senior Director, Program in Education Survey Design
RTI International
3040 East Cornwallis Road
P.O. Box 12194
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Phone: (919) 541-6870
Email: jennifer@rti.org
Consultant
Anthony Jones
Dir, Student Financial Aid
Appalachian State University
John E. Thomas Hall
Boone, NC 28608
Phone: (828) 262-2190
Email: jonesap1@appstate.ed
The following organizations have confirmed that they have endorsed NPSAS:18-AC:
American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers
American Association of Community Colleges
American Association of State Colleges and Universities
American Council on Education
Association for Institutional Research
Association of American Colleges & Universities
Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities
Association of Public and Land-grant Universities
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
Career Education Colleges and Universities
The College Board
Council of Graduate Schools
Council of Independent Colleges
Education Commission of the States
Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities
Midwestern Higher Education Compact
National Association of College and University Business Officers
National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs
National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators
New England Board of Higher Education
Southern Regional Education Board
State Higher Education Executive Officers Association
United Negro College Fund
Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education
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
Linkages will be developed with existing data sources to supplement the 2017-18 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, Administrative Collection (NPSAS:18-AC). NCES recognizes the great value added to the NPSAS:18-AC data file with the addition of data from specific administrative data sources as certain data, such as specific financial aid amounts and associated dates, can only be accurately obtained from sources other than the student or parent. Our postsecondary studies, including previous NPSAS studies, Beginning Postsecondary Student (BPS), and Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B), have included file merges with many existing sources of valuable data, including Department of Education’s (ED) Central Processing System (CPS) for Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) data, the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), National Student Clearinghouse (NSC), ACT, College Board (SAT), and the Veterans Benefits Administration’s (VBA) data. For this study, we plan to perform file merges with the following datasets: CPS, NSLDS, NSC, ACT, SAT, and VBA.
As described in more detail in Section A.10 of the Supporting Statement Part A, which is a part of this request, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (34 CFR Part 99) allows the disclosure of information without prior consent for the purposes of NPSAS:18-AC according to 34 CFR §99.31.
As part of initial sampling activities, we will ask participating institutions to provide Social Security Numbers (SSNs) for all students on their enrollment list. Having an initial list of all student SSNs minimizes the time and burden on both the institutions and the data collection contractor. Institutions will only have to provide one enrollment list. If the SSNs were provided only for those students selected, the institutions would have to provide two separate enrollment lists. SSNs and all other sample member identifying information are protected using the security measures described in section A.10.
Secure Data Transfers. ED’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES) has set up a secure data transfer system (https://transfer.ies.ed.gov/), which uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology. After validated encryption on the files is performed before upload, the contractor will use this electronic system for submitting data. The data may contain potentially personally identifiable information (PII) such as SSNs, names, and dates of birth of study sample members along with their survey ID (different from the ID used in the restricted-use data files).
Data will be received from the IES system as well. The system requires that both parties to the transfer be registered users of the NCES Members Site and that their Members Site privileges be set to allow use of the secure data transfer service as described above. This process will be used for file matching procedures described below, except in instances when the vendor already has a secure data transfer system in place.
File merges will be performed by the data collection contractor with the CPS data containing federal student aid application information. The match to CPS will occur after enrollment list collection but prior to drawing the student sample. CPS contains data on federal financial aid applications, and conducting this match prior to sampling will reduce the burden on the institutions for the student record abstractions. Most of the federal-aid applicants (about 95 percent) will match successfully to the CPS. This match will be conducted on a flow basis as enrollment lists are received.
The merge with CPS will only occur for cases with an apparently valid SSN. A file will be sent to CPS and, in return, a large data file containing all students who applied for federal aid will be received. The data collection contractor has programs and procedures in place to prepare and submit files according to rigorous CPS standards and to receive and process data obtained from CPS.
A file containing the SSN and the first two letters of the sample member’s last name (but no other information) will be electronically uploaded to the FAFSA secure website for matching. Access to the FAFSA data site for the upload is restricted to authorized users, who are registered and provide identification/authentication information (ID and password). The file is retrieved by the CPS (the FAFSA contractor data system) for linkage. The linked file, containing student-aid applications for matched records, is then made available to the study contractor through a secure connection, which also requires ID and password. Files will be downloaded directly into the contractor’s enhanced security network. All CPS files will be processed, edited, and documented for inclusion in the final restricted use file (RUF).
A file merge will be conducted with the NSLDS to collect federal loan and Pell grant data. The resulting file will contain cumulative amounts for each student’s entire postsecondary education enrollment. IES has set up a secure data transfer system (https://transfer.ies.ed.gov/), which uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology. The system requires that both parties to the transfer be registered users of the NCES Members Site and that their Members Site privileges be set to allow use of the secure data transfer service. These privileges are set up and carefully controlled by the IES’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), a service designed by IES specifically for the secure transfer of electronic files containing personally identifying information (i.e., data protected under the Privacy Act or otherwise posing risk of disclosure).This service can be used for NCES-to-Contractor; Contractor-to-Subcontractor; Subcontractor-to-Contractor; and Contractor-to-Other-Agency data transfers. The party uploading the information onto the secure server at NCES is responsible for deleting the file(s) after the successful transfer has been confirmed. Programs have been developed to create the files for the merge and also to read the data received. All matching processes are initiated by the data collection staff providing a file with one record per sample member to be merged.
The NSC will be used to obtain the Student Tracker data on institutions attended, enrollment dates, and degree completions for the NPSAS:18-AC sample. The data collection contractor will first set up an account with NSC which will enable sending and receiving of files securely over encrypted FTPS connections. The file containing PII will be encrypted and then submitted to the Clearinghouse using their secure FTP site. All files received by NSC will be securely stored using encryption, the US federal encryption standard. Matched files, containing data on enrollment dates, institution names, and degrees completed, will be returned to the data collection contractor using the same encrypted FTPS site. NCES or the data collection contractor must establish a contract or agreement with the vendor prior to conducting this match. If NCES is unable to secure an agreement with NSC, a change memo will be submitted to OMB by December 17, 2018.
To obtain valuable admissions test data, a file merge will be performed with ACT data by the data collection contractor. NPSAS has collected and utilized ACT data since NPSAS:96. Matching of students to ACT data uses PII to assist the data vendor in performing confirmatory data quality checks. This process will be initiated by providing a file containing the sample member information then creating a password-protected, encrypted file; uploading the electronic file to the IES File Transfer system for pick-up by ACT. ACT will process the data on their database and provide the matched data on the IES File Transfer system for secure download. The data collection contractor must establish a data use agreement (DUA) with the vendor prior to conducting this match. If the data collection contractor is unable to secure an agreement with ACT, a change memo will be submitted to OMB by December 17, 2018.
To obtain SAT data, a file merge will be performed with the College Board by the data collection contractor. Matching of students to SAT data uses PII to assist the data vendor in performing confirmatory data quality checks. This process will be initiated by providing a file containing the sample member information. The same procedures will be used as described above for the ACT linkage: creating a password-protected, encrypted file; uploading the electronic file on IES File Transfer system for pick-up by the College Board. The College Board will process the data on their database and provide the matched data on the IES File Transfer system for secure download. The data collection contractor must establish a data use agreement (DUA) with the vendor prior to conducting this match. If the data collection contractor is unable to secure an agreement with the College Board, a change memo will be submitted to OMB by December 17, 2018.
To identify veterans and their federal Veteran’s education benefits, a file merge will be performed with the VBA data. These data from the VBA contain reliable military service records of all applicable sample members, so that variables pertaining to military service can be derived. The data obtained from VBA also contain detailed information on veterans federal education benefit amounts, and the enrollment information associated with those benefits. Matching of sample members to VBA data uses PII to assist the data vendor in performing confirmatory data quality checks. The data collection contractor will initiate this process by providing a file containing the sample member information. The same procedures will be used as described above for the ACT and SAT linkages: creating a password-protected, encrypted file, and uploading the electronic file on IES’ File Transfer system for pick-up by the VBA. The VBA will process the data on their database and provide the matched data on the IES File Transfer system for secure download. NCES must establish an agreement with the vendor prior to conducting this match. If NCES is unable to secure an agreement with the VBA, a change memo will be submitted to OMB by December 17, 2018.
NCES staff will send files for matching after the student record abstractions are completed to ensure the availability of the maximum number of verified SSNs and to facilitate the batch mode processing that is suitable to many of these resources. Data collection staff may need to match to a source (for example, CPS or NSLDS) more than once.
All of the collected information 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 data from all of these sources, as allowed by the vendor, and stripped of direct identifiers, will be delivered for inclusion on the RUF and will be useful for creating derived variables. The derived variables will be available on PowerStats, QuickStats, and TrendStats, and both direct-pull and derived variables will be documented thoroughly.
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| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Wine, Jennifer S. |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-21 |