Appendix A-B: TRP and Record Matching

2016/20 Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B:16/20) Full-Scale Study

OMB # 1850-0926 v.9

Appendixes A and B

Technical Review Panel (TRP) Members

Confidentiality for Administrative Record Matching

Submitted by

National Center for Education Statistics

U.S. Department of Education

December 2019

Appendix A
Technical Review Panel (TRP) Members

Given that B&B:16/20 will be based on study designs and survey items from B&B:16/17 and B&B:08/18, NCES does not anticipate holding a TRP meeting for the design of B&B:16/20.

The following lists of TRP members are from the most recent meeting for the B&B:16 cohort—the B&B:16/17 full-scale meeting in December 2016 and from the most recent meeting for the B&B:08 cohort—the B&B:08/18 full-scale meeting in December 2017 (B&B:08/18 data collection ended in March 2019).

Members of the B&B:16/17 Full-scale Technical Review Panel Meeting in December 2016

(affliations are as of the December 2016 TRP Meeting)

Kevin Bastian

Director, Teacher Quality Research Initiative

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

504 East 63rd Street, Apartment 18S

New York, NY 10065

Phone: (919) 698-6658

E-mail: kbastian@E-mail.unc.edu

Margaret Cahalan

Vice President for Research COE & Director, Pell Institute

Council for Opportunity in Education COE

1025 Vermont Avenue NW

9th Floor Washington, DC 20005

Phone: (202) 347-7430

E-mail: margaret.cahalan@pellinstitute.org

Ben Castleman

Assistant Professor of Education and Public Policy

University of Virginia, Curry School of Education

P.O. Box 400879

Charlottesville, VA 22904

Phone: (434) 243-5419

E-mail: castleman@virginia.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

E-mail: etierc@nasfaa.org

Donald Heller

Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs University of San Francisco

2130 Fulton St San Francisco, CA 94117

Phone: (415) 422-6136

E-mail: deheller@usfca.edu

Gary Henry

Professor, Department of Leadership, Policy and Organization

Peabody College Vanderbilt University

230 Appleton Place

PMB #414

Nashville, TN 37203

Phone: (615) 322-0249

E-mail: gary.henry@vanderbilt.edu

Brad Hershbein

Economist

W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research

300 South Westnedge Avenue

Kalamazoo, MI 49007

Phone: (269) 385-0437

E-mail: hershbein@upjohn.org

Robert Kelchen

Assistant Professor

Seton Hall University, 413 Jubilee Hall

400 South Orange Avenue

South Orange, NJ 07079

Phone: (973) 761-9106

E-mail: robert.kelchen@shu.edu

Patrick Kelly

Senior Associate and Director

National Center for Higher Education Management Systems

3035 Center Green Drive

Suite 150

Boulder, CO 80301

Phone: (720) 987-3391

E-mail: patrick@nchems.org

Sarah Leibrandt

Research Analyst

Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education 3035 Center Green Drive

Boulder, CO 80301

Phone: (303) 541-0221

E-mail: sleibrandt@wiche.edu

Alexander McCormick

Associate Professor & NSSE Director

Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research

1900 East 10th Street

Suite 419

Bloomington, IN 47406

Phone: (812) 856-4435

E-mail: amcc@indiana.edu

Christopher Nellum

Policy Director

Young Invincibles

1411 K Street

Suite 400

Washington, DC 20005

Phone: (760) 562-3320

E-mail: christopher.nellum@younginvincibles.org

Hironao Okahana

Assistant Vice President, Research & Policy Analysis Council of Graduate Schools

One Dupont Circle NW

Suite 230

Washington, DC 20036

Phone: (202) 696-1560

E-mail: hokahana@cgs.nche.edu

Kent Phillippe

Associate Vice President, Research & Student Success American Association of Community Colleges

One Dupont Circle NW

Suite 410

Washington, DC 20036

Phone: (202) 416-4505

E-mail: kphillippe@aacc.nche.edu

Jason Ramirez

Director of Research and Policy Analysis

National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities

1025 Connecticut Ave NW

Suite 700

Washington, DC 20036

Phone: (202) 835-0003

E-mail: jason@naicu.edu

Jamey Rorison

Senior Research Analyst

Institute for Higher Education Policy

1825 K Street NW

Suite 720

Washington, DC 20006

Phone: (202) 861-8244

E-mail: jrorison@ihep.org

Hal Salzman

Professor

Rutgers University

30 Livingston Avenue

Room 207

New Brunswick, NJ 08901

Phone: (848) 932-1037

E-mail: hsalzman@rutgers.edu

Nicole Smith

Chief Economist

Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce

3300 Whitehaven Street NW

Suite 5000

Washington, DC 20007

Phone: (202) 687-8226

E-mail: nicole.smith@georgetown.edu

Matthew Soldner

Senior Researcher, Education Program

American Institutes for Research

127 West 10th Street

Suite 803

Kansas City, MO 64105

Phone: (202) 403-5000

E-mail: msoldner@air.org

Jeff Strohl

Director of Research

Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce

3300 White Haven Street

Suite 3200

Washington, DC 20007

Phone: (202) 687-4945

E-mail: js787@georgetown.edu

Rob Toutkoushian

Professor

University of Georgia, Institute of Higher Education 106 Herty Drive

0114 Meigs Hall

Athens, GA 30602

Phone: (706) 542-0577

E-mail: rtoutkou@uga.edu

Jonathan Turk

Senior Policy Research Analyst

American Council on Education

One Dupont Circle NW

Suite 1B

Washington, DC 20036

Phone: (202) 939-9321

E-mail: 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

E-mail: mvoight@ihep.org

Federal Panelists

Shane Ball

Operations Research Analyst

National Institute of Food and Agriculture,

United States Department of Agriculture

4401 Waterfront Centre

800 9th Street SW

Washington, DC 20024

Phone: (202) 720-1973

E-mail: sball@nifa.usda.gov

Quentin Brummet

Chief, Experiments and Innovation Branch

Center for Administrative Records Research and Applications

U.S. Census Bureau

4600 Silver Hill Road

Suitland, MD 20746

Phone: (301) 763-5939

E-mail: quentin.o.brummet@census.gov

Thomas Conkling

Economist

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

1275 1st Street NE

Washington, DC 20002

Phone: (202) 435-9468

E-mail: Thomas.Conkling@cfpb.gov

Jeffrey Groen

Director, National Longitudinal Surveys

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

2 Massachusetts Avenue NE

Suite 4945

Washington, DC 20212

Phone: (202) 691-7392

E-mail: groen.jeffrey@bls.gov

Nirmala Kannankutty

Deputy Division Director, Division of Graduate Education

National Science Foundation

4201 Wilson Boulevard

Suite 875

Arlington, VA 22230

Phone: (703) 292-7797

E-mail: nkannank@nsf.gov

Noah Mann

Office of Management and Budget

725 17th Street NW

Washington, DC 20503

Phone: (202) 395-3256

E-mail: nmann@omb.eop.gov

Rochelle Martinez

Statistician

Office of Management and Budget

725 17th Street, NW

Room 10202 NEOB

Washington, DC 20503

Phone: (202) 395-3147

E-mail: rochelle_w._martinez@omb.eop.gov

Patrick McFadden

Education Business Analyst

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

810 Vermont Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20420

Phone: (202) 273-5400

E-mails: patrick.mcfadden@va.gov

John Mingus

Assistant Director

U.S. Government Accountability Office

441 G Street NW

Washington, DC 20548

Phone: (202) 512-4987

E-mail: 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

E-mail: 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

E-mail: erivers@nsf.gov

Robert Sivinski

Statistician

Office of Management and Budget

725 17^th Street, NW

Washington, DC 20503

Phone: (202) 395-1205

E-mail: robert_g_sivinski@omb.eop.gov

David Smole

Specialist in Education Policy

Congressional Research Service

101 Independence Avenue SE, Mailstop 7440

Washington, DC 20540

Phone: (202) 707-0624

E-mail: dsmole@crs.loc.gov

Chris Sutherland

Education Business Analyst

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

810 Vermont Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20420

Phone: (202) 273-5400

E-mails: christopher.sutherland@va.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

E-mail: 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

E-mail: 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

E-mail: 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

E-mail: elise.christopher@ed.gov

Tracy Hunt-White

Education Statistician

U.S. Department of Education, NCES

550 12th Street SW

Potomac Center Plaza (PCP), Room 4007

Washington, DC 20202

Phone: (202) 245-6507

E-mail: 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

E-mail: 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

E-mail: 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

E-mail: 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

E-mail: 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

E-mail: marilyn.seastrom@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

E-mail: 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

E-mail: ted.socha@ed.gov

RTI International

Jennifer Cooney

Statistician

RTI International

3040 East Cornwallis Road

P.O. Box 12194

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

Phone: (919) 485-5570

E-mail: jgratton@rti.org

Erin Dunlop-Velez

Research Education Analyst

RTI International

701 13th Street NW

Suite 750

Washington, DC 20005

Phone: (202) 974-7879

E-mail: evelez@rti.org

Harper Haynes

Education Analyst

RTI International

3040 Cornwallis Road P.O. Box 12194

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

Phone: (919) 541-6205

E-mail: hhaynes@rti.org

Laura Knapp

Director, Education Research

RTI International

3040 East Cornwallis Road

P.O. Box 12194

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

Phone: (919) 541-7014

E-mail: lgknapp@rti.org

T. Austin Lacy

Research Education Analyst

RTI International

3040 East Cornwallis Road

P.O. Box 12194

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

Phone: (919) 990-8386

E-mail: tlacy@rti.org

Emilia Peytcheva

Research Survey Methodologist

RTI International

3005 Boardwalk Street

Suite 105

Ann Arbor, MI 48108

Phone: (734) 213-6159

E-mail: epeytcheva@rti.org

Nicole Tate

Research Education Analyst

RTI International

3040 East Cornwallis Road

P.O. Box 12194

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

Phone: (919) 316-3357

E-mail: ntate@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

E-mail: jennifer@rti.org

Members of the B&B:08/18 Full-scale Technical Review Panel Meeting in December 2017

(affliations are as of the December 2017 TRP Meeting)

Michael Bates
Assistant Professor of Economics
University of California, Riverside
3135 Sproul Hall
Riverside, CA 92521
Phone: (951) 827-1585
Email: michael.bates@ucr.edu

Maggie Cahalan

Vice President for Research COE & Director, Pell Institute

Council for Opportunity in Education

1025 Vermont Avenue NW, 9^th Floor

Washington, DC 20005

Phone: (202) 347-7430
Email: margaret.cahalan@pellinstitute.org

Diane Cheng

Associate Research Director

The Institute for College Access and Success

405 14^th Street, Suite 1100

Oakland, CA 94612

Phone: (510) 318-7900
Email: dcheng@ticas.org

Bradley Curs

Associate Professor

University of Missouri

202 Hill Hall

Columbia, MO 65211

Phone: (573) 882-2759
Email: cursb@missouri.edu

Thurston Domina
Associate Professor
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
119 Peabody Hall
Campus Box 3500
Chapel Hill, NC 27705
Phone: (919) 962-9197
Email: tdomina@unc.edu

Li Feng
Associate Professor
Texas State University
601 University Drive

McCoy 551
San Marcos, TX 78666
Phone: (512) 245-8462
Email: li.feng@txstate.edu

Michael Lovenheim
Associate Professor
Cornell University
102 Martha Van Rensselaer Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
Phone: (607) 255-0705
Email: mfl55@cornell.edu

Hironao Okahana

Assistant Vice President, Research & Policy Analysis

Council of Graduate Schools

One Dupont Circle NW

Suite 230

Washington, DC 20036

Phone: (202) 696-1560

Email: hokahana@cgs.nche.edu

Cecilia Rios-Aguilar

Associate Professor/Director HERI

University of California, Los Angeles

3005C Moore Hall

405 Hilgard Avenue

Los Angeles, CA 90095

Phone: (310) 825-1925

Email: rios-aguilar@gseis.ucla.edu

Steven Rivkin

Professor

University of Illinois, Chicago

601 South Morgan Street

Chicago, IL 60607

Phone: (312) 413-2368

Email: sgrivkin@uic.edu

Jamey Rorison

Director of Research and Policy

Institute for Higher Education Policy

1825 K Street NW

Suite 720

Washington, DC 20006

Phone: (202) 861-8244

Email: jrorison@ihep.org

Jamin Speer

Assistant Professor

University of Memphis

Fogelman College of Business

Memphis, TN 38152

Phone: (806) 535-5751
Email: jspeer@memphis.edu

Jeff Strohl
Director of Research
Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce
3300 White Haven Street
Suite 3200
Washington, DC 20007
Phone: (202) 687-4945
Email: js787@georgetown.edu

Marvin Titus
Associate Professor, Higher Education
University of Maryland
Benjamin Building, 3209
College Park, MD 20742
Phone: (301) 405-2220
Email: mtitus@umd.edu

Jonathan Turk
Senior Policy Research Analyst
American Council on Education
One Dupont Circle NW
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 939-9321
Email: jturk@acenet.edu

Lesley Turner
Assistant Professor
Department of Economics

University of Maryland
3114 Tydings Hall
College Park, MD 20742
Phone: (301) 405-3512
Email: turner@econ.umd.edu

Paul Umbach

Professor, Higher Education

Department of Leadership, Policy, Adult and Higher Education

North Carolina State University

300 Poe Hall

Box 7801

Raleigh, NC 27603

Phone: (919) 515-9366

Email: paul_umbach@ncsu.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 17^th Street NW

Washington, DC 20503

Phone: (202) 395-3256

Email: nmann@omb.eop.gov

Lynn Milan

Project Officer

National Science Foundation, NCSES

2415 Eisenhower Avenue

Alexandria, VA 22314

Phone: (703) 292-2275

Email: lmilan@nsf.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

Robert Sivinski

Statistician

Office of Management and Budget

725 17^th 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, Mailstop 7440
Washington, DC 20540
Phone: (202) 707-0624
Email: dsmole@crs.loc.gov

U.S. Department of Education, NCES

Sharon Boivin
Senior Advisor

U.S. Department of Education, NCES
550 12th Street SW
Potomac Center Plaza (PCP)
Washington, DC 20202
Phone: (202) 245-6637
Email: sharon.boivin@ed.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
Education 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

Cleo Redline

Senior Research Scientist

U.S. Department of Education, NCES

550 12th Street SW

Potomac Center Plaza (PCP), Room 4065

Washington, DC 20202

Phone: (202) 245-7695

Email: cleo.redline@ed.gov

Richard Reeves

Branch Chief

U.S. Department of Education, NCES

550 12th Street SW

Potomac Center Plaza (PCP), Room 4037

Washington, DC 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

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

Education Statistics Services Institute Network

Chris Cody

Senior Researcher

American Institutes for Research

1000 Thomas Jefferson Street NW

Washington, DC 20007

Phone: (202) 403-5000

Email: ccody@air.org

Aida Aliyeva

Researcher

American Institutes for Research

1000 Thomas Jefferson Street NW

Washington, DC 20007

Phone: (202) 403-5000

Email: aaliyeva@air.org

Kathryn Low

Research Associate

American Institutes for Research

1000 Thomas Jefferson Street NW

Washington, DC 20007

Phone: (202) 403-5000

Email: klow@air.org

RTI International

Melissa Cominole

Senior Research Education Analyst

RTI International
3040 East Cornwallis Road

P.O. Box 12194

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Phone: (919) 990-8456
Email: mcominole@rti.org

Jennifer Cooney
Research Statistician
RTI International
3040 East Cornwallis Road

P.O. Box 12194

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Phone: (919) 485-5570
Email: jgratton@rti.org

Erin Dunlop-Velez

Research Education Analyst

RTI International

701 13th Street NW, Suite 750

Washington, DC 20005

Phone: (202) 974-7879

Email: evelez@rti.org

Harper Haynes

Education Analyst

RTI International

3040 East Cornwallis Road

P.O. Box 12194

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

Phone: (919) 541-6205

Email: hhaynes@rti.org

Antje Kirchner

Research Survey Methodologist

RTI International

3040 East Cornwallis Road

P.O. Box 12194

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

Phone: (919) 316-3328

Email: akirchner@rti.org

Laura Knapp

Director, Education Research

RTI International
3040 East Cornwallis Road

P.O. Box 12194

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Phone: (919) 541-8027
Email: lgknapp@rti.org

Kimberly O’Malley

Senior Vice President, Education & Workforce Development

RTI International
3040 East Cornwallis Road

P.O. Box 12194

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

Phone: (919) 316-3786
Email: komalley@rti.org

Nichole Smith

Research Education Analyst

RTI International

3040 East Cornwallis Road

P.O. Box 12194

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

Phone: (919) 485-5735

Email: ndsmith@rti.org

Ashley Wilson

Education Analyst

RTI International

3040 East Cornwallis Road

P.O. Box 12194

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

Phone: (919) 541-7092

Email: awilson@rti.org

Jennifer Wine

Senior Director, 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

Appendix B
Confidentiality for Administrative Record Matching

B.1 Develop Linkages with Administrative Data Sources

Linkages will be developed with existing data sources to supplement the 2016/20 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:16/20) main study collection. NCES recognizes the value added to the B&B:16/20 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. Our postsecondary studies, including the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) and the Beginning Postsecondary Students Study (BPS), have included file merges with many existing sources of valuable data, including the U.S. Department of Education’s Central Processing System (CPS) for Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) data, the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC), ACT, the College Board (SAT), and the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) data. For this study, we plan to perform file merges with the following datasets: CPS, NSLDS, NSC, 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 B&B:16/20 according to 34 CFR §99.31.

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 FIPS 140-2 validated encryption on the files is performed before upload, the contractor will use this electronic system for submitting data. The data may contain potentially identifying information 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 one party to the transfer be a registered user 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.

B.2 File Merges with ED’s Central Processing System (CPS)

File merges will be performed by the data collection contractor with the CPS data containing federal student aid application information. The merge with CPS can occur at any time for any number of cases, provided that the cases have apparently valid SSNs associated with them. A file will be sent to CPS and, in return, a data file containing all matched 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.

For matching purposes, a file containing the SSN and the first two letters of the sample member’s last name (but no other information) will be uploaded to the FAFSA secure website. Access to the site for the upload is restricted to authorized users who are registered and provide identification/authentication information (username, password, and token security code) to the FAFSA data site. The file is retrieved by the Central Processing System or CPS (the FAFSA contractor data system) for linkage. The linked file, containing student aid applications for matched records, is then made available to us only through a secure connection (EdConnect) which also requires username, password, and token security code. All CPS files will be processed, edited, and documented for inclusion in the final restricted use file (RUF).

B.3 File Merge with National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) Disbursement

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 one party to the transfer be a registered user 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.

There are two methods for obtaining NSLDS data. One is an automated process developed specifically for NCES studies. A file containing SSNs, names, and dates of births are uploaded through the same secure connection discussed in section C.2 for CPS which requires ID, password, and token key. The results file is transmitted back to the study contractor using the same system. In the second process for obtaining NSLDS data, the study contractor uploads a file of SSNs via IES File Transfer System. The file merge is performed using custom SQL queries and results files are downloaded through the same IES site.

B.4 File Merge with the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC)

The NSC will be used to purchase the Student Tracker data on institutions attended, enrollment dates, and degree completions for the B&B:16/20 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 personally identifiable information (PII), i.e. name, date of birth, and SSN, will be encrypted using FIPS 140-2 validated encryption tools and then submitted to the Clearinghouse using their secure FTP site. All files received by NSC will be securely stored using FIPS 140-2 validated AES 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.

B.5 File Merge with the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA)

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 VBA staff in performing confirmatory data quality checks. The data collection contractor will initiate this process by providing a file containing sample member information to the VBA as a password-protected, encrypted file uploaded through the secure IES data 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 a data use agreement 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 September 2020.

B.6 Processing Administrative Data

We will send files for matching during data collection, and we may need to match to a source (e.g., CPS or NSLDS) more than once during the main study.

The data from all of these sources, as allowed by the vendor, will be delivered for inclusion on the RUF and will be useful for creating derived variables. In addition to access via the RUF, the derived variables will be available on PowerStats and QuickStats (https://nces.ed.gov/datalab). Both direct-pull and derived variables will be documented thoroughly. Data from CPS will also be useful for purposes of locating the sample, as will the automated NSLDS match data.

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