2020/22 BEGINNING POSTSECONDARY STUDENTS LONGITUDINAL STUDY
(BPS:20/22)
Appendixes A and B
Appendix A: Membership of the Technical Review Panel A-1
Appendix B: Confidentiality for Administrative Record Matching B-1
OMB # 1850-0631 v.19
Submitted by
National Center for Education Statistics
U.S. Department of Education
December 2021
TECHNICAL REVIEW PANEL
Eric Atchison
Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning
3825 Ridgewood Road
Office of Strategic Research
Jackson, MS 39211
Phone: (601) 432-6288
Email: eatchison@mississippi.edu
Dominique Baker
Southern Methodist University
3101 University Blvd, Suite 345
Box 750114
Dallas, TX 75275
Phone: (214) 768-1012
Email: djbaker@smu.edu
Christine Baker-Smith
Temple University
1301 Cecil B. Moore Avenue
Ritter Annex
Philadelphia, PA 19122
Phone: (215) 204-1822
Email: Christine.Baker-Smith@temple.edu
Angela Boatman
Boston College
140 Commonwealth Avenue
Champion Hall
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
Phone: (617) 552-8128
Email: angela.boatman@bc.edu
Alberto Cabrera
University of Maryland
3112 Benjamin Building
Room E
College Park, MD 20742
Phone: (301) 405-2875
Email: cabrera@umd.edu
Margaret Cahalan
Council for Opportunity in Education (COE)
1025 Vermont Avenue NW
9th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 347-7430
Email: margaret.cahalan@pellinstitute.org
Rong Chen
Seton Hall University
400 South Orange Avenue
South Orange, NJ
Phone: (973) 275-2823
Email: rong.chen@shu.edu
James Cole
Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research
1900 East 10th Street
Suite 419
Bloomington, IN 47406
Phone: (812) 856-3004
Email: colejs@indiana.edu
Bryan Cook
Association of Public & Land Grant Universities
1307 New York Avenue NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 478-6040
Email: bcook@aplu.org
Bradley Curs
University of Missouri
202 Hill Hall
Columbia, MO 65211
Phone: (573) 882-2759
Email: cursb@missouri.edu
Kim Dancy
Institute for Higher Education Policy
1825 K Street NW
Suite 720
Washington, DC 20006
Phone: (202) 861-8223
Email: kdancy@ihep.org
William Doyle
Vanderbilt University
230 Appleton Place
Peabody #414
Nashville, TN 37203
Phone: (615) 322-2904
Email: w.doyle@vanderbilt.edu
Nicholas Hillman
University of Wisconsin-Madison
1000 Bascom Mall
Education Building, Room 249
Madison, WI 53706
Phone: (812) 345-1435
Email: nwhillman@wisc.edu
Aaron Horn
Midwestern Higher Education Compact
105 Fifth Avenue S
Suite 450
Minneapolis, MN 55401
Phone: (612) 677-2768
Email: aaronh@mhec.org
Nicholas Kent
Career Education Colleges and Universities
1530 Wilson Boulevard
Suite 1050
Arlington, VA 22209
Phone: (571) 800-6524
Email: nicholas.kent@career.org
Patrick Lane
Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education
3035 Center Green Drive
Suite 200
Boulder, CO 80301
Phone: (303) 541-0266
Email: plane@wiche.edu
David Monaghan
Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
Grove Hall 433
Shippensburg, PA 17257
Phone: (717) 477-1777
Email: dbmonaghan@ship.edu
Kent Phillippe
American Association of Community Colleges
One Dupont Circle NW
Suite 410
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 728-0200
Email: kphillippe@aacc.nche.edu
Lauren Schudde
University of Texas at Austin
College of Education 1912 Speedway
Stop D5000
Austin, TX 78712
Phone: (512) 471-1623
Email: schudde@austin.utexas.edu
Judith Scott-Clayton
Columbia University
525 W. 120th Street
Box 174
New York, NY 10027
Phone: (212) 678-3478
Email: scott-clayton@exchange.tc.columbia.edu
Marvin Titus
University of Maryland
Benjamin Building
3209
College Park, MD 20742
Phone: (301) 405-2220
Email: mtitus@umd.edu
Xueli Wang
University of Wisconsin-Madison
270-H Education Building
1000 Bascom Mall
Madison, WI 0
Phone: (608) 263-5451
Email: xwang273@wisc.edu
Jeff Webster
Trellis Company
301 Sundance Parkway
Round Rock, TX 78681
Phone: (800) 252-9743
Email: jeff.webster@trelliscompany.org
FEDERAL PARTICIPANTS
Benjamin Collins
Congressional Research Service
101 Independence Avenue SE
Washington, DC 20540
Phone: (202) 707-7382
Email: bcollins@crs.loc.gov
John Finamore
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 965
Arlington, VA 22230
Phone: (703) 292-2258
Email: jfinamor@nsf.gov
John Mingus, Jr.
U.S. Government Accountability Office
441 G Street NW
Washington, DC 20548
Phone: (202) 512-4987
Email: MingusJ@gao.gov
Jagir Patel
The White House
Office of Management and Budget
725 17th Street NW
Washington, DC 20503
Email: JPatel@omb.eop.gov
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, NCES
Chris Chapman
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
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
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
Tara Lawley
U.S. Department of Education, NCES
550 12th Street SW
Potomac Center Plaza (PCP), Room 4167
Washington, DC 20202
Phone: (202) 245-7081
Email: tara.lawley@ed.gov
Gail Mulligan
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
David Richards
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
EDUCATION
STATISTICS SERVICES
INSTITUTE NETWORK
Christopher Cody
American Institutes for Research
1400 Crystal Drive
10th Floor
Arlington, VA 22202
Phone: (202) 403-5826
Email: ccody@air.org
Emma Cohen
American Institutes for Research
1400 Crystal Drive
10th Floor
Arlington, VA 22202
Phone: (202) 403-5000
Email: ecohen@air.org
Colleen Gaffney
American Institutes for Research
1400 Crystal Drive
10th Floor
Arlington, VA 22202
Phone: (202) 403-5000
Email: cgaffney@air.org
Huade Huo
American Institutes for Research
1400 Crystal Drive
10th Floor
Arlington, VA 22202
Phone: (202) 403-5128
Email: hhuo@air.org
Jeremy Redford
American Institutes for Research
1400 Crystal Drive
10th Floor
Arlington, VA 22202
Phone: (202) 403-6565
Email: jredford@air.org
RTI INTERNATIONAL
Michael Bryan
RTI International
3040 East Cornwallis Road
P.O. Box 12194
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Phone: (919) 541-7498
Email: mbryan@rti.org
Rachel Burns
RTI International
3040 East Cornwallis Road
P.O. Box 12194
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Phone: (919) 316-3870
Email: rburns@rti.org
Margaux Cameron
RTI International
3040 East Cornwallis Road
P.O. Box 12194
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Phone: (919) 485-2761
Email: margauxcameron@rti.org
Darryl Cooney
RTI International
3040 East Cornwallis Road
P.O. Box 12194
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Phone: (919) 316-3486
Email: dcooney@rti.org
Jeff Franklin
RTI International
3040 East Cornwallis Road
P.O. Box 12194
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Phone: (919) 485-2614
Email: jwf@rti.org
Harper Haynes
RTI International
3040 East Cornwallis Road
P.O. Box 12194
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Phone: (919) 541-6205
Email: hhaynes@rti.org
Austin Lacy
RTI International
3040 East Cornwallis Road
P.O. Box 12194
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Phone: (919) 990-8386
Email: tlacy@rti.org
Joshua Pretlow
RTI International
3040 East Cornwallis Road
P.O. Box 12194
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Phone: (919) 541-6432
Email: jpretlow@rti.org
Nestor Ramirez
RTI International
3040 East Cornwallis Road
P.O. Box 12194
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Phone: (919) 316-3810
Email: nramirez@rti.org
Jerry Timbrook
RTI International
3040 East Cornwallis Road
P.O. Box 12194
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Phone: (919) 541-8967
Email: jtimbrook@rti.org
Ashley Wilson
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
RTI International
3040 East Cornwallis Road
P.O. Box 12194
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Phone: (919) 541-6870
Email: jennifer@rti.org
Shauna Yates
RTI International
3040 East Cornwallis Road
P.O. Box 12194
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Phone: (919) 541-6578
Email: syates@rti.org
Linkages will be developed with existing data sources to supplement the 2020/22 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:20/22). NCES recognizes the great value added to the BPS:20/22 data file with the addition of data from specific administrative data sources given that certain data, such as specific financial aid amounts and associated dates, can only be accurately obtained from sources other than the student. NCES postsecondary studies, including previous cycles of the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS), and the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B), have included file merges with many existing sources of valuable data, including the 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), the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC), College Board, and the Veterans Benefits Administration’s (VBA) data. For this study, NCES will 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 BPS:20/22 according to 34 CFR §99.31.
Secure Data Transfers. In order to transfer data between the BPS:20/22 contractor and owners of the desired datasets, data files will undergo validated encryption and be transferred through a secure electronic data transfer system (https://transfer.ies.ed.gov/) using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology. The contractors must be registered users of the NCES Members Site with privileges set to allow them to use the secure data transfer service. These privileges are set up and carefully controlled by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Chief Technology Officer (CTO). This service has been designed specifically for the secure transfer of electronic files containing personally identifiable information (PII), such as social security numbers (SSNs), names, and dates of birth of study sample members along with their survey IDs (different from the IDs used in the restricted-use data files), 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. Matching of sample members to the external datasets will be initiated by: (a) the BPS:20/22 contractor creating a password-protected, encrypted file containing sample members’ PII; (b) uploading the electronic file to the file transfer system for pick-up by the external data source; and (c) the external data source processing the data on their database and providing the matched data on the file transfer system for secure download. The party uploading data into the file transfer system is responsible for deleting the file(s) after the successful transfer has been confirmed. Software has been developed to create the files for the merge and also to read the data received. All matching processes are initiated by the BPS:20/22 data collection staff providing a file with one record per sample member to be merged. This service will be used for the 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 merge with CPS can occur at any time for any number of cases, provided that each case has an apparently valid SSN associated with it. A file will be sent to CPS and in return a large 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.
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. After the file is retrieved by CPS for linkage, the linked file, containing student-aid applications for matched records, is then made available to the BPS:20/22 contractor through a secure connection. 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 NSLDS to collect federal loan and Pell grant data. Data will be transferred using the secure data transfer system (https://transfer.ies.ed.gov/) and the data pull will be conducted by NCES staff. The resulting file will contain cumulative amounts for each student’s entire postsecondary education enrollment.
The NSC will be used to obtain the Student Tracker data on institutions attended, enrollment dates, and degree completions for the BPS:20/22 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.
To identify veterans and their federal Veteran’s education benefits, a file merge using the secure data transfer system (https://transfer.ies.ed.gov/) will be performed with the VBA data. The resulting data will 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 will 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.
The BPS:20/22 contractor will send files for matching during data collection. Files may need to be matched to a source (e.g., CPS or NSLDS) more than once during the full-scale study. 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 used for creating derived variables. The derived variables will be available on DataLab’s PowerStats. Both direct-pull and derived variables will be documented thoroughly. Data will also be used for locating sample members, for panel maintenance and communications encouraging survey participation.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-12-16 |