NLS Schooling Data: NLSY79 & NLSY97

1. NLS Schooling Data:NLSY79 & NLSY97

2. Cohort Overview

3. NLSY79 • Overview schooling data • Details on high school survey • Details on high school transcripts • Close-up look at “highest grade completed” • Comparing “highest grade completed” with “highest degree” • Close-up look at monthly enrollment status

4. I. Overview of schooling data • Respondents’ schooling • Enrollment (dates enrolled) • Attainment (highest grade, degrees) • Curriculum (courses taken, college major) • School characteristics • Other (attitudes toward school, etc.) • Spouses’ schooling attainment • Household members’ schooling attainment • Parents’, siblings’ schooling attainment

5. Respondents’ enrollment status • Is R currently attending or enrolled • [If no] month/year last enrolled, reason left school • Was R enrolled since last interview • [If yes] months enrolled (Jan. ‘80 onward) • Has R attended college • [If yes] month/year enrolled in 1st, 2nd, 3rd most recent college; whether enrolled full-time or part-time • Enrollment status as of May 1 of survey year (created variable)

6. Respondents’ schooling attainment • [If currently enrolled] grade attending • Highest grade attended; highest grade completed (HGC) • HGC as of May 1 of survey year (created variable) • Does R have high school diploma or GED • [If yes] month/year diploma or GED received • Types of college degrees received (1979-84) • Highest degree ever received (1988 onward) • Month/year degree received

7. Respondents’ curriculum and school characteristics (high school) • 1980 High School Survey • School characteristics (total enrollment, racial/ethnic composition of faculty and student body, etc.) • Student characteristics (R’s standardized test scores, whether R took remedial courses, etc.) • 1980-83 Transcript Survey • Attendance record, class rank, SAT/ACT scores, courses taken, grades

8. Respondents’ curriculum and school characteristics (colleges) • Major field of study • Location of 1st, 2nd, 3rd most recent college • FICE code of 1st, 2nd, 3rd most recent college (created variable) • Codes used are unique identifiers assigned to each 2-year and 4-year institution in U.S. by the Federal Interagency Committee on Education • Can be used to merge college characteristics from external databases • FICE codes are restricted geocode variables

9. Respondents’ additional schooling data • Satisfaction with high school (1979) • Goals and expectations (1979, 1981, 1982) • Highest grade R would like to complete • Highest grade R expects to complete • Time spent at school, studying in last week (1981) • Whether R took loans, had financial aid for college (various years)

10. Family members’ schooling • HGC by R’s mother, father, oldest sib (1979) • HGC by R’s current/most recent spouse (1979-82) • HGC by each household member (all years) • HGC by each sibling (1993) • 5,918 Rs have sibs in the NLSY79 • In 1979, we can form 4,690 sib pairs in 2,467 households • 3,152 of these sib pairs “cross-report” HGC in 1993

11. II. High School Survey • A one-time survey of respondents’ high schools, conducted in 1980 • Each school identified by an NLSY79 respondent was mailed: • One school questionnaire • One student questionnaire for each R • Questionnaires were returned for 8,805 Rs although not all were answered completely.

12. Summary of School-Specific Variables

13. Summary of School-Specific Variables, cont’d

14. Summary of School-Specific Variables, cont’d

15. Summary of Student-Specific Variables

16. Summary of Student-Specific Variables, cont’d

17. Bottom Line on HS Survey Sample Sizes • Respondents eligible for school survey: 11,231 • Excludes military subsample (n=1,280) • Excludes Rs high schools outside the U.S. (n=175) • Rs with a “completed” school survey: 8,805 • 78% of target sample • Variables with 8,805 valid responses: 0 • Rs with valid responses for all 30 school-specific variables: 4,594 • Rs with valid responses for first 5 student-specific variables: 5,438 • Rs with percentile score and month/year/grade for at least one standardized test: 1,875

18. III. Transcript Survey • Collection of transcripts of respondents who had graduated from HS. • Collected in 1980, 1981 and 1983. • Schools were asked to send copies of each respondent’s transcript (for grades 9-12) along with course catalogs. • Transcripts were provided for 9,010 Rs, although not all are useable.

19. Summary of Transcript Variables

20. Summary of Transcript Variables, cont’d

21. Coding Transcripts • Grades were computed in various ways: • Single, final grade for entire year • Average grade over multiple terms • Final grade for one term • Credits were coded using the Carnegie credit system • Full-year course receives 1.0 credits • Other courses pro-rated • Grade levels • Summer courses assigned to preceding year • Course titles • 4-digit codes from Standard Terminology for Curriculum and Instruction in Local and State School Systems (NCES)

22. Sample Transcript

23. Sample Transcript, continued

24. IV. Highest Grade Completed (HGC) • HGC is a key measure for research, policy • We want to know its (causal) effect on post-school earnings and other outcomes • In many surveys, HGC (or highest degree) is the sole measure of schooling attainment. • In the NLSY79 (and other NLS cohorts), we can • Compare HGC to other measures of schooling attainment (degrees), achievement (grades, test scores) • Observe enrollment patterns as well as final HGC • Use other schooling information to “correct” HGC when it appears to be in error.

25. Example 1: respondents who leave school once

26. Example 2: respondents who leave school and reenroll

27. Example 3: respondents whose HGC increases by “too much”

28. Example 3, continued: CASEID=50

29. Example 3, continued: CASEID=251

30. Example 3, continued: CASEID=88

31. Example 4: respondents with decreasing HGC

32. Example 4, continued: CASEID=20

33. Example 4, continued: CASEID=189

34. V. Comparing HGC with Highest Degree HDEG: 1988 response to “What is the name of the highest degree you have ever received?”(R2509800) • Not asked if R (a) currently attends school or (b) does not have a high school diploma or GED • Keep 10,421 respondents who (a) are not currently attending school and (b) have HDEG=1-8 or HDEG=-4 HGC: 1988 (or earlier) response to “What is the highest grade or year of regular school that you have completed and gotten credit for?”(R2509000) • Move back in time (1987, 1986…) until a valid response is found. • Keep 10,388 respondents for whom HGC=1-20

35. HGC by DEG

36. Example 5: HGC=16, HDEG=HS diploma

37. Example 6: HGC=12, HDEG=B.S.

38. Hand Card Used to Identify “Highest Degree” (from 1988 questionnaire) 9.A. (HAND CARD B) What is the name of the highest degree you have ever received? (CODE ONE ONLY.) High school diploma (or equivalent)...…….01 Associate/Junior College (AA)…....……….02 Bachelor of Arts Degree (BA)……………..03 Bachelor of Science (BS)………………..…04 Master’s Degree (MA, MBA, MS, MSW)....05 Doctoral Degree (PhD)……………………..06 Professional Degree (MD, LLD, DDS)……07 Other (Specify)……………………………...08

39. VI. Monthly Enrollment Status Since (month of last interview), in which months were you attending regular school? • Asked only of Rs who have been enrolled since last interview • Asked in every round from 1981 onward

40. Example 7: Monthly Enrollment StatusCASEID=119 (see example 5)

41. Example 7, continuedCASEID=119