PostsecData Letter to Education Department Applauds More Timely, Relevant Postsecondary Data

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Last week, PostsecData sent a letter signed by 27 partner organizations to the Department of Education, commending the National Center for Education Statistics’ (NCES) plan to introduce the 2017–18 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, Administrative Collection (NPSAS:18-AC) to its existing suite of NPSAS studies. NPSAS:18-AC will consist solely of existing administrative data from postsecondary institutions and the Department of Education. The full NPSAS study, which also includes robust student survey data, will continue to be collected every four years, with the next survey cycle scheduled for 2020. In the interim, NPSAS:18-AC will provide policymakers and researchers with more current information on a select number of key metrics than NPSAS:16 data. NCES plans to release NPSAS-AC quadrennially to ensure that new administrative data are available every two years.

PostsecData commends the Department for this decision, as more frequent data releases will enhance researchers’ efforts to conduct timely analyses vital to addressing issues of college affordability and student outcomes. The letter also applauds the inclusion of representative samples for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico together for the first time, supporting both national and individual state-level analyses.

The list of signatories for the letter included:

• Achieving the Dream
• Advance CTE
• American Association of Community Colleges
• American Association of State Colleges and Universities
• Association of Public & Land-grant Universities
• California EDGE Coalition
• Campaign for College Opportunity
• Center for Law and Social Policy
• Complete College America
• Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce
• Higher Learning Advocates
• Institute for Higher Education Policy
• Jobs for the Future
• Knowledge Alliance
• Lehman College of The City University of New York
• NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education
• National Association for College Admission Counseling
• National Center for Higher Education Management Systems
• National College Access Network
• New America Education Policy Program
• Postsecondary Analytics
• Public Insight Corporation
• The Bell Policy Center
• The Institute for College Access & Success
• Veterans Education Success
• Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education
• Young Invincibles

View the PDF to read the full letter.