IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/19552.html

The Missing Manual: Using National Student Clearinghouse Data to Track Postsecondary Outcomes

Author

Listed:
  • Susan M. Dynarski
  • Steven W. Hemelt
  • Joshua M. Hyman

Abstract

This paper explores the promises and pitfalls of using National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) data to measure a variety of postsecondary outcomes. We first describe the history of the NSC, the basic structure of its data, and recent research interest in using NSC data. Second, using information from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), we calculate enrollment coverage rates for NSC data over time, by state, institution type, and demographic student subgroups. We find that coverage is highest among public institutions and lowest (but growing) among for-profit colleges. Across students, enrollment coverage is lower for minorities but similar for males and females. We also explore two potentially less salient sources of non-coverage: suppressed student records due to privacy laws and matching errors due to typographic inaccuracies in student names. To illustrate how this collection of measurement errors may affect estimates of the levels and gaps in postsecondary attendance and persistence, we perform several case-study analyses using administrative transcript data from Michigan public colleges. We close with a discussion of practical issues for program evaluators using NSC data.

Suggested Citation

  • Susan M. Dynarski & Steven W. Hemelt & Joshua M. Hyman, 2013. "The Missing Manual: Using National Student Clearinghouse Data to Track Postsecondary Outcomes," NBER Working Papers 19552, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19552
    Note: CH ED LS
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w19552.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eric P. Bettinger & Bridget Terry Long & Philip Oreopoulos & Lisa Sanbonmatsu, 2009. "The Role of Simplification and Information in College Decisions: Results from the H&R Block FAFSA Experiment," NBER Working Papers 15361, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Thomas J. Kane, 2003. "A Quasi-Experimental Estimate of the Impact of Financial Aid on College-Going," NBER Working Papers 9703, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Joshua Hyman, 2017. "ACT for All: The Effect of Mandatory College Entrance Exams on Postsecondary Attainment and Choice," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 12(3), pages 281-311, Summer.
    4. Bound, John & Brown, Charles & Mathiowetz, Nancy, 2001. "Measurement error in survey data," Handbook of Econometrics, in: J.J. Heckman & E.E. Leamer (ed.), Handbook of Econometrics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 59, pages 3705-3843, Elsevier.
    5. J.J. Heckman & E.E. Leamer (ed.), 2001. "Handbook of Econometrics," Handbook of Econometrics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 5, number 5.
    6. Philip Oreopoulos & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2011. "Priceless: The Nonpecuniary Benefits of Schooling," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 25(1), pages 159-184, Winter.
    7. Susan Dynarski & Joshua Hyman & Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, 2013. "Experimental Evidence on the Effect of Childhood Investments on Postsecondary Attainment and Degree Completion," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(4), pages 692-717, September.
    8. Philip Oreopoulos & Uros Petronijevic, 2013. "Making College Worth It: A Review of Research on the Returns to Higher Education," NBER Working Papers 19053, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Eric P. Bettinger & Bridget Terry Long & Philip Oreopoulos & Lisa Sanbonmatsu, 2012. "The Role of Application Assistance and Information in College Decisions: Results from the H&R Block Fafsa Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 127(3), pages 1205-1242.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Eric Bettinger & Oded Gurantz & Laura Kawano & Bruce Sacerdote, 2016. "The Long Run Impacts of Merit Aid: Evidence from California’s Cal Grant," NBER Working Papers 22347, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Timothy J. Bartik & Brad J. Hershbein & Marta Lachowska, 2015. "The Effects of the Kalamazoo Promise Scholarship on College Enrollment, Persistence, and Completion," Upjohn Working Papers 15-228, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    3. Kautz, Tim & Heckman, James J. & Diris, Ron & ter Weel, Bas & Borghans, Lex, 2014. "Fostering and Measuring Skills: Improving Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills to Promote Lifetime Success," IZA Discussion Papers 8696, IZA Network @ LISER.
    4. Carruthers, Celeste K. & Fox, William F., 2016. "Aid for all: College coaching, financial aid, and post-secondary persistence in Tennessee," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 97-112.
    5. Anderson, Drew M., 2020. "When financial aid is scarce: The challenge of allocating college aid where it is needed most," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    6. Rajeev Darolia, 2016. "An Experiment on Information Use in College Student Loan Decisions," Working Papers 16-18, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    7. Joshua Hyman, 2017. "Does Money Matter in the Long Run? Effects of School Spending on Educational Attainment," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 256-280, November.
    8. Scott Carrell & Bruce Sacerdote, 2017. "Why Do College-Going Interventions Work?," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 124-151, July.
    9. Joshua Hyman, 2018. "Nudges, College Enrollment, and College Persistence: Evidence From a Statewide Experiment in Michigan," Working papers 2018-10, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics.
    10. Darolia, Rajeev, 2013. "Integrity versus access? The effect of federal financial aid availability on postsecondary enrollment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 101-114.
    11. Peter Gottschalk & Minh Huynh, 2010. "Are Earnings Inequality and Mobility Overstated? The Impact of Nonclassical Measurement Error," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(2), pages 302-315, May.
    12. Drew M. Anderson & David B. Monaghan & Jed Richardson, 2024. "Can the Promise of Free Education Improve College Attainment? Lessons from the Milwaukee Area Technical College Promise," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 65(8), pages 1747-1770, December.
    13. Eric P. Bettinger & Brent J. Evans, 2019. "College Guidance for All: A Randomized Experiment in Pre‐College Advising," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(3), pages 579-599, June.
    14. Castleman, Benjamin L. & Owen, Laura & Page, Lindsay C., 2016. "Reprint of “Stay late or start early? Experimental evidence on the benefits of college matriculation support from high schools versus colleges”," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 113-124.
    15. Brian Holzman & Daniel Klasik & Rachel Baker, 2020. "Gaps in the College Application Gauntlet," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 61(7), pages 795-822, November.
    16. Christopher Neilson & Adam Altmejd & Andres Barrios-Fernandez & Marin Drlje & Dejan Kovac, 2019. "Siblings' Effects on College and Major Choices: Evidence from Chile, Croatia and Sweden," Working Papers 633, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    17. Kelley, Clare & Lanot, Gauthier, "undated". "Consumption Patterns Over Pay Periods," Economic Research Papers 269469, University of Warwick - Department of Economics.
    18. Benjamin Castleman & Joshua Goodman, 2018. "Intensive College Counseling and the Enrollment and Persistence of Low-Income Students," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 13(1), pages 19-41, Winter.
    19. Gary Fields & Robert Duval-Hernández & Samuel Freije & María Sánchez Puerta, 2015. "Earnings mobility, inequality, and economic growth in Argentina, Mexico, and Venezuela," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 13(1), pages 103-128, March.
    20. Maclean, Johanna Catherine & Hill, Terrence D., 2015. "Leaving school in an economic downturn and self-esteem across early and middle adulthood," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 1-12.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19552. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.