Information on NLSY79 respondents’ educational experiences has been collected during each survey year. In addition, three special data collections conducted during 1980–83 gathered the following for select universes: (1) supplementary information on degrees and certifications received as of the 1980 survey; (2) detailed information on the amount of time spent at school on each of the past seven days and the amount of time spent in various school-related activities, e.g., attending classes, studying, participating in other activities; and (3) high school course information gathered (directly from school records) during the 1980–83 transcript surveys. This section will review the primary types of enrollment and attainment data collected during the main NLSY79 surveys. More information on the special school/transcript surveys can be found in the "School & Transcript Surveys" section of this guide. Descriptions of the various standardized test scores available for NLSY79 respondents can be found in the "Aptitude, Achievement & Intelligence Scores" section.
Data have been collected during each NLSY79 survey on respondents’ current school enrollment status, highest grade attended, and highest grade completed. Additionally, each survey recorded the month and year in which respondents obtained their high school diploma or General Equivalency Diploma (GED). During select survey years, information was also gathered on type of high school curriculum, whether the respondent was enrolled full- or part-time in college, the types of diplomas or college degrees received, and major field of study in college. Data on the timing of a college degree are available for the early survey years, while the variables, ‘Month/Year Received Highest Degree’ for the highest degree ever received (including high school diploma) and ‘Type of Highest Degree Completed Since Last Int,’ are available for post-1987 interviews. Beginning with the 1981 survey, information was gathered on the specific months and years in which those respondents who had attended school since the last interview were enrolled. During the 1979–85 surveys, respondents who had served in the Armed Forces since the last interview or were serving at the current interview date were asked a series of questions on high school or college courses taken and years of school completed while in the Armed Forces.
Two sets of variables have been created that summarize each respondent’s school enrollment status and highest grade completed as of May 1 of each survey year. Codes for the names and locations of recent colleges attended, i.e., Federal Interagency Committee on Education (FICE) codes, are available for some years on the restricted-release geocode files. Finally, data on highest grade completed are available for household members (available all years), all siblings (1993), mother or father (1979), and current or most recent spouse (1979–82). Table 4.13.1 summarizes the major types of NLSY79 educational status and attainment variables and identifies the survey years during which such data were collected.
Table 4.13.1 Educational Attainment & School Enrollment Variables: 1979-2004
|
Variable |
Survey Years |
|
|
Current School Enrollment Status |
||
| Currently attending or enrolled in school |
1979-2004 |
|
| Grade attending | 1979-2004 | |
| Specific months R was attending regular school since last interview | 1981-2004 | |
| Month/year last enrolled in school ((not enrolled) data users must compute months R was attending)) | 1979-1998 | |
| Reason left school (not enrolled) | 1979-2004 | |
| Any high school/college courses taken while in Armed Forces | 1979-85 | |
| Enrollment status as of May 1 survey year | 1979-2004 | |
| Highest Grade Attended or Completed | ||
| Highest grade attended since last interview | 1979-2004 | |
| Highest grade completed since last interview | 1979-2004 | |
| Years of school completed while in the Armed Forces since last interview | 1979-85 | |
| Highest grade completed as of May 1 survey year | 1979-2004 | |
| Type of High School Curriculum | ||
| Type of current/last school curriculum in grades 9-12 | 1979-85 | |
| 1st-8th high school subject during most recent enrollment; grades 9-12 | 1979 | |
| High school courses from the Transcript Surveys | 1980-83 | |
| Nature of high school program | 1980 | |
| Major Field of Study in College | ||
| Major field of study current/last college attended | 1979-83 | |
| Major field of study most recent and 2nd/3rd most recent college attended | 1984-86, 1988-90 &1992-2004 | |
|
College Status |
||
| Full time/part time status (in college last enrolled since 9/1 past year) | 1979-83 | |
| Full time/part time status most recent and 2nd/3rd most recent college | 1984-86, 1988-90 &1992-2004 | |
| Attainment of a High School Diploma and Other Degrees | ||
| Ever received degree/diploma | 1979 | |
| Have high school diploma or equivalent | 1979-2004 | |
| Have diploma or GED | 1979-2004 | |
| Month/year received diploma or GED | 1979-2004 | |
| Received degree since last interview | 1980-84, 1989-2004 | |
| Received more than one college degree since last interview | 1981-84 | |
| Diploma/degree received during or since recent Armed Forces enlistment | 1979-85 | |
| Highest degree ever received (including high school diploma) | 1988-2004 | |
| Month/year received degree/highest degree | 1979-80, 1988-2004 | |
| Types of diplomas/college degrees received | 1979-84 | |
| Types of diplomas/college degrees received during or since recent enlistment | 1979-85 | |
|
Name and Geographic Location |
||
| State location of current/last college attended |
1980-82 |
|
| Location of most recent college(s) attended | 1984-86, 1988-90 & 1992-2004 | |
| FICE code of most recent and 2nd/3rd most recent college attended | 1984-86, 1988-90 &1992-2004 | |
| College Loans | ||
| Educational loan received for this year's college expenses | 1979-83 | |
| Educational loan received to cover most recent and 2nd/3rd most recent college attended | 1984-86, 1988-90 & 1992-2004 | |
| Total amount of educational loans: most recent and 2nd/3rd most recent college attended | 1984-86, 1988-90 & 1992-2004 | |
| Household/Family Members | ||
| Highest grade completed for each household member | 1979-2004 | |
| Highest grade completed for R's mother, father, oldest sibling | 1979 | |
| Highest grade completed for R's current or most recent spouse | 1979-82 | |
| Highest grade completed for all siblings | 1993 | |
Survey Instruments & Documentation: Core education questions are found in the yearly questionnaires in the "Regular Schooling" sections (see Section 3 or 4) and the "Military" sections (Section 7 [1979], Section 6 [1980], Section 5 [1981], and Section 4 [1982-85]). "Regular school" provides credit toward an academic degree or diploma (for a further definition, see Appendix D in this guide). Sections 14 and 12 of, respectively, the 1979 and 1980 questionnaires collected supplementary information on the types of degrees and other certifications that the respondent had obtained.
"Attachment 7: Other Certificate Codes" found within the NLSY79 Codebook Supplement, provides the 1979 codes, e.g., associate degree, bachelor's degree, or master's degree, as well as the various types of certifications, e.g., practical nurse, welding, insurance, etc., that respondents reported ever having received. "Attachment 4: Fields of Study in College" provides the coding classifications for the major field of study variables. Copies of the transcript coding form and course codes can be found in the separate NLSY High School Transcript Survey: Overview and Documentation. Creation procedures for the 1990-2004 enrollment status and highest grade completed as of May 1 variables are provided in "Appendix 8: Highest Grade Completed and Enrollment Status." "Attachment 102: FIPS Codes" and "Attachment 105: Addendum to FICE Codes," both contained within the NLSY79 Geocode Codebook Supplement, provide state coding information for the locations of colleges attended and assignment of codes.
Data Files: Most variables related to schooling are located in the “School,” “Degrees & Certificates,” “Military,” or “Misc. xxxx” areas of interest. The yearly created variables on enrollment status and highest grade completed are found in the “Key Variables” area of interest. The special high school course information has been placed in “Transcript Survey,” while the 1981 time use data (which tracked hours and minutes spent at various major activities, including school) is located in “Time Use.” Family and household member educational attainment variables are found, respectively, in the “Family Background” and “Household Record” areas of interest. The “Geocode xxxx” areas of interest on the Geocode CD contain data on the specific colleges attended (FICE codes).
Related Topics: Additional information on schooling as it relates to other areas of the respondent’s life, such as employment, income, and childcare, has been collected in many survey years, as has information about investments in other types of schooling or training. These schooling-related responses and, in most cases, the specific question subjects to which they pertain, are depicted in Table 4.13.2 by questionnaire section and area of interest.
Table 4.13.2 Other Schooling-Related Variables
|
Questionnaire Section |
Area of Interest |
Schooling Information |
|
"Current Labor Force Status" |
CPS (there was no CPS section in 2000-2004) |
"school interfered" - reason for absence from work last week "attends school" - reason worked less than 35 hours last week "going to school" - activity most of survey week "left school" - reason began looking for work "school employment service" - method of job search "going to school" - reason could not accept job survey week |
|
"Current Labor Force Status" |
Misc. xxxx (there was no CPS section in 2000-2004) |
"lacks (schooling) necessary skills" - reason not currently seeking employment "in school/training" - reason not currently seeking employment "training or education opportunities including tuition reimbursement" - fringe benefits at current/most recent job (1988-93) emp. supp. 1994-2004 |
|
Employer Supplement |
Job Information |
"interfered with school" - reason for leaving job (1979) |
|
Periods Not Working within Job Tenure |
"going to school" - reason out of the labor force for gap within job "going to school" - reason for gap within job |
|
|
"Periods Not Working or in Military" |
Between Jobs Gaps |
"in school" - reason not working during up to six periods each year (1980-2004) |
|
"Training" |
Training |
types of schools and training programs enrolled in including business school, vocational/technical institute, apprenticeship, correspondence school, company/military training, etc. |
|
"Income and Assets" |
Income |
educational benefits from G.I. Bill or VEAP/scholarships, fellowships, grants |
|
"Childcare" |
Childcare |
"going to school or college" in last four weeks - reason for needing child care if satisfactory child care were found, would R go to school more hours/would R go to school (1982-84) |
|
User Notes: The longitudinal collection of schooling experiences generates the possibility of respondent-reported inconsistencies. Mauldon (1990) reports on the discrepancies in NLSY79 retrospective versus panel data for one subset of NLSY79 variables, those containing information on school absences. A review of NLSY79 schooling data (Chuang 1990) indicated the following types of inconsistent observations: (1) respondents currently attending school whose “grade currently attending” is the same as the highest grade completed; (2) highest grade attended or grade currently attending decreases over time; (3) highest grade completed decreases over time; (4) highest grade attended or grade currently attending is the same as the highest grade reported for a previous year; (5) highest grade completed was less than 12 but greater than zero as of the year in which the respondent said he or she received a high school diploma; and (6) highest grade attended or grade currently attending is less than the highest grade completed at the same year. Some of these inconsistencies reflect complications from interrupted careers in college, transfers between colleges, and changes in major field of study. Dilemmas inherent in measuring educational attainment in another national survey, the Current Population Survey, some of which have relevance for the NLSY79, are discussed in Kominski and Siegel (1993) and Frazis, Ports, and Stewart (1995). Due to some problematic coding practices, cross-wave matches of original supplemental FICE codes cannot be assumed. Persons for whom matches of these supplemental codes are an important consideration should use the revised set of FICE codes in the Geocode data file and the “FICETYPE” variables describing the type of code assigned. On the 1994 release of the data, a clean-up was conducted on the coded and created schooling variables. Although this clean-up removed most of the inconsistencies described above, users should be aware that some problems continue to exist. For a discussion of the source of error in and adjustments made to these standard variables, see Appendix 8 in the NLSY79 Codebook Supplement 1979-2004. Creation procedures for recent ‘Highest Grade Completed’ variables are provided within the NLSY79 documentation. This computer code factors the following information into the attainment status of each NLSY79 respondent: (1) school attendance since last interview; (2) grade or year of school attending; (3) highest grade of regular school ever attended; (4) highest grade or year of school completed and for which grade credit was received; (5) receipt of a high school diploma or GED since last interview; (6) receipt of diploma or GED; (7) month/year last enrolled; and (8) current enrollment status. Users needing creation procedures for earlier survey years should contact CHRR. In addition, revised ‘Highest Grade Completed’ and ‘Enrollment Status’ variables, which seek to clean up some of the inconsistencies noted above, have been added to the data set. See Appendix 8 in the Codebook Supplement for a description of these revisions. |
Comparison to Other NLS Cohorts: Enrollment status in the past year, current enrollment status, highest grade attended and completed, and degrees and diplomas received have been collected for all cohorts except the Older Men. Respondents in the Older Men cohort provided information on their highest grade completed and highest college degree received. For more details about specific survey years in which these data were gathered, consult the BLS website at http://www.bls.gov/nls or the appropriate cohort’s User’s Guide.
References
Chuang, Hwei-Lin. “Descriptions for the School Array and Highest Grade Completed Array.” Draft Notes, CHRR, The Ohio State University, 1990.
Frazis, Harley; Ports, Michelle Harrison; and Stewart, Jay. “Comparing Measures of Educational Attainment in the CPS.” Monthly Labor Review 118,9 (September 1995): 40–44.
Kominski, Robert and Siegel, Paul M. “Measuring Education in the Current Population Survey.” Monthly Labor Review 116,9 (September 1993): 34–38.
Mauldon, Jane. “How Well Do Retrospective Recalls Match Panel Reports.” Working Paper, University of California - Berkeley, 1990.