Appendix 1: Education Variable Creation

Variables created

• CV_ENROLLSTAT (ENCAT)--enrollment status as of the survey date. Use the revised CV_ENROLLSTAT_EDT series for rounds 2-8.
• CV_HGC_EVER_EDT (GRSURV)--single-round variable for highest grade completed by all respondents interviewed in that round
• CVC_HGC_EVER (GRSURV_CVC)--cross-round variable for highest grade completed by all respondents as of most recent interview
• CV_HIGHEST_DEGREE_EVER_EDT (DEGSURV)--single-round variable for highest degree received by all respondents interviewed in that round
• CVC_HIGHEST_DEGREE_EVER (DEGSURV_CVC)--cross-round variable for highest degree received by all respondents as of most recent interview

This program first creates an enrollment status variable for each respondent. It then identifies the highest grade completed by the respondent as of the current round interview date and at the start of the new academic year prior to the survey round. It determines the highest degree or diploma received by the respondent as of the same two dates. Finally, it creates collapsed versions of the highest grade completed and highest degree received as cross-round variables.

The following decision rules are used to resolve conflicts in the data.

1. Rs who report receiving both a GED and a H. S. Diploma are coded as receiving a H. S. Diploma
2. Rs who report completing 12th grade but do not report receiving a H. S. Diploma or GED are coded as having completed 12th grade (in GRSURV and GRAUG, if applicable) but are not credited with a H. S. Diploma/GED on ENCAT, DEGSURV, or DEGAUG. Researchers interested in diploma receipt should use the DEGSURV or ENCAT variables, not HGC as of survey date since 12th grade completion does not necessarily signify H.S. Diploma completion.
3. Due to conflicting reports from a small number of Rs regarding their school attendance in the loops versus in single items, invalid skips (-3) have been filled in since no reasonable determination on the enrollment and grades completed can be made (ENCAT, GRSURV, GRAUG). Specifically, Rs are assigned a -3 if they:
   
   1. report being not enrolled and
   2. report a HGC on the single items (e3112) that is greater than the cv_highest_degree_ever for the prior round (but do not indicate completing this grade in a loop) and
   3. report that their HGA (e2857) is two or more greater than the HGC reported in the prior round. Since these Rs provide inconsistent information multiple times, they have been assigned a -3. If they provide valid information on degrees earned, that variable will have a value.
4. Some respondents provide conflicting information of grades attended/completed in the schooling loops (e8416 and e9589) versus the single items (e3112, e2857). These Rs were identified as below where (ENROLL=0 and 12>=e3112^=GRSURV>0 and DEGSURV not in (1,2) and GRSURV^=95) or (0<maxgrade=GRSURV<95 and GRSURV^=e3112 and e3112<=12).
5. This program gives priority to information provided in the schooling loops over that provided on single item questions. Users may wish to check the CV_HGC_EVER variable against student single item self-reports of HGC (e3112), which in many cases indicates a higher grade was completed than that reported in the loops.
6. Even if we do not have a date for the degree received (or we have an invalid date) we code the DEGSURV for that degree.
7. If R reports being in a 4year college or university (this is one category) and pursuing a degree higher than a bachelor's we code their enrollment status as enrolled in a graduate program (ENCAT=11). The problem here is that since we are not sure whether they are in a 4-year college or a university, we are not sure whether their they are actually in a graduate program or in a bachelor's program but their ultimate academic goal is a graduate program. There are 54 cases in this category who do not have an Associates or Bachelor's degree. We could have used that criterion to identify those actually in a graduate program. The problem is that there are programs which give only a graduate degree without a bachelor's degree. So we code all these as ENCAT=11. If the questionnaire is changed to accommodate the graduate program option, these may be recoded in later rounds.

Open the Enrollment Status and Highest Grade/Degree program file

Variables created:

• CVC_GED (CDTGED)
• CVC_HS_DIPLOMA (CDTHS)
• CVC_AA_DEGREE (CDTAA)
• CVC_BA_DEGREE (CDTBA)
• CVC_MA_DEGREE (CDTMA)
• CVC_PHD_DEGREE (CDTDC)
• CVC_PROF_DEGREE (CDTPF)

This program creates the variables that indicate the dates on which the youth received GED, High School Diploma, Associate Degree, Bachelor's Degree, Master's Degree, Doctoral Degree and Professional Degree. The dates are calculated using continuous month numbers (see Appendix 7: Continuous Month Scheme and Crosswalk). These are cross-round variables using the most recent information available for every NLSY97 respondent.

Notes on variable decision rules:

1. If there are two or more valid but different dates for a degree receipt then we take the date reported in the earlier round as that would have been closer to the actual date, except GED receipt dates. In those cases we look at comments to see whether the earlier date that the respondent reported was the date that the respondent took the exam and the later date is the date R actually received the GED.
2. If the respondent attends college without a High School diploma or GED then the respondent is asked for an explanation in question YSCH-13900. If the respondent reports receiving a HS diploma or GED but gives no date of receipt then we give corresponding date of degree received as -3.
3. If the respondent reports receiving GED or H.S. Diploma in YSCH-3113 that has not been reported elsewhere then we give the date of degree received as -3. If R reports a highest degree received in this question as an AA or higher degree and we find evidence that R was indeed in college, had a major of study, was pursuing that degree and left the college because R graduated or finished coursework then we the stop date of that enrollment as the date of receiving that degree. The same rule (except for having decided on a major) is used if R reports attending college to receive a GED.

Open the Date Received Diploma or Degree program file

Variables created

• CV_GRADES_REPEAT_EVER (NUMREP)
• CV_GRADES_REPEAT_YR (NUMREPj)
• CV_GRADE_SKIPPED_EVER (NUMSKIP)
• CV_GRADE_SKIPPED_YR (NUMSKIPj)
• CVC_GRADES_REPEAT_EVER_2007 (NUMRP_CVC)
• CVC_GRADE_SKIPPED_EVER_2007 (NUMSK_CVC)

This program creates six variables relating to grade progression in school. The first four listed above are single-round variables, providing information about grades repeated/skipped since the date of last interview and ever. The final two are cross-round variables, created for all respondents regardless of round 11 interview status, showing the number of grades ever repeated or skipped.

Open the Number of Grades Repeated or Skipped program file

Variables created

• CVC_SCH_ATTEND_EVER(NUMS)
• CVC_SCH_ATTEND_YR(NUMJ)

This program is used to count the number of regular schools that the youth ever attended as of the survey date and as of the summer before the current survey round began.

Open the Number of Schools Attended program file

Variables Created

• CV_BA_CREDITS.01-.05
• CV_ASSOC_CREDITS.01-.05

This program calculates fraction of credits earned toward a bachelor's degree (CV_BA_CREDITS) and fraction of credits earned toward a associate's degree (CV_ASSOC_CREDITS) for each round. This variable was last created after Round 15.

Download the Credits Earned toward Bachelor's/Associate's Degree program file

Variables created

• CVC_HS_LEFT_DATE
• CVC_HS_LEFT_HGC
• CVC_HS_LEFT_HGA

This program creates three variables: the date the respondent left high school, the highest grade completed at that point, and the highest grade attended. These variables are created for all respondents who have a highest grade completed greater than 12, who have received a high school diploma or GED, who are at least age 21, or who are in college. Note that these cross-round variables are created for all respondents, regardless of whether they were interviewed in the current round.

Open the Date Left High School and Highest High School Grade program file

Variable created

• CV_SCHOOL_TYPE (SLTYPE)

This program is used to create the school type variables, i.e. to indicate whether the current or most recent schools that the youth attended are public (code 1), private (2), parochial (3) or other (4). This is completed in the following steps:

1. We first decide which school is the most recent school (non-college) that the youth participated by the ending date for different enrollment periods.
2. We can get the school type from the new school roster. However, in the program, these two steps cannot be separated.

Open the Private or Parochial School program file

Variables created

• CVC_SAT_MATH_SCORE hisatm2007) - Highest SAT Math score
• CVC_SAT_MATH_RND (hisatmrd2007) - Round reported highest SAT Math score
• CVC_SAT_VERBAL_SCORE (hisatv2007) - Highest SAT Verbal score
• CVC_SAT_VERBAL_RND (hisatvrd2007) - Round reported highest SAT Verbal scoreC
• CVC_ACT_SCORE (hiact2007) - Highest ACT composite score
• CVC_ACT_RND (hiactrd2007) - Round reported highest ACT score

These variables report the highest SAT Math, SAT Verbal, and ACT composite score reported in any round by the respondent. Because they are collapsed variables, they include data for all respondents and not just those interviewed in round 11. A second set of variables gives the round in which the highest score was reported.

Note that the ACT scores for 1997 are not included in this variable. In that round, the score was broken out by test section and no aggregate score was reported. In subsequent rounds, only an aggregate score was reported.

Open the SAT/ACT Scores program file

Variables created

• CVC_TRN_CERT (TRNCERT)
• CVC_TRN_CERT_DATE~M, Y (TRNCMTH, TRNCYR)

This program creates a cross-round variable that reports whether the respondent has ever received a certificate or license other than a GED through a training program.If so, a pair of cross-round variables provide the month and year that the most recent certificate or license was obtained. These variables are created for all respondents, not just those interviewed in the most recent round.

Open the Receipt of Certificate or Vocational License program file