This report provides guidance and documentation for users of the combined base-year to third follow-up data of the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002). ELS:2002 is sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. The base-year and follow-up studies…

The Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002) tracks the educational and developmental experiences of a nationally representative sample of high school sophomores in the United States. This First Look report provides a descriptive portrait of these 2002 tenth-graders a decade later, when most were about 26 years old and had been out of high…

This report describes patterns of continuity and change over time in four areas of the transition to adulthood among young adults as measured 2 years after their senior year of high school. The four areas are postsecondary enrollment, labor force roles, family formation, and civic engagement through voting or military service. The analysis…

Transcript data from the National Longitudinal Study confirmed economic returns for bachelor's degrees and found indirect returns for associate degrees and certificates. Those who enroll in but fail to complete postsecondary education have earnings comparable to high school graduates. Fundamental differences in labor markets for college graduates…

The paper describes a variety of analytical difficulties facing prospective users of the first follow-up of the National Center for Education Statistics National Longitudinal Survey of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS) and suggests some possible approaches to coping with these. The primary focus is on the causes and consequences of selective…

The existence of a gap in academic achievement between males and females was studied using data from the National Longitudinal Study (NLS), the High School & Beyond (HSB), and the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS), surveys that represent the high school graduating classes of 1972, 1980, and 1992 respectively. The effects of gender…

Procedures are outlined for estimating changes in parenthood and marital status for respondents of the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS). Seven key variables that summarize the information on parenthood and marital status are estimated: number of children as of the first week of October in 1973, 1974, and 1976, a…

Refutes Grubb's conclusions that two-year college students who do not complete degrees earn more than high school graduates and that degrees only indirectly lead to higher earnings. Shows that even noncompleters earn significantly more. Grubb responds that it matters what kind of college credits noncompleters earn. (SK)

Data from the National Longitudinal Study of the Class of 1972 were analyzed to determine the relationship between student achievement and self-attitudes. Indices of background and repeated measures of achievement and self-attitudes are available for 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1976 on 4,628 subjects as they moved through their undergraduate years. To…

Analysis of data from a sample of 3,309 subjects in the National Longitudinal Survey found that earning less than a 4-year degree does not increase the earnings of high school vocational graduates. However, secondary vocational education was the only high school curriculum to have a significant positive effect on earnings of the non-college-bound.…

Changes in high school graduates' college choices between 1972 and 1980 were investigated, with attention to the importance of different enrollment influences and the distribution of these influences. Analysis of the National Longitudinal Study (NLS) of the High School Class of 1972 and the High School and Beyond (HSB) surveys revealed that 46.4%…

Based on data from the National Longitudinal Study of the Class of 1972, this study confirmed the financial value of the baccalaureate degree, in comparison with the high school diploma, and well-known differences in income to graduates by field of study. Differences by type of higher education institution were relatively smaller. (Author/MSE)

The data collected from the in-school and three follow-up surveys of the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 have been merged and processed. Results are being presented in a series of reports designed to highlight selected findings in educational, career, and occupational development. This report focuses on students who…

Data collection activities for the second follow-up survey of the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 involved contact with over 22,000 graduates. During the period from July 1974 through June 1975, survey activities included the mailout of newsletters to sample members, telephone tracing of those individuals whose…

Using a structural equation model of educational attainment, a study extends and supports previous investigations of educational discontinuities among American White and Black males and females by using data from a national longitudinal study. (MSE)