Recent studies have found a large earnings premium to attending a more selective college, but the mechanisms underlying this premium have received little attention and remain unclear. In order to shed light on this question, I develop a multidimensional signaling model relying on college grades and selectivity that rationalizes students' choices…

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…

Background/Context: Although there has been progress in closing the test score gaps among student groups over past decades, that progress has stalled. Many researchers have speculated why the test score gaps closed between the early 1970s and the early 1990s, but only a few have been able to empirically study how changes in school factors and…

Through several decades of research, a great deal has been written about trends in black-white test scores and the factors that may explain the gaps in different subject areas. Only a few studies have examined the changing relationships between gaps in students' test scores and family and school measures in nationally representative data over…

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)

Examines differences in educational satisfaction among Black and White male students in postsecondary institutions. Variables used to study these differences were high school ability, expectations, self-esteem, school and program type, and postsecondary grades. (Author/DB)

A study examined student satisfactions and reports of their college academic experiences as outcomes of higher education, based on institutional data and data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972. Data were analyzed in terms of college characteristics, academic discipline, educational attainment, and student…

Information on college applications, acceptances, financial aid, and attendance is presented based on base-year and first follow-up data for the National Longitudinal Study and the High School and Beyond Study of the Federal Center for Education Statistics. The focus is on changes that occurred between 1972 and 1980 in the two senior cohorts. Many…

The National Education Longitudinal Studies (NELS) program is a long-term effort that now encompasses the educational experience of youth from three decades, the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The NELS program studies the educational, vocational, and personal development of students at various grade levels, and the personal, familial, social,…

The National Education Longitudinal Studies (NELS) program is a long-term effort that now encompasses the educational experience of youth from three decades, the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The NELS program studies the educational, vocational, and personal development of students at various grade levels, and the personal, familial, social,…

The National Education Longitudinal Studies (NELS) program is a long-term effort that now encompasses the educational experience of youth from three decades, the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The NELS program studies the educational, vocational, and personal development of students at various grade levels, and the personal, familial, social,…

Data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 and both cohorts of the 1980 High School and Beyond study were used to analyze trends in postsecondary educational attainment since 1972. The report contains information on educational attainment beyond high school and group differences by sex, high school type, race or…

This Department of Education (ED) Tabulation provides data in six tables on the effect of delay in entering postsecondary education (PE) on degree attainment for 1972, 1980, and 1982 high school graduates. The data compare the patterns of delay in PE among these three cohorts by pattern of enrollment, type of institution, and selected student…

Patterns of delay in entering 4-year, 2-year, and less-than-2-year postsecondary institutions (PIs) for 1972, 1980, and 1982 high school graduates are described. Two types of delay were studied: (1) delay in beginning at a particular type of institution, and (2) stopping out for a period before returning (i.e., leaving school for over 2 months or…