AttachmentA_PWS 5-28-08.doc

ATTACHMENT A

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

2011–12 NATIONAL POSTSECONDARY STUDENT AID STUDY (NPSAS:12)

I. INTRODUCTION

Abstract

The United States Department of Education has a requirement for a large, complex data collection that assesses how students and their parents pay for college. The National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) is designed to collect information on a nationally representative sample of students attending postsecondary institutions. The study provides information about the costs of postsecondary education and how students and their families meet these costs. Contract options include: conducting the full-scale study in 2011 instead of 2012 (Option 1); state-representative samples of students enrolled at public 2-year, public 4-year, private not-for-profit 4-year, and for-profit institutions (Option 2); supplementing the sample size and questionnaire content to meet specific policy interests (Options 3 and 4, respectively); examining the effectiveness of offering incentives to increase participation of sampled students and postsecondary institutions (Options 5); identifying and following-up first-time beginning postsecondary students in the Beginning Postsecondary Students (BPS) longitudinal studies of 2014 and 2017 and identified as BPS:12/14 and BPS:12/17 (Options 6 and 7, respectively); collecting high school transcript data during BPS:12/14 (Option 8); collecting postsecondary transcript data during BPS:12/17 (Option 9); collecting financial aid data from institutions students attended in 2011–2014 as part of BPS:12/14 (Option 10); collecting financial aid data from institutions students attended in 2014–2017 as part of BPS:12/17 (Option 11), and matching students that were in the BPS:04/06/09 cohort to various administrative databases in 2011 to see if anyone obtained degrees beyond BPS:04/09 (Option 12). Data will be collected primarily via the web and include self-administered, telephone interview, and fieldwork. Although different modes of collection are anticipated, the system will be web-based. This study will culminate in documented data files, electronic codebooks, data analysis systems, and tabulations/descriptive reports for the base contract and option(s).

A. Purpose of NPSAS

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the U. S. Department of Education (ED) is planning to conduct the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS). NPSAS is a comprehensive nationwide study of how students and their families pay for postsecondary education. The study will provide a national profile of students attending less-than-2-year institutions, 2-year colleges, and 4-year colleges and universities. In addition, the study may also include state-representative samples of undergraduates enrolled in public 2-year, public 4-year, private not-for-profit 4-year, and for-profit institutions (if Option 2 is exercised) in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

NPSAS also includes nationally representative samples of graduate and first-professional students attending colleges and universities. Students who receive financial aid and those who do not receive aid participate in NPSAS. Results of the study are used to help describe federal policy regarding student financial aid. Sampled institutions participate in ED’s Title IV financial aid programs.

NPSAS will have a field test conducted in 2010–11 consisting of about 300 institutions and approximately 3,000 students who complete questionnaires. NPSAS will have a full-scale sample conducted in 2011–12 consisting of about 1,200 institutions and approximately 85,000 students. If Option 1 is exercised, there will be no field test and the full-scale study will be conducted in 2010–11 with sample sizes of about 1,200 institutions and 85,000 students.

An institutional sample will be drawn from an NCES‑supplied postsecondary education institution file of institutions participating in the Department of Education’s Title IV financial aid programs. A sample design (for the field test and for the full-scale study) will be developed for the selection of institutions and students that specifies the rationale for the selected approach. To the extent possible, a non-overlapping sample of institutions will be selected for the field test and the full-scale study.

Methods will be developed to collect lists of students from sampled institutions and lists will be collected from sampled institutions. Training material will be developed and used to help train personnel who will contact institutions. Current legislation does not require Title IV postsecondary education institutions to participate in NPSAS. Once lists of students are collected, a student sample will be drawn from the lists according to the sample design that has been developed. Once the student samples have been drawn, institutions will be recontacted to obtain administrative and enrollment data on sampled students. Sampled students are contacted individually and asked to complete a survey over the web or by telephone.

It is anticipated that at least an 85 percent of the institutions sampled will provide lists of students. In past studies, participation of institutions has been voluntary. Procedures for identifying, contacting, securing the cooperation of, and obtaining information from institution-level representatives and students have been developed in the previous studies. Recent studies have shown that list collection for the last 15–20 percent of the sample has taken much longer than expected. As a way of encouraging participation of both institutions and students, incentives will be available for both institution and student participation.

Upon completion of the data collections for the base contract (NPSAS:12) and each of the data collection contract options, the contractor will produce a methodology report; a non-response bias analysis report; restricted-use electronic codebook(s) and data input files; a set of input files for the Data Analysis System (DAS), First Look publications, descriptive/statistical analysis reports, and special tabulations/tables.

B. Period of Performance

The base contract or NPSAS:12 will be an incrementally funded 60-month contract. The period of performance for the base contract will be September 2009 through September 2014. The period of performance for the base contract will shorten to 48-months if Option 1 is exercised, ending in September 2013. The period of performance for Option 6, if exercised, will be July 2012 through September 2016. The period of performance for Option 7, if exercised, will be from July 2015 through September 2019. Option 1 is in place of the base contract, and Options 2, 3, 4, 5, and 12 will not impact the performance period.

C. Enabling Legislation

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, conducts this study in compliance with the mandate stated in the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, (Public Law [P.L.] 107-279, Title I, Part C), which requires NCES to:

“collect, report, analyze, and disseminate statistical data related to education in the United States and in other nations, including …

(1) collecting, acquiring, compiling …, and disseminating full and complete statistics on the condition and progress of education at the … postsecondary and adult levels in the United States, including data on-

(E) access to, and opportunity for, postsecondary education, including data on financial aid to postsecondary students;

(F) teaching …;

(G) instruction, the conditions of the education workplace, and the supply, and demand for, teachers ….” (Section 153)

The amended Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1015), Section 131, entitled Consumer Information and Public Accountability in Higher Education (H.R. 4283, dated May 5, 2004), also requires NCES to gather information on postsecondary student financial aid:

(g) Student Aid Recipient Survey- (1) Survey required- The Secretary shall conduct a survey of student aid recipients under title IV on a regular cycle and State-by-State basis, but not less than once every 4 years--

(A) to identify the population of students receiving Federal student aid;

(B) to describe the income distribution and other socioeconomic characteristics of federally aided students;

(C) to describe the combinations of aid from State, Federal, and private sources received by students from all income groups;

(D) to describe the debt burden of educational loan recipients and their capacity to repay their education debts, and the impact of such debt burden on career choices;

(E) to describe the role played by the price of postsecondary education in the determination by students of what institution to attend; and

(F) to describe how the increased costs of textbooks and other instructional materials affects the costs of postsecondary education to students.

Further, NCES assures participating individuals and institutions that any data collected conforms to the NCES standards for protecting the privacy of individuals as required by Section 183 of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-279):

“all collection, maintenance, use, and wide dissemination of data by the institute, including each office, board, committee, and Center of the Institute, shall conform with the requirements of section 552A of title 5, United States Code [which protects the confidentiality rights of individual respondents with regard to the data collected, reported, and published under this title].” (Section 183)

Under the law, Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA 2002), all individually identifiable information about students, their families, and their schools shall remain confidential. To this end, this law requires that no person may:

· Use any individually identifiable information furnished under the provisions of this section for any purpose other than statistical purposes for which it is supplied, except in the case of terrorism (see discussion of the Patriot Act);

· Make any publication whereby the data furnished by any particular person under this section can be identified; or

· Permit anyone other than the individuals authorized by the Commissioner to examine the individual reports.

Further, individually identifiable information is immune from legal process, and shall not, without the consent of the individual concerned, be admitted as evidence or used for any purpose in any action, suit, or other judicial or administrative proceeding, except in the case of terrorism. Employees, including temporary employees, or other persons who have sworn to observe the limitations imposed by this law, who knowingly publish or communicate any individually identifiable information will be subject to fines of up to $250,000, or up to 5 years in prison, or both (Class E felony).

On October 20, 1994, PL 103-382 was passed by Congress which was the legislation reauthorizing NCES. On October 20, 1994, PL 103-382 was passed by Congress which was the legislation reauthorizing NCES. This legislation has since been updated. It now reads:

“P.L 107-279 (Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 -- H.R. 3801-21), Sec. 154, Performance of Duties, (c) Duration – Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements under this section may be awarded, on a competitive basis, for a period of not more than 5 years, and may be renewed at the discretion of the Statistics Commissioner for an additional period of not more than 5 years.”.

D. Overview

NPSAS is a comprehensive study that examines how students and their families pay for postsecondary education. It includes nationally-representative samples of undergraduates, graduate and first-professional students; students attending public and private less-than-2-year institutions, community colleges, 4-year colleges, and major universities. Students who receive financial aid as well as those who do not receive financial aid participate in NPSAS. Data from comprehensive student interviews and administrative records, with exceptional detail concerning student financial aid, are available for academic years 1986–87, 1989–90, 1992–93, 1995–96, 1999–2000, 2003–04, and 2007–08.

NPSAS serves as the base year for two longitudinal studies, the Beginning Postsecondary Students (BPS) study and the Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B) study. NPSAS studies identify students as first-time beginning students (BPS) or students in their last year of postsecondary education (B&B). Only one longitudinal study is included in NPSAS, with the other longitudinal study included in the next cycle of NPSAS. The NPSAS:12 study will include the BPS study as options. Information is collected from students who first began their postsecondary education in 2011–12 and are followed up two and five years later to view their postsecondary education and labor force experiences. These studies, called Beginning Postsecondary Students (BPS), are in response to the continuing need for data regarding: percentages of students who transfer from one institution to another; the percentages of students who complete degrees; the length of time taken to complete degrees; the amount borrowed and owed by students for their postsecondary education; employment experiences; and family formation. Information on these topics, and specific NPSAS and BPS issues are available from the NCES home page http://nces.ed.gov/npsas and http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/BPS/, respectively.

E. Prior Studies

For more information on the NPSAS sample design, questionnaire development, survey methodology, response rates, weight calculations, and data quality for prior studies, see the methodology reports at the following website: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/getpubcats.asp?sid=013#012.

An example of a contract deliverable (methodology report for the 2003–04 NPSAS) is available at the following website: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006180.

For the Beginning Postsecondary Students (BPS) longitudinal studies, see the methodology reports for more information on the sample design, questionnaire development, survey methodology, response rates, weight calculations, and data quality, found at the following website: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/getpubcats.asp?sid=014#012.

Descriptive reports from these studies are also accessible. Prior descriptive reports from NPSAS are available at the website: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/getpubcats.asp?sid=013#010.

Prior descriptive reports from the BPS studies are available at the website:

http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/getpubcats.asp?sid=014#010.

F. Relationship with Other Postsecondary Statistics Programs

The mission of NCES is to collect and disseminate information related to education in the United States and in other nations. In response to that mandate, the Postsecondary Studies Division (PSD) and its predecessors have developed a major program to measure and analyze the magnitude, content, resources, and outcomes of education. The program consists of a distinct but highly interrelated series of sample, longitudinal, and universe surveys designed to provide accurate and current information on the nation's diverse education activities.

The foundation of the postsecondary data collection program is the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). This system is “integrated” in that the surveys, data elements, and definitions are consistent across the three levels of postsecondary institutions (4-year, 2-year, and less‑than‑2-year) and types of control (public, private not-for-profit, and private for-profit). The data from the institutions can be aggregated to provide an accurate measure of the nation's postsecondary activities at institutions participating in ED’s Title IV financial aid programs.

IPEDS provides a good measure of the magnitude and structure of postsecondary education, but it is limited in that specific data on participants can only be obtained in the aggregate. Some critical issues concerning resources and assessment (student aid, faculty, and education outcomes) have been addressed through a series of other studies. For example, the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B), Beginning Postsecondary Students (BPS), the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF), and the National Study of Faculty and Students (NSoFaS) are geared primarily to samples of individuals, not institutions. A linkage with the IPEDS and other postsecondary databases to provide an analytical framework is important to maintain. This linkage is done by using consistent definitions, the IPEDS institutional sampling frame, classifications and codes, etc., across all postsecondary surveys.

G. Quality Control

NCES is firmly committed to determining how well each project meets its goals, the quality of data collected, and its implications for future projects. Project quality control should be integrated into every phase of the project. For instance, potential problems should be identified early so that possible solutions are tested as part of the field test. Item reliability and validity tests must be built into the data collection efforts, non-response bias analyses should be conducted as part of the final weighting process, and survey methodology and sample design effects should be presented for use by all data users. Thus, statistical quality control shall be incorporated into each stage as appropriate.

H. NCES standards

NCES has developed and implemented a set of standards, NCES Statistical Standards (NCES 2003-601), which set guidelines to ensure the quality of NCES’ work. These standards (as amended) are to be followed by NCES staff and their contractors in performing the day‑to‑day work of NCES. A copy of the revised standards are available at the website: http://nces.ed.gov/statprog/. In addition, contractors shall follow content and format guidelines described in the IES Style Guide, found at the website: http://nces.ed.gov/StatProg/style.asp.

I. Implementing Contractor Employee Personnel Screening Requirements

The Department has established a policy regarding the personnel security screening requirements for all contractor employees and their subcontractors. The contractor must comply with these personnel security-screening requirements throughout the life of the contract. The Department directive that contractors must comply with is OM:5-101, which was last updated on 1/29/2008 and can be found at the following web address: <http://wdcrobiis09/doc_img/acs_om_5_101.doc>. There are several requirements that the contractor must meet for each employee working on the contract for 30 days or more. Among these requirements are that each person working on the contract must be assigned a position risk level. The risk levels are high, moderate, and low based upon the level of harm that a person in the position can cause to the Department’s interests. The criteria for these designations can be found in Appendix I to the Supplement to OM:5-101. Each person working on the contract must complete the requirements for a “Contractor Security Screening.” Depending on the risk level assigned to each person’s position, a follow-up background investigation by the Department will occur.

The following items are required for a Contractor Security Screening:

1. The contractor must list the following items for each employee working on the contract: Name, Position Title, E-Mail Address, Risk Level, and Work Start Date for NPSAS:12 (or, if appropriate, BPS), and provide these items to the COR.

2. The contractor must also submit a hard-copy “Request for Personnel Security Officer Action” (RSA) form to the COR for each employee working on the contract. At the time the hard-copy RSA form is submitted, the contractor shall complete only item number 1 of the form, which identifies the name of the employee/nominee working on the contract. The hard-copy RSA form is needed from the contractor to set-up electronic access to the “E-Qip System.”

3. Once the COR submits the RSA forms to the appropriate ED employee, the contractor will be sent an e-mail stating the names of the contractor employees whose information can be entered into the E-Qip System. In addition to the information listed above (i.e., name, position title, e-mail address, risk level, and work start date), the RSA form will request the contractor employee’s date of birth, place of birth, duty station, social security number, and telephone number.

4. The contractor shall designate one of its employees to receive training on how to use the E-Qip System. This training can occur in person in Washington, DC or over the telephone with an appropriate Department employee.

5. Once the E-Qip Access Account has been set-up, the applicant (contractor) will have 14 calendar days to enter their information into the system. The applicant (contractor) must submit the following items for the Contractor Security Screening process: Signature pages from the E-Qip System, fingerprint card, Declaration of Federal Employment and the Fair Credit Release form.

6. Once all above items have been submitted to the COR, the COR will submit the items to the appropriate Department employee, who in turn will submit the forms to the Office of Management.

Once the employee is no longer working on the contract, the contractor shall notify the COR within three days of the date that the employee is no longer working on the contract and the reason why the person is no longer working on the contract. The COR will provide the appropriate ED employee with this notification.

II. SCOPE OF WORK

Independently and not as an agent of the United States Government, the contractor shall provide all personnel, materials, services, and facilities necessary for the project and perform the tasks as described below.

A. Base Contract

NPSAS:12 or the base contract shall be an incrementally funded 60-month contract. ED may extend the contract for up to an additional 60 months. The anticipated start date is approximately September 2009. The study requires four tasks. These tasks apply to the base contract and Options 2–12, if exercised. If Option 1 is exercised, only three tasks will apply: tasks 1, 3, and 4 and Options 2–5, if exercised. If Option 1 is exercised, task 2 will not be conducted and Options 6–11 will not be exercised. Task 1 encompasses all initial management, review, and quality control activities throughout the entire period of the contract (see table 1). Task 2 involves the conduct and reporting of the field test from questionnaire development through the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) clearance, data collection, file creation, and field test reporting. Task 3 includes activities related to the conduct of the full-scale study and shall include sample design and selection, institution selection, questionnaire refinement through the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) clearance, data collection, data file development, methodology reporting, methods for data non-disclosure compliance, nonresponse bias analysis, weighting and variance estimation, initial data input files for the restricted-use data files, and data analysis systems. Task 4 includes creation of derived variables, the construction of subsequent data files and a tabulation system, producing First Look publications, descriptive survey/analytical reports, and assistance with information requests.

B. Options

ED may choose to exercise any of the following 12 options. Option 1 will be exercised only if NCES decides at contract award to conduct the full-scale study in 2011 rather than 2012. Regardless of which options are exercised, the contractor shall conduct a national representative sample for the various school types.

If Options 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 12 are exercised, the contract length will not be extended. In fact, if Option 1 is exercised, the contract will be shortened to 48-months instead of 60-months.

Table 1. Overall structure of the contract: Base contract and options, including longitudinal studies

Base contract Participation of Title IV postsecondary institutions.

Start data collection January 2011 For academic year 2011-12;

Start data collection January 2012.

Derived variables, First Look, and DAS completed by Dec 15, 2012.

September 2009

Option 1

Participation of Title IV postsecondary institutions in 2011 instead of 2012

Option 2

Public 2-year, public 4-year, private not-for profit 4-year, and for-profit institutions.

Sampling for 50-state representation. Depending on the availability of funds, less than 50 states may be oversampled.

Between October 2009 —July 2011

Option 3a…3*

Add to sample

Add to the sample for subpopulations of interest. This option could be exercised multiple times. Each time this option is exercised, a new letter will be added. For instance, 3a will represent the first time this option is exercised, 3b will represent the second time this option is exercised, and so forth.

NPSAS: Between October 2009 — July 2011

BPS: TBD

Option 4a…4*

Add items Add data elements for content areas of interest. This option could be exercised multiple times.

NPSAS: Between October 2009 — July 2011

BPS: TBD

Options 5a, 5b, and 5c

Incentives Offering varying incentive amounts to sampled students and institutions for participation in NPSAS:11 or 12 (Option 5a), BPS:12/14 (Option 5b), and BPS:12/17 (Option 5c).

NPSAS: Between October 2010—October 2011 BPS:12/14: Between September 2012—December 2013

BPS:12/17: Between September 2015—December 2016

Longitudinal

Studies

Option 6

BPS:12/14

First follow-up of students who began their postsecondary education in 2011-2012, BPS:12/14.

For academic year 2012-2013.

Start March 2013.

For academic year 2013-14.

Start March 2014.

Between July 2011 — July 2012

Contract thru September 2016

Option 7

BPS:12/17

Second follow-up of students who began their postsecondary education in 2011-2012, BPS:12/17.

For academic year 2015-16.

Start March 2016.

For academic year 2016-17.

Start March 2017.

Between July 2014 — July 2015

Contract thru September 2019

Option 8

High School transcripts

High school transcript collection during BPS:12/14

Between July 2013 — July 2014

Option 9

Postsecondary transcripts

Postsecondary transcript collection during BPS:12/17

Between July 2016 — July 2017

Option 10

Financial aid data for 2011-2014 Collect financial aid data from postsecondary institutions where BPS:12/14 students attended

Between July 2013 — July 2014

Option 11

Financial aid data for 2014-2017 Collect financial aid data from postsecondary institutions where BPS:12/17 students attended

Between July 2016 — July 2017

Option 12

Administrative data matching for BPS:04/11 Match students in BPS:04/06/09 to administrative databases in 2011 for additional degree information

Option 1: Participation of institutions in 2011 instead of 2012 Exercised in September 2009

Option 1, if exercised, is to be exercised at contract award so that the contractor will know which tasks will need to be completed and whether NCES will conduct the next NPSAS full-scale data collection in 2011 if Option 1 is exercised or 2012 if Option 1 is not exercised.

The contractor shall develop a sample design and shall obtain at least an 85 percent participation of the institutions sampled. The contractor shall develop a plan for contacting institutions to obtain student lists, in addition to a training plan and materials to train personnel who will contact institutions. The contractor shall propose a method to collect lists of students from sampled institutions. If Option 1 is exercised there will be no field test; therefore, the sampling plan developed will be for the full-scale study only. Approximately, 1,200 institutions and 85,000 students will be selected for inclusion in NPSAS:11. The contractor shall develop a sample design within these specifications. Since there will not be a longitudinal follow-up of first-time beginning students if Option 1 is exercised, the contractor will not need to oversample first-time beginning students for this sample design.

Option 2: 50-state representation in 2-year, 4-year public, 4-year private not-for-profit and 4-year profit institutions

Exercised between October 2009 — July 2011 The contractor shall propose a sample design, which yields reliable estimates for state-representative samples of students enrolled at public 2-year, public 4-year, private not-for-profit 4-year, and for-profit institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The contractor shall design the “state-representative samples” such that key estimates for the public 2-year, public 4-year, private not-for profit 4-year, and for-profit sectors have relative standard errors (RSEs) less than 10 percent.

Although Option 2 describes the students sampled in the states attending public 2-year, public 4–year, private not-for-profit 4-year, and for-profit institutions as state-representative samples, the term may not be accurate depending on the offeror’s proposed sample design. For example, the contractor may propose a design in which the sample is selected first for the states, then from the rest of the nation in order to produce national estimates within the desired precision. Alternatively, a national sample may be selected first, then supplemented with additional students in the states to allow for state estimates based on students enrolled in the public 2-year, public 4-year, private not-for-profit 4-year, and for-profit sectors. Although this option specifies a 50-state representation, NCES may not have the funds to oversample all 50 states, and may choose to oversample some lesser number of states. If this happens, the contractor shall work with NCES to determine the best way to utilize the resources available in designing the sample.

Option 3a--*: Complement to sample size (multiple organizations may exercise this option)

NPSAS - Exercised between October 2009 — July 2011

BPS longitudinal studies - Exercised TBD The contractor shall propose a method for complementing the sample size (e.g., 5,000 students) for purposes of providing reliable estimates for groups of policy interest sponsored by an organization or agency. Multiple organizations may want to add sample so each time the option is exercised a new letter will be added. For instance, the first time this option is exercised, the award will exercise Option 3a, the next time this option is exercised the award will exercise Option 3b, and so on until all awards for this option are exercised. It is possible that this option will never be exercised, if no entities want to add and pay for extra sample.

Option 4a--*: Complement to data elements (multiple organizations may exercise this option)

NPSAS - Exercised between October 2009 — July 2011

BPS longitudinal studies - Exercised TBD

The contractor shall propose a method for adding data elements (e.g., 15 items) to data collection instruments for purposes of providing reliable estimates for content of policy interest sponsored by another agency. As with Option 3, multiple organizations may want to add data elements for their purposes so each time the option is exercised a new letter will be added.

Regarding Option 3 and Option 4, an organization (e.g., another federal agency) may want to fund an augmentation to the sample of students to provide a sufficient sample to allow for more specific estimates. This might include a specific program level, or a given state may want to produce estimates for students enrolled in different institutional sectors, or perhaps include additional data elements as part of the data collection. An organization may also want to fund additional data elements or interview items having specific interest, for example, estimating undergraduates having various disabilities. The contractor must be willing to work with these organizations in helping them meet their objectives by producing reasonable cost estimates to complete the work. Any augmentation of the student sample or data elements will be done only with the written approval of the NCES Contracting Officer's Representative (COR), and the contracting officer. Additional information is provided in Section L.

Options 5a, 5b, and 5c: Incentives provided to sampled students and institutions to increase participation

NPSAS - Exercised between October 2010 — October 2011

BPS:12/14 - Exercised between September 2012 — December 2013

BPS:12/17 - Exercised between September 2015 — December 2016 The contractor shall examine whether certain amounts of incentives will significantly increase response rates of students during the field test. The contractor shall also examine the effectiveness of various methods -- such as letter, e-mails, and telephone calls -- to contact and encourage participation of sampled students. The contractor shall additionally offer institutional coordinators reasonable reimbursement if the coordinator provides the information in a timely manner. Offerors shall include in the base contract funds to cover experiments offered in the field test, including funds for the incentives. Field test results will provide the basis for offering incentives to sampled students and postsecondary institutions for their participation. If Option 1 is exercised, the contractor shall offer at least the amount of incentives that were offered in NPSAS:08, since there will not be a field test to examine varying levels of incentives. This option shall additionally offer institutional coordinators reasonable reimbursement for providing lists of students for the full-scale study. Again, offerors shall include in the base contract funds to cover reimbursement of institutional coordinators in the field test. Incentives for NPSAS:11 or NPSAS:12 full-scale study will be included under Option 5a, incentives for BPS:12/14 full-scale study will be included under Option 5b, and incentives for BPS:12/17 full-scale study will be included under Option 5c.

Option 6: First follow-up of first-time beginning students (BPS:12/14)

Exercised between July 2011 — July 2012 The contractor shall propose a BPS study design to follow-up students identified in the NPSAS:12 as being first-time beginning students. Data shall be collected from these students two years later (BPS:12/14). Data shall be collected from a sample of about 23,000 students who were in their first year of undergraduate education in NPSAS:12. Offerors can assume that if Option 6 is exercised that the base contract for NPSAS:12 will also increase from 85,000 to some larger sample size to accommodate the expected BPS sample size. The increase in the base contract will be handled through exercising Option 3 to add sample to the contract. This design does not necessarily yield state representative estimates. A field test yielding about 1,000 completed student cases would be conducted in 2013. The period of performance for Option 6, if exercised, will be July 2012 through September 2016.

Option 7: Second follow-up of first-time beginning students BPS:12/17

Exercised between July 2014 — July 2015 The contractor shall propose a BPS study design to follow-up students identified in the NPSAS:12 as being first-time beginning students. Data shall be collected from these students 5 years later (BPS:12/17). Data shall be collected from a sample of about 23,000 students who were in their first year of undergraduate education in the NPSAS:12. Offerors can assume that if Option 6 is exercised that the base contract for NPSAS:12 will also increase from 85,000 to some larger sample size to accommodate the expected BPS sample size. The increase in the base contract will be handled through exercising Option 3 to add sample to the contract. This design does not necessarily yield state representative estimates. A field test yielding about 800 completed student cases would be conducted in 2016. The period of performance for Option 7, if exercised, will be July 2015 through September 2019.

Option 8: High school transcript collection during BPS:12/14

Exercised between July 2013 — July 2014

The contractor shall propose a method for obtaining high school transcripts from high schools where sample members attended. The contractor shall also explore the possibility of obtaining some high school transcripts from the postsecondary institutions that the student attended and from state administrative databases. The contractor shall explore the feasibility and desirability of obtaining high school transcripts of anyone other than recent high school graduates. Transcript information shall include courses taken (course numbers, titles, credits, and descriptions), final course grades, and information about the high school degree, if applicable. This information shall be appended to each sample member’s case. Up to 400 derived variables shall also be created and appended to each sample member’s case. The period of performance for Option 8, if exercised, will be July 2012 through September 2016.

Option 9: Postsecondary transcript collection during BPS:12/17

Exercised between July 2016 — July 2017

The contractor shall propose a method for obtaining undergraduate transcripts from postsecondary institutions from which sample members attended and from other administrative databases. Because sample members will have begun their postsecondary education in 2011–12, transcript information will be sought from 2011–2017. Transcript information shall include courses taken (course numbers, titles, credits, and descriptions), final course grades, major and minor fields of study, and degrees attained. This information shall be appended to each sample member’s case. Up to 400 derived variables shall also be created and appended to each sample member’s case. The contractor shall also collect the course catalogs for students (most are available electronically) and get grading system and school term information from the schools. The period of performance for Option 9, if exercised, will be July 2015 through September 2019.

Option 10: Collect financial aid data from institutions attended during BPS:12/14

Exercised between July 2013 — July 2014

The contractor shall propose a method for obtaining financial aid data from postsecondary institutions that students attended from July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2014. In some cases, financial aid data will already be available from July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012 from the NPSAS data collection, but the contractor shall obtain financial aid data from other institutions attended during this time period (July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012) and from all schools attended, including the NPSAS school, from July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2014. Financial aid data collected shall include aid from federal, state, institutional, and private sources that postsecondary institutions are aware of and can provide to the study. The contractor shall also obtain data from available federal sources for years covered by the study. The financial aid data obtained from institutions and federal sources shall be appended to each sample member’s case. Up to 400 derived variables shall also be created and appended to each sample member’s case.

Option 11: Collect financial aid data from institutions attended during BPS:12/17

Exercised between July 2016 — July 2017

The contractor shall propose a method for obtaining financial aid data from postsecondary institutions that students attended from July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2017. Financial aid data collected shall include aid from federal, state, institutional, and private sources that postsecondary institutions are aware of and can provide to the study. The contractor shall also obtain data from available federal sources for years covered by the study. The financial aid data obtained from institutions and federal sources shall be appended to each sample member’s case. Up to 400 derived variables shall also be created and appended to each sample member’s case.

Option 12: Match BPS:04/06/09 students to administrative records in 2011

Exercised between January 2010 — December 2010

The contractor shall propose a method to match BPS:04/06/09 students to administrative records in 2011 to obtain data on financial aid, enrollment, and degrees conferred after BPS:04/09 data collection. Among the administrative databases that the contractor shall consider matching to are the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC), the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), and several large state administrative data systems to see what data are available for BPS:04/06/09 students beyond the end of data collection in BPS:04/09. The contractor shall evaluate the amount and quality of the information available from each of the administrative databases. The contractor shall process, edit, impute, and perturb the data collected and append the data to each sample member’s case in BPS:04/06/09. Up to 200 derived variables shall be created from the data matching. The contractor shall revise the BPS:04/06/09 DAS and ECB to include the new data collected and new derived variables created. A technical report describing the methodological procedures and utility (e.g., percent match, correspondence of information with other data sources, etc.) of the administrative records matching shall be completed, and a descriptive report shall be produced on data obtained from this effort.

There are four (4) tasks necessary to complete the base contract and each longitudinal study contract option, if exercised. Detailed specifications for the deliverables and the specific references to prior studies provide guidance to their execution and deliverables.

A. Task Descriptions

Task 1. Project management

The contractor shall manage the collection of data in an efficient manner that fosters communications with staff, the NCES COR, and potential users of the data.

Subtask 1.1 Initial meeting with NCES

Within one (1) week after the award of the contract, the contractor's project director and other key project staff as identified in the proposal, shall meet with the NCES Contracting Officer's Representative (COR), and other appropriate ED staff in Washington, D.C. to review the overall contract tasks and to discuss issues relating to the proposed project staffing plan and other management requirements. The purpose of this meeting is to refine the management, staffing, and overall scheduling plan contained in the contractor's technical proposal. These refinements will not alter the specifications or the design of the contract, but will provide management information for use by the contractor and ED in monitoring the work to be performed. The content and format of the monthly progress reports will be discussed.

The contractor shall submit a summary of the meeting and a revised detailed project management plan, based on the contractor’s proposed management plan and the understandings reached at the meeting, detailing the organization chart, staffing plan, schedule, budget control procedures, personnel and task coordination procedures, quality control procedures, and procedures for protecting survey data.

Deliverables: Expanded project management plan

Summary of meeting

Subtask 1.2 Schedules

Subtask 1.2A Schedules for the NPSAS:11 or 12 study

Subtask 1.2B Schedules for the BPS:12/14 longitudinal study (Option 6)

Subtask 1.2C Schedules for the BPS:12/17 longitudinal study (Option 7) Due to the uncertainties of large data collection projects, the contractor shall develop and maintain a general schedule for all activities of the project. The schedule(s) for each subtask shall be updated monthly and include a detailed schedule for the upcoming 3-month period.

Recognizing the “dynamic” nature of project activities, the contractor will discuss possible delays and changes in project activities affecting the schedule of deliverables. Changes in the schedule of project activities are approved by the COR and must be subsequently documented in the monthly report.

Deliverables: Schedules

Subtask 1.3 Monthly reports

Subtask 1.3A Monthly reports for the NPSAS:11 or 12 study

Subtask 1.3B Monthly reports for the BPS:12/14 longitudinal study (Option 6)

Subtask 1.3C Monthly reports for the BPS:12/17 longitudinal study (Option 7) The contractor shall report monthly on the progress made in accomplishing the project tasks, the consumption of funds, problems encountered, and the plans for next month, including work performed by small businesses. As part of the monthly report, the contractor shall add the efforts made in complying with the small business subcontracting plan and the dollars as well as specific work that has been subcontracted to small businesses. The contractor shall include a section specifically titled Small Business Subcontracting Plan and indicate the name of the small business, contact information, type of small business, work that was subcontracted including what task the work falls under and the dollar amount subcontracted for that month. The monthly report shall be due on the 20th day of each month. The monthly report, invoice, and supporting documentation shall cover the previous month’s activities, for both the contractor and subcontractor(s). The monthly report shall be accompanied (within three days) by the invoice (SF No. 1034) and documentation of expenses.

Deliverables:

Monthly reports, invoice (SF No. 1034), and documentation of expenses

Subtask 1.4 Integrated monitoring system

The contractor shall develop and maintain a web-based Integrated Monitoring System (IMS) to foster communications with the NCES COR and survey staff, as needed. The contractor shall design the IMS to routinely produce information about the project and provide access to this information to the survey staff and to the NCES COR on an on-going, as-needed basis. The contractor shall provide examples of reports from the proposed integrated monitoring system.

Deliverables for each study (i.e., NPSAS:11 or 12, and BPS:12/14 and BPS:12/17, if exercised):

An IMS system, including minimally the following

Document archive, including monthly reports, schedules, contract deliverables

Data library

TRP member information page

Bibliography

Relational instrumentation interface

Electronic codebook

Production reports

Confidentiality reports

Quality control reports

Subtask 1.5 Technical Review Panels

Subtask 1.5A Technical review panel for the NPSAS:11 or 12 study

Subtask 1.5B Technical review panel for the BPS:12/14 longitudinal study (Option 6)

Subtask 1.5C Technical review panel for the BPS:12/17 longitudinal study (Option 7)

To obtain peer review of project plans and products and to foster communications with potential users of the data, the contractor shall establish Technical Review Panels (TRPs) for the NPSAS and BPS studies. For the purposes of costing out each NPSAS TRP meeting, NCES anticipates that there will be approximately 65 members on the panel (30 non-federal and up to 35 federal members). At least one-half or more of the non-federal members should be from outside the Washington, DC area. For the BPS Longitudinal Studies (Options 6 and 7) assume a panel of approximately 35 members (20 federal and 15 non-federal members). At least one-half or more of the non-federal members should be from outside the Washington, DC area.

The contractor will consult with the COR in selecting TRP members. The contractor shall pay for all associated expenses, including travel and per diem for non-Federal members. Non-Federal members of the panel also could be paid an honorarium (in FY2009, $400 a day) both for meeting attendance and other work, which they perform on the project.

For the NPSAS study up to six (6) 2-day meetings shall be scheduled. If Options 6 and 7 are exercised, for the BPS:12/14, up to six (6) 2-day meetings shall be scheduled. For the BPS:12/17 study, up to six (6) 2-day meetings shall be scheduled. Meetings shall be held in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. The TRPs shall work with the contractor to improve plans, products, and user-friendliness of resulting data products; the TRPs, however, do NOT report to or advise NCES.

The contractor's responsibilities for each TRP shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

· Select the federal and non‑federal members for the TRP to provide consultation and coordination for the study;

· Prepare, for NCES approval, letters of invitation to join the TRP;

· Establish a schedule, for NCES COR approval, to inform the TRP of the progress of the project;

· Prepare and disseminate all materials required for TRP consideration and review (i.e., pre-meeting information packets and meeting materials), and secure the Panel's advice; and

· Prepare meeting minutes; post them to the IMS within 20 working days of the meeting.

Up to three of the NPSAS TRPs shall be scheduled the first year of the contract award. The purpose of these TRPs is to discuss the issues and procedures for sampling postsecondary institutions and students for NPSAS:11 or 12.

Based on discussions at these meetings, the contractor shall propose a sample design of institutions and another sample design of individual students within institutions. These designs shall yield results to determine strategies for sampling to achieve three goals:

1) Provide reliable estimates on student-level characteristics, including but not limited to: type of student (undergraduate, graduate, first-professional), age, gender, race/ethnicity, dependency status, type of postsecondary institution attended, attendance intensity, and program of enrollment;

2) Provide efficient sample to adequately represent students in the NPSAS study, and BPS cohort if NPSAS:12 is awarded rather than…