Appendix_2-_NPSAS-16_WebVTS_Data_Upload_Specifications.docx

WebVTS DATA UPLOAD SPECIFICATIONS

2015-16 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS 2016) & Postsecondary Longitudinal Studies

(ED-IES-13-R-0011)

The WebVTS system manages the data files and meta-data for select NCES studies. The WebVTS system creates input files for the datalab website tools (http://nces.ed.gov/datalab), creates public-use and restricted-use codebooks, and restricted use data files.

Once data collection is complete in an NCES study, four files are required to populate the WebVTS data system. They include:

1. An excel spreadsheet in .xlsx format that lists subject identification numbers (subjectID) and subject names (subject) as shown in the example below. These populate the fields in Figure 1.

2. An excel spreadsheet in .xlsx format with the variable name (varName), variable title (varTitle), subject identification number (subjectID), and subject as shown in the example below. These will populate the header fields in figure 2 and figure 3.

3. A comma delimited data file with variable names on the top line followed by a set of rows that represent a case’s variable values. Each case should have a study-generated identification number.

4. An XML data file that uses a series of tags to import data into WebVTS (see figure 4). These tags include:

· Variable Name

· Description

· Notes

· Question wording

· Code

· Applies to

· Source

Sample code is displayed below:

Variable name: ACG1 Description: Indicates whether the respondent would have met high school curriculum requirements for the federal Academic Competitiveness Grants (ACG).

Notes: ACG eligibility requires first and second year college students to have taken a rigorous high school curriculum. The minimum requirements to meet ACG curriculum eligibility are: 4 years of English, 3 years of Social Sciences, 3 years of Mathematics, 3 years of laboratory sciences, and 1 year of a foreign language. This variable is based on student-reported information in the interview and in college admissions tests. This variable only indicates ACG curricular eligibility without considering other eligibility criteria, which were: Pell grant recipient, U.S. citizenship, recent high school graduate, full-time enrollment in an associate's or bachelor's degree program, and a 3.0 college GPA for renewal in the second year. <br /> Derived from: AGE HCYSENGL HCYSMATH HCYSSCIE HCYSSOCI HCYSLANG. <br />Skipped if: AGE GE 24.

Code: <br />SAS code <br />IF AGE>=24 THEN ACG1=-3; ELSE IF HCYSENGL=4 AND HCYSMATH>=3 AND CYSSCIE>=3 AND HCYSSOCI>=3 AND HCYSLANG>=1 THEN ACG1=1; ELSE ACG1=0; <br />Some of the variables listed are source variables and may not be available in PowerStats. To find a variable, type the Name (example, ADMCON4) in the Find Variables field in PowerStats.

Applies to: Respondents who are under age 24.

Source: NPSAS:08 (UG) student interview, ACT, College Board

Variable name: ACGAMT Description: Amount of federal Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG) received during the 2007-2008 academic year.

Notes: ACG eligibility requirements include: receipt of a Pell grant, full-time enrollment in an associate's or bachelor's degree program as a first- or second year student, U.S. citizenship, and completion of a rigorous high school curriculum. First year students may be eligible for up to $750 and second-year students up to $1,300. Renewal for the second year requires maintaining a 3.0 GPA in the first year.ACGAMT is a component of the following composite variables: <br /><br />[TITIVAMT] Total federal Title IV aid, [TFEDAID] Total federal aid (excludes veterans benefits), [TFEDGRT] Total federal grants, and [TOTGRT] Total grants.

Code:

Applies to: All undergraduate respondents.

Source: NSLDS Pell file, NPSAS:08 Institutional Records Figure 1: PowerStats subject fields

These are the subjects for NPSAS:08 UG in PowerStats. Variables are organized under subjects. For documentation purposes, we need an excel spreadsheet that lists the variable name, subject, and subject id. Variables can have more than one subject and should be listed on separate lines in the Excel spreadsheet.

Figure 2: PowerStats memo fields

Variable description This is the variable description and it is a required field for every variable. It is a short one or two sentence explaining what the variable represents.

Variable notes (programming_notes) Notes provide supporting information about a variable should go here like the example above.

Figure 3: PowerStats memo fields

Code The Code field is not required for every variable. The code is for derived variables and provides users with information on the variable was made. If the SAS code is very simple, it is usually pasted verbatim. If the SAS code is very complex, psuedo code is inserted to explain how the variable was derived.

Applies to It indicates to which respondents the variable applies and documents skip patterns.

Source The source indicates from which component of NPSAS (or other study) the variable originates.

APPENDIX 2

Figure 4: XML File Examples image1.png image2.png image3.png image4.png