Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study, 2004

The 2004 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:04) is a study that is part of the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS) program; program data are available since 1990 at https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/getpubcats.asp?sid=014. BPS:04 (https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/bps/) is a longitudinal survey that follows a cohort of students who enrolled in postsecondary education for the first time during the 2003–04 academic year, irrespective of date of high school completion. The study was conducted using computer-assisted telephone interviews, computer-assisted personal interviews, and self-administered web interviews of students. The entire cohort of students beginning postsecondary education which includes nontraditional students who do not enter postsecondary education immediately after high school were sampled. Response rate was 82 percent among the eligible sample and 90 percent among those sample members who were successfully located. (BPS: 04/09 methodology report). Key statistics produced from BPS:04 are data on student persistence in, and completion of, postsecondary education programs; their transition to employment; demographic characteristics; and changes over time in their goals, marital status, income, and debt, among other measures.