2015-16 National Postsecondary Student Aid Survey

The 2015-16 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:16) is a cross-sectional survey providing student-level records on financial aid and demographics. It represents undergraduate, graduate, and first-professional students enrolled in Title IV-eligible institutions across the 50 United States, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The study compiles data from institutional records, government databases, and student interviews.

Use Cases

• Analyze federal, state, institutional, and private financial aid distribution across student demographic characteristics.
• Model relationships between student enrollment data and financial aid receipt to identify access patterns.
• Generate national estimates for cost of higher education metrics using representative student-level records.
• Examine financial aid trends for graduate education and first-professional student cohorts.

Strengths

• Nationally representative sample covering the 50 United States, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
• Data compiled from multiple authoritative sources including institutional records and government databases.
• Part of a long-running program with data available since 1989, enabling longitudinal context.
• Designed to produce reliable national estimates for characteristics related to financial aid.

Limitations

• Data is from the 2015-16 academic year and may not reflect current financial aid landscapes or policies.
• Sample is limited to students enrolled in Title IV-eligible institutions, excluding those at non-participating schools.
• Specific row count, column count, and data size are unknown from the provided input.

Provenance

Source

Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

Collection Method

Cross-sectional survey using institutional records, government databases, and student interviews.

Time Range

2015-16 academic year.

Freshness

Data reflects the 2015-16 academic year; metadata was last updated in August 2023.

Geography

United States (50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico).