Price of Attendance After Grants, Using StateLevel Data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid

1
Price of Attendance After Grants, Using
State-Level Data from the National Postsecondary
Student Aid Study

• Tricia Grimes
• Minnesota Office of Higher Education
• June 2005

2
Policy Question

• What is price of attendance net of all grants for
  Minnesota students in different income groups?
• Grants include those from federal, state,
  institution and private sources.
• How does net price in Minnesota compare to other
  states?

3
Source of Data

• National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS)
  for 2003-2004
• Minnesota was one of 12 states with a large
  enough sample to provide state-representative
  data.
• Data was retrieved using the NCES online Data
  Analysis System (DAS) at http//www.nces.ed.gov/d
  asol

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The 12 Oversampled States in NPSAS 2004
5
Minnesota
Low N
6
California
7
Connecticut
Low N
8
Delaware
Low N
Low N
9
Georgia
10
Illinois
11
Indiana
12
Nebraska
13
New York
14
Oregon
15
Tennessee
16
Texas
17
Observations

• This is more information than we have had in the
  past.
• Is the data still useful with margins of error
  like those I mentioned?
• The margin of error depends on the luck of the
  draw if more respondents fell into one
  category, that category has a smaller margin of
  error.

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Other State Questions Answered with NPSAS Data

• What is the income distribution of post-secondary
  students in our state, including those that do
  not apply for aid?
• NPSAS04 variables are DEPINC and INDEPINC.
• How many first generation students do we have in
  Minnesota?
• 26 of Minnesota undergrads have parents with no
  post-secondary education, compared to 34
  nationally.
• NPSAS04 variable was PAREDUC.

19
Other State Questions-continued

• How many students apply for aid, and how many
  receive aid?
• 87 of Minnesota undergraduates apply for some
  form of aid
• NPSAS variable AIDAPP
• 72 receive some form of aid
• NPSAS variable TOTPAID

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Other State Questions-Continued

• How many Minnesota students borrow and how much
  do they borrow?
• Average amount borrowed appeared to be several
  thousand dollars higher than national averages.
• When I used medians, borrowing by Minnesota
  undergrads was very similar to national medians.

21
Lumina Foundation for Education Grant

• The Minnesota Office of Higher Education is the
  recipient of a grant from the Lumina Foundation
  for Education
• The purpose of the grant is to help the 12 states
  make effective use of the state-representative
  NPSAS data.

22
Services to the 12 States through the Lumina Grant

• About 5 two-day training sessions for 8-10 people
  from the states in each session -at MPR
  Associates in Berkeley.
• July, August, September
• Research Assistance-Minnesota will hire a
  graduate assistant who will retrieve data for
  people in the 12 states who request it.
• Presentations and Publications

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Retrieving NPSAS Data

• Go to the website http//www.nces.ed.gov/dasol
• The page http//www.nces.ed.gov/dasol/help/tables.
  asp has lots of useful how-to information

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Further Information

• The handout has a sample table parameter file
  that was used to produce the information in the
  charts.
• The file lists the variable names.
• Tricia will be sending out information on the
  training dates and the research assistance
  available.
• Tricia Grimes
• Minnesota Office of Higher Education
• 651-642-0589
• grimes_at_heso.state.mn.us