BPS longitudinal study: first-gen outcomes

The NCES Beginning Postsecondary Students study tracks students over time after they begin postsecondary education. It is useful for first-generation research because it follows access, persistence, transfer, stop-out and completion patterns rather than reporting only one institution-level snapshot.

What BPS adds to Scorecard

College Scorecard serves institution-level fields. BPS serves longitudinal student-pathway questions. A first-generation student may start at a community college, transfer, pause enrollment, return later or change institutions. BPS helps describe those pathways nationally.

That distinction matters because institution-level data and national pathway research answer different questions. College Scorecard can show cost, debt, repayment, completion and earnings fields for a specific institution. BPS can help explain why first-generation students may move through higher education in less linear ways.

How to use the data

BPS data belongs in pages about persistence, completion, transfer, affordability and student support. It should not be used as if it were a University of Phoenix outcome measure. Its role is national context: it helps explain why first-generation pathways need more than traditional first-time full-time metrics.

Institution-specific analysis should still use College Scorecard, NCES College Navigator, IPEDS and approved institutional data. For University of Phoenix, the relevant federal starting point is the College Scorecard profile for University of Phoenix-Arizona, College Scorecard ID 484613.

Why BPS matters for first-generation research

BPS is especially useful because it explains why first-generation pathways differ from traditional college narratives. The study follows students across time, which helps connect starting institution, transfer, persistence, stop-out and completion.

It also helps explain why support services and transfer planning matter. A first-generation student’s outcome may depend on whether credits move between institutions, whether enrollment remains affordable and whether the student can maintain academic momentum through work and family obligations.

Source hierarchy

BPS does not compete with College Scorecard. It gives national pathway context. College Scorecard gives institution-level fields. NCES College Navigator and IPEDS provide institutional reporting and completion definitions.

The strongest first-generation research uses these sources together: national pathway data for context, federal institution-level data for a specific school, and approved institutional data only when it directly supports the claim being made.

Sources

NCES Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study: https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/bps/

NCES, First-Generation Students: College Access, Persistence, and Postbachelor’s Outcomes, NCES 2018-421: https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018421.pdf

NCES, First-Generation and Continuing-Generation College Students, NCES 2018-009: https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018009.pdf

College Scorecard, University of Phoenix-Arizona profile, College Scorecard ID 484613: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?484613-University-of-Phoenix-Arizona=