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This project’s key research question is ‘How does schooling, and specifically individuals’ experiences in postsecondary education, influence health trajectories and early adult labor force and family formation?’ By collecting and coding postsecondary transcript data for respondents from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, this study will provide a rich new data source for the study of how educational disparities are produced. This study will improve our understanding of the complex interplay of family, education, work and health across the life course. This study provides policy makers with invaluable information about how to better harness the powerful effects of education, which ultimately shapes health disparities throughout the life course.
Data from ETA supplements interview data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 by collecting transcripts from all postsecondary institutions attended by respondents, as well as GED exam information, and administrative data on college enrollment and degree attainment. The NLSY97 is the premier nationally representative longitudinal data set for studying the transition from school to work. The sample comprises 8,984 youth, born 1980 to 1984, including black and Hispanic oversamples. The NLSY97 data files have previously been supplemented by collection of high school transcripts for these same individuals.
This project brings together researchers from University of Texas-Austin, University of Minnesota, and NORC at the University of Chicago, and with expertise in the transition to adulthood, the NLSY97, and the intersection of education, labor economics, human relationships, and health disparities. As part of a subcontract from the University of Texas-Austin, NORC is leading the collection and coding of approximately 8,000 postsecondary transcripts from the approximately 5,000 NLSY97 respondents who have attended a post-secondary institution to date. NORC is also preparing a public use date file that will provide invaluable detailed chronological information about students’ enrollment patterns across post-secondary institutions, the courses they took (including the content of the courses) and their performance in those courses.