About B&B

The Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B) examines students’ education and work experiences after they complete a bachelor’s degree, with a special emphasis on the experiences of new elementary and secondary teachers. Following several cohorts of students over time, B&B looks at bachelor’s degree recipients’ workforce participation, income and debt repayment, and entry into and persistence through graduate school programs, among other indicators. It addresses several issues specifically related to teaching, including teacher preparation, entry into and persistence in the profession, and teacher career paths. B&B also gathers extensive information on bachelor’s degree recipients’ undergraduate experience, demographic backgrounds, expectations regarding graduate study and work, and participation in community service.

Survey Design and Methodology

B&B draws its initial cohorts from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), which uses a nationally representative sample of postsecondary students and institutions to examine how students pay for postsecondary education. Initial B&B cohorts are a representative sample of graduating seniors in all majors. The first B&B cohort (about 11,000 students) was drawn from the 1993 NPSAS and followed-up by survey in 1994, 1997, and 2003. The second B&B cohort (about 10,000 students) was chosen from the 2000 NPSAS and followed-up in 2001. Data collection is currently underway for the third cohort, drawing from the 2008 NPSAS sample. This group of approximately 19,000 sample members will be followed-up in 2009 and 2012.