1 PNAIRP September 2009 Holes in Student Clearinghouse Data Paul Stern Senior Research Manager Washington State University Social & Economic Sciences Research Center Social and Economic Sciences Research Center

2 SESRC: Background  SESRC is an independent research organization within Washington State University  We are the directors of the State’s High School Graduate Follow up Study and the College Enrollment Study  SESRC routinely matches data against the National Student Clearinghouse and with local sources to measure recent graduates’ post-secondary enrollments

3 Core Question: What do we know about the overall coverage of the data we get back from the National Student Clearinghouse?

4 Data  Study Population: The HS Class of 2006  Enrollments reflect the period from July 2006-June 2007  Matches were conducted by NSC and SBCTC on the same source data set

Differences by College Type

6 Some Causes for Mis-Match  Students in one system and not the other  Different matching protocols  FERPA blocks inconsistently applied

7 Types of Issues Matching Protocols Must Address (why this work isn’t easy)  Sandra Day O’Connor  Sandra Day O’Conner  Sandy O’Connor  Sandy O. Connor  S. Day Oconner  Cassandra D. O Conner

8 Types of Issues Matching Protocols Must Address (why this work isn’t easy)  Cathy Smith DOB: 1/1/1990  Kate Smith DOB: 1/1/1990  Kathy Smith DOB: 11/1/1991  Kathryn Smith-Jones DOB: 1/2/1990  Carrie Smith DOB: 1/1/1990

9 Types of Issues Matching Protocols Must Address (why this work isn’t easy)  Name changes  Initials as a first name  Typographical errors (esp. on DOB)  Nicknames (displacing the first name)  Spaces, Apostrophes, Hyphens  Junior, II, etc.

10 Cultural (and other) Challenges in Matching  Students with multiple first and last names  Students with both Asian and western names  Students where the last name is written first  Cultures where birthdates are meaningless (resulting in a lot of 1/1/YYYY birthdates  Twins with similar names and identical DOB

13 Conclusions  NSC missed 14% of enrollments and SBCTC missed 2-3%. If we assume SBCTC’s is a “natural” error rate, then there is either coverage error or match error that accounts for the additional 10+%.  The non-match rate was higher for students who did not graduate from high school, those with low high school GPAs, with disabilities, and people who have limited proficiency in English

14 Thanks to Colleagues from the Following Colleges for Their Help  Columbia Basin College  Lower Columbia College  Clark College  Tacoma Community College  Everett Community College  Skagit Valley College  Washington State University  SBCTC

15 Summary of College Reports Common Reasons for Not Matching  Enrolled in GED and ESL programs  Penitentiary residents  Had not earned college credits  Name changes, spelling variations, nicknames, etc.  Most should have matched to NSC  A much smaller percent should have matched with local sources

16 Contact Information WSU-SESRC (360) To view WSU-SESRC research reports on education topics please see our website at: