Technical Notes

National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS96)

The detailed student level information provided in this handbook is based on the most recent National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS96), released in 1998. The 1995-96 NPSAS survey provides information on the cost of postsecondary education, the distribution of financial aid, and the characteristics of both aided and non-aided students and their families. The study provides a nationally representative sample of all students enrolled in postsecondary education institutions. This handbook uses information from undergraduate students only.

College Board

The College Board's Annual Survey of Colleges for the academic year of 1995-96 was used to determine the average college tuition in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Together with state aid figures, the average tuition at public 4-year institutions was used to group states for the presentation of detailed financial aid information by family income level. The College Board's most recent Annual Survey for the 1999-00 academic year was used to update the text, but the state groupings are based on 1995-96 data in order to correspond with the NPSAS96 information.

National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs

In addition to differences in college tuition, states differ in the size of their state scholarship programs. Data from the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs (NASSGAP) 27^th Annual Report (covering the academic year of 1995-96) were used to determine the amount of state grant funding available to undergraduate students attending public colleges and universities in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The tables that show aid amounts by family income organize public college students based on their state of residence. State groups were determined by net tuition. State net tuition groups reflect both average in-state tuition charges and the size of state grant programs. NASSGAP data were used to determine the total amount of state grants going to undergraduate students attending a public college in a given state. This was divided by the full-time-equivalent enrollment at public institutions of higher education in each state. This "average state grant" was subtracted from the average state tuition estimated with College Board data. The resulting "net tuition" figure was used in grouping the states.

Analysis Conventions

Unless otherwise noted, the tables in this handbook:

• present information only for dependent, undergraduate students attending a single institution full time for the entire academic year;

• include information for all full-time, full-year undergraduate students attending a specified type of school. In other words, freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors are all combined ²²;

• do not adjust dollar amounts (family income, financial aid, and tuition) for inflation;

• group states when analyzing public 4-year colleges based on College Board Data from 1995-96 ²³ ;and

• do not present information for figures based on the experiences of less than 30 people in the sample. In such cases "insufficient information" is indicated.