The BPS studies follow students who first begin their postsecondary education. Initially, students in the NPSAS surveys are identified as being first time beginners of undergraduate studies. These students are asked questions about their experiences during, and transitions through postsecondary education and into the labor force, as well as family formation. Transfers, persisters, stopouts/dropouts, and vocational completers are among those included in the studies. In the first BPS study, about 10,600 students were identified in NPSAS:90 as being first time beginning postsecondary students during the academic year 1989-90. These students were followed in 1992 (BPS:90/92) and in 1994 (BPS:90/94). A second cohort of first time, beginning students was identified in NPSAS:96, with follow-ups performed in 1998 (BPS:96/98) and in 2001 (BPS:96/2001). The third cohort was identified in NPSAS:04, and was followed-up in 2006 and 2009. A new cohort was identified in NPSAS:12, was followed-up in 2014, and will be followed again in 2017 as part of the BPS:12/17 study. Postsecondary transcript collections were part of the data collection.