This report describes the methods and procedures used for the 1996 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:96). NPSAS:96 included important changes from previous NPSAS surveys (conducted in 1987, 1990, and 1993) in its sample design and collection of data. For example, the current study is the first to employ a single-stage institutional sampling design and to select a subsample of students for telephone interviews. It is also the first in the NPSAS series to take full advantage of extant data maintained in government data files. Even so, sufficient comparability in survey design and instrumentation was maintained to ensure that important comparisons with past NPSAS studies could be made.
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