Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS) Survey Data Cohort 2, United States, 2001-2006 (ICPSR 34437)

Time Period(s) View help for Time Period(s)

Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection

Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes

Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose

The purpose of the Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS) Tracking and Longitudinal study is to gather data on the lives of scholars and selected non-recipients in order to analyze the effects on the educational, civic, and personal lives of selected sample members. The Gates Foundation sought to generate research that will help improve education attainment and achievement of minority students.

Study Design View help for Study Design

This study was conducted using cross-sectional survey files and a longitudinal survey design. For this study, a cohort is defined as all Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS) scholars and a representative sample of non-recipients. Non-recipients are defined as individuals who were asked to go on to the Scholar confirmation/verification phase, but did not become a scholar for one or more reasons. Each cohort will be asked to fill out a baseline survey and five follow-up surveys.

The baseline survey occurs after the first year out of high school when they have made the transition to college or the workforce. The first follow-up will correspond to their third year out of high school, which for many will be during their junior year in college. The second follow-up will occur at the end of the applicants' fifth year out of high school, which may mark the transition to graduate or professional school, or into the workforce.

Sample View help for Sample

Cross-sectional data collection contains the responses of approximately 1,000 scholarship recipients in the first year of Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS) and additional sampling of approximately 1,000 non-recipients. To be eligible, students had to meet several qualifications. They must

• (1) be of African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian American, Hispanic/Latino, or Pacific Islander background;
• (2) be full-time students entering college or university;
• (3) have a GPA of at least 3.3 on a 4.0 scale;
• (4) be eligible for Pell Grants;
• (5) be leaders in community service, extracurricular, or other activities.

A stratified sample design was used for non-recipients in order to enable powerful comparisons at the level of racial/ethnic group between freshman and continuing undergraduate students. All Pell-Grant-in-place non-recipients were included in the samples for each racial/ethnic group. The remainder of cases was drawn from the pool of non-recipients without Pell Grants in place. The goal was to obtain 300 complete interviews from each racial/ethnic group except American Indians. Due to their small number, all non-recipients were included in the samples of both populations. The designs are likely to produce a design effect for non-recipients because the samples are not proportional to their representation in the population as a whole. This effect is likely to be offset by the stratification. By weighting the responses with respect to their relative response rates, the population estimates accurately reflect the proportion of the groups in the population.

Time Method View help for Time Method

Universe View help for Universe

Population of American high school students graduating in the year of 2001 who meet the criteria established by the Gates Foundation as stated in sampling.

Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation

Data Source View help for Data Source

Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection

Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables

The survey included questions that address the topics of

• (a) social, cultural, linguistic, economic background;
• (b) race/ethnicity and gender patterns;
• (c) high school preparation and experiences;
• (d) the role of financial aid;
• (e) college choice;
• (f) major choice;
• (g) engagement and leadership in college;
• (h) academic achievement, persistence, and completions;
• (i) graduate education plans;
• (j) career choice and transition to the workplace; and
• (k) democratic values and leadership after college.

Response Rates View help for Response Rates

Approximately 83 percent of the Cohort II Scholars and 59 percent of the sample of non-recipients completed the baseline survey. Close to 74 percent of the Cohort II Scholars and 56 percent of the sample of non-recipients completed the first follow-up survey. Additional response rate information is available in the study documentation.

Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales

Several Likert Scales

Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date

2013-05-06

Version History View help for Version History

Weight View help for Weight

In this study, the entire population of scholars and the entire population of non-recipients were asked to participate in the survey, so weights were only needed to compensate for sub-population differences in non-response to the survey. The response rates for non-recipients are weighted to account for differences in the selection probabilities of the sample members. No such adjustment was necessary for the scholars since all scholars were selected for the survey with certainty. For the cross-sectional datasets (baseline, first follow-up, second follow-up), the weight variables are named BL_R1_WGT, FU1_R2_WGT, and FU2_R3_WGT respectively.