Description: The Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002) is designed to monitor the transition of a national sample of young people as they progress from tenth grade through high school and on to postsecondary education and/or the workforce. ELS: 2002 has two distinctive features. First, it is a longitudinal study, which means that the same individuals are surveyed repeatedly over time. Second, it is a multilevel study, which means that information is collected from multiple respondent populations that represent students, their parents, their teachers, their librarians, and their schools.

Population: Nationally representative cohort of high school students, starting from when they were sophomores (2002), collecting data continuously as they move into postsecondary education and/or the labor market.

Periodicity: Data first collected in 2002, first follow-up in 2004, second follow-up in 2006, third follow-up in 2012.

(Information adapted from the publisher)

For more information, please see the Compendium of Family-Self Sufficiency Databases.