ADMINISTRATIVE DATA OVERVIEW

The THEOP administrative data consists of applicant and enrollee term records obtained from nine Texas universities--seven public and two private institutions. For the public institutions, freshman applicant data spans several years prior to the implementation of the Texas Top 10% law in 1998, and extends until at least 2002.  Applicant data for the two private institutions is available only for the period after implementation of the automatic admission law.  

 Student record term files are available for applicants who were accepted and subsequently enrolled. These files register academic progress toward degree based on credit hours completed, as well as term and cumulative grade point averages (GPA).  For most institutions, student record data was obtained through at least 2004.

 The file sizes and years available for each institution are summarized below.

* Applicant data for enrollees only: 1992-1994

** Limited variables provided

^# Applicant data for enrollees only: 1990-1997

For ease of analysis across institutions, THEOP administrative data has converted into a standard, machine-readable format, with consistent variable names and value labels across institutions. Additionally, several variables have been constructed for both the applicant and student record data sets. 

All nine baseline files provide data on personal applicants’ background, year of application, term for which admission is desired, sex, ethnicity, Texas residency, admission status, enrollment status, high school senior class size, high school class rank, SAT score, ACT score, and desired major. Some institutions also provided data on applicants’ US citizenship status, birthplace, disability status, high school GPA, number of AP tests taken and passed, SAT verbal and math scores, TOEFL score, years of specific high school subjects completed (e.g. math, English, science and social studies), participation in high school extracurricular activities (band, drama, government, sports, honor society, yearbook), and legacy status. Several additional high school characteristics were appended to the individual applicant records, including private high school status, Texas high school, feeder high school and Longhorn or Century Scholarship high school.

Enrolled student term records provide data on year and term of application, hours earned, semester and cumulative GPA, major(s), college graduation date and, for some institutions, if a student was ever placed on academic probation. Total number of hours earned and total number of terms completed were constructed from the term files.