High School Longitudinal Study, 2009-2013 [United States]

The High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) is nationally representative, longitudinal study of 9th graders who were followed through their secondary and postsecondary years, with an emphasis on understanding students' trajectories from the beginning of high school into postsecondary education, the workforce, and beyond. What students decide to pursue when, why, and how are crucial questions for HSLS:09.
The HSLS:09 focuses on answering the following questions:

How do parents, teachers, counselors, and students construct choice sets for students, and how are these related to students' characteristics, attitudes, and behavior?
How do students select among secondary school courses, postsecondary institutions, and possible careers?
How do parents and students plan financing for postsecondary experiences? What sources inform these plans?
What factors influence students' decisions about taking STEM courses and following through with STEM college majors? Why are some students underrepresented in STEM courses and college majors?
How students' plans vary over the course of high school and how decisions in 9th grade impact students' high school trajectories. When students are followed up in the spring of 11th grade and later, their planning and decision-making in 9th grade may be linked to subsequent behavior.
This data collection also provides data for some arts-related topics, including the following: student participation in outside of schools arts activities; credit hours of arts classes taken; GPA from arts classes; and parent-led arts experiences.
For the public-use file, a total of 23,503 students responded from over 900 high schools both public and private.