Postsecondary Status (PSTS)
(Updated as of 05/09/2024)
For authorized users, the Postsecondary Status history displays when a user clicks the container on the Student Details. The system will display a button next to each record to open the record.
Account Roles Needed
Users need the following roles to access and view this section of the Student Details page.
- Student Search
- PSTS Edit (To submit PSTS file coming from SIS containing PSTS for CPA and CTE Students)
- PSTS View (To view PSTS records in student detail for CPA and CTE Students )
- PSTS for SPED Students Edit (To submit PSTS file coming from SEDS through API containing PSTS for Special Education students)
- PSTS for SPED Students View (To view PSTS records in student detail for Special Education students)
Users may have the ability to edit PSTS records that are owned by the LEA, if the authorized role is assigned by the LEA Administrator. An authorized user may perform the following functions through this interface:
- Add, Edit, Delete one or all of a a student's Postsecondary Status records belonging to the LEA
- View one or all of a student’s Postsecondary Status records belonging to the user or another LEA (depending on the user permissions)
Postsecondary Status (PSTS) Container
The Postsecondary Status (PSTS) page displays when the user clicks the container header. The system will display a button next to each record to open the record in read-only. The UI is depicted below followed by its screen elements table. This is followed by user interaction section and the system operations section with the additional expected system functions, requirements and possible processes. The system will display all Postsecondary Status records by default in reverse chronological order.
Clicking on the Postsecondary Status header expands the container and reveals existing records.
Container column headers enable users to sort or filter existing records based on parameters set.
Open button enable users to view details of the record. The record details cannot be modified regardless if the LEA owns the record and the user has Edit roles.
Since the container only shows limited records at a time, the page buttons allow users to move to the next set of records.
Postsecondary Status (PSTS) Modal
The Postsecondary Status details modal is depicted below followed by a screen elements table. If the user clicks to open an existing record, the modal page appears with the values from the student’s selected record.
PSTS Details Table
Field |
Field Names |
Required |
Validation/Business Rule |
1 |
SSID |
Y |
1) If Education Program Participation Type Code = 10 (California Partnership Academy) or 20 (Career Technical Education) 2) If Education Program Participation Type Code = 30 (Special Education) Then the Reporting LEA and SSID must match the equivalent field in a SPED record in the prior year where Education Plan Type = 100,150, or 200. |
2 |
Academic Year ID |
Y |
1) Must be a valid academic school year combination and no more than one year in the future 2) Indicates the school year associated with year in which the data are being reported. For example, the Academic Year ID would be 2023-2024 even though you are reporting postsecondary information for students who exited secondary education in the 2022-2023 school year. |
3 |
Reporting LEA |
Y |
The 7-digit County District (CD) code must be submitted if the entity is a district or county office. 1) If Education Program Participation Type Code = 10 (California Partnership Academy) or 20 (Career Technical Education) 2) If Education Program Participation Type Code = 30 (Special Education) |
4 |
Reporting SELPA |
Required If Education Program Participation Type Code = 30 (SPED) |
If Education Program Participation Type Code = 10 or 20, then the value must be blank. |
5 |
School of Attendance |
Y |
A unique identifier for the school that delivers a majority of educational instruction and services and is where the student attends If School of Attendance NPS is populated, then School of Attendance must equal 0000001 |
6 |
School of Attendance NPS |
Required If School of Attendance = 0000001 |
The 7-digit School (S) code must be submitted. If a special education student is enrolled at a non-public non-sectarian school that is not certified by the California Department of Education, use "9999999" in this field. This code is generic for "non-certified, non-sectarian non-public school." |
7 |
Local Record ID |
N |
A local use field to provide the system record identifier for a submitted record in any California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) file format |
8 |
Local Special Education Student ID |
Required If Education Program Participation Type Code = 30 |
If Education Program Participation Type Code = 10 or 20, then the field must be blank. |
9 |
Education Program Participation Type |
Y |
1) If Education Program Participation Type Code = 10 (California Partnership Academy), then Student School Completion Status and Education Program Membership End Date in ODS must not be null. |
10 |
Postsecondary Status Code |
Y |
If Postsecondary Status Code is not equal to 950 or 960, then another Postsecondary Status record for the same SSID and Education Program Participation Code cannot equal 950 or 960. |
11 |
Educational Institution Type |
Required If Postsecondary Status Code is 200, 210, 220, 300, 310, 320, 330, 340, 350, 360, or 370 |
The type of educational or training institution based on the institution’s tax status: Public, Private Nonprofit, For Profit. Originially taken from the SNAP survey. (Exclusive to Fall 2) |
12 |
Industry Field |
Required If Postsecondary Status Code is 200, 210, 220, 300, 310, 320, 330, 340, 350, 360, 370, 910, 920, or 930 |
The industry sector that best represents the field in which the respondent is employed, or the field in which the respondent will potentially be employed upon completion of the educational or training program where they are currently enrolled. Originially taken from the SNAP survey (Exclusive to Fall 2) |
13 |
Post-High School Credential |
N |
A post-high school credential includes, an industry-recognized certification provided by a third-party entity, a degree or certificate issued by a postsecondary institution, a license issued by the State of California, or other measure of technical skill attainment that the respondent has received. Originially taken from the SNAP survey (Exclusive to Fall 2) |
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A |
Action Buttons |
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Submission Details
The PSTS file format is used to submit employment and educational status after completing secondary education in the prior academic year. This information will be collected for students who are:
- Career technical education (CTE) completers and students participating in the California Partnership Academy Program six months after exiting secondary education; and
- Students with disabilities 12 months after exiting secondary education.
Because the postsecondary statuses of the student groups are required to be collected at different times, only specific student groups will be reported in specific CALPADS submissions.
The Postsecondary (PSTS) file contains the following information:
- Education Program Participation Type
- This identifies which type of education program the postsecondary information is submitted for (e.g., special education or CTE)
- If a student is both a student with disabilities and a CTE completer, the information must be solicited from this student six months after exiting for the CTE program, and 12 months after exiting for the special education program. Additionally, these two records would be submitted in different submission windows.
- Postsecondary Status
- CTE Related Program or Employment related information (only required for CTE and CPA students)
- One record for each postsecondary status provided. The postsecondary statuses for each student (SSID) are grouped by:
- Reporting LEA (District of Service)
- School of Attendance
A student can be reported with multiple PSTS records that reflect the status based on the survey.
PSTS Submission Period
This record type is required to be submitted and certified during the following submission windows:
- Fall 2 - For CTE Pathway completers
- End of Year 4 – For SPED Postsecondary completers
Who should LEAs survey for PSTS for Fall 2?
LEAs should survey CTE pathway completers, as currently defined, who exited secondary education in the 2022-2023 academic year (regardless of cohort) and were not expected to return
This should include any student who was a CTE pathway completer at any time during high school in grades 9-12
How can I identify the students to survey?
OPTION 1: Student Information Systems (SIS) may have functionality to identify these students, OR
OPTION 2: LEAs can use CALPADS to assist in identifying these students:
-
Step 1: Find students who exited secondary education in 2022-2023
- Use ODS report 8.1a Student Profile – Exits
-
Apply the following filters:
- Enrollment Status: 10, 30
- Grade: 11, 12
- From Date: 8/16/2022
- Through Date: 8/15/2023
- School Exit = E230
- School Completion Status = 100, 120, 250, 320, 330, or 360
-
Make sure to run the Completion Status and Exit Reason filters in two different steps to make sure all students are identified
-
Step 2: Find students who were identified as CTE Completers in any grades 9-12.
-
Run Snapshot Report 3.20 - Career Technical Education Completers - Student List and filter as follows:
-
Academic Year: 2022-23, 2021-22, 2020-21
- Grade: 12;11;10
-
Perkins/CTEIG Fundable: Y,N (all)
-
Make sure to run the report 3 times and change the Academic Year and Grade filters using these pairings:
- AY 2022-23 & Grade 12; AY 2021-22 & Grade 11; AY 2020-21 & Grade 10
-
Students Reported for PSTS for Fall 2
- Fall 2: Submit only Postsecondary Status (PSTS) records for students who exited secondary education in the prior academic year that were identified as:
- Career Technical Education pathway completers and any point during their 4 year stay; and
- Students who participated in the CA Partnership Academic Program, if available
PSTS Operational Key
The following fields identify the operational key (set of fields that identify the record or records depending on the type of processing associated with the record type) on the Postsecondary Status (PSTS) record:
- Education Program Participation Type
- Reporting LEA
- Academic Year
Primary Key
The following fields identify the primary key (fields that make a record unique) on the Postsecondary Status (PSTS) record for the different sets of student groups survey is collected from:
PSTS Record Students with Disabilities |
PSTS Record for CTE and CPA students |
Reporting LEA |
Reporting LEA |
Reporting SELPA |
SSID |
SSID |
Education Program Participation Type Code |
Education Program Participation Type Code |
Postsecondary Status Code |
Postsecondary Status Code |
|
PSTS Code Mapping to Perkins V
The CDE will map the existing CALPADS Postsecondary Status Codes into the federal reporting categories for Perkins V as follows:
CALPADS Code |
CALPADS Code Name |
Federal Reporting Category for Perkins V |
200 |
Enrolled in a Four-year college/university |
Postsecondary – Baccalaureate Degree |
210 |
Enrolled in a community college |
Postsecondary – Associate Degree |
220 |
Enrolled in a vocational or technical school (two year degree program) |
Postsecondary – Associate Degree |
300 |
Enrolled in a High School Equivalency Test Preparation Program |
Not included in numerator |
310 |
Enrolled in a vocational or technical school (certificate program) |
Postsecondary – Certificate |
320 |
Enrolled in a Regional Occupational Program (ROP) |
TBD |
330 |
Enrolled in a Work Force Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Supported Program |
TBD |
340 |
Enrolled in a Non-Workability Employment Program |
Employment |
350 |
Enrolled in an Adult Training Program |
TBD |
400 |
Military Enlistment |
Military Service |
900 |
Incarcerated |
Not included in numerator |
910 |
Competitively Employed |
Employment |
920 |
Not Competitively Employed |
Employment |
930 |
Other employment |
Employment |
940 |
Other |
Not included in numerator |
950 |
Not able to contact |
Not included in numerator |
960 |
Refused to answer |
Not included in numerator |
PSTS Survey Template Guide for Fall 2
To alleviate the administrative burden of collecting CTE Completer data for three separate programs, the CDE has created the CTE Completer Postsecondary Status Survey template. This guide will aid in populating the survey results to the appropriate CALPADS field.
Download: PSTS Survey Template
Question |
CALPADS PSTS Field |
Possible Code Choices |
1) Are you enrolled in one of the following educational or training programs? Select the one that best applies. If you are not enrolled in any educational or training program, do not check any. |
Field 17.12–Postsecondary Status Code |
Postsecondary Status Code Set |
2) If you checked one of the above for question 1, was the program: |
Field 17.13–Educational Institution Type |
Educational Institution Type Code Set |
3) Are you enlisted in the military? |
Field 17.12–Postsecondary Status Code, if response is Yes |
- Yes (Populated with Code 400–Military Enlistment) |
4) Are you incarcerated? |
Field 17.12–Postsecondary Status Code, if resnpose is Yes |
- Yes (Populated with Code 900–Incarcerated) |
5) Are you employed? |
Field 17.12–Postsecondary Status Code, if response is Yes |
- Yes, Full-time or part-time employment with compensation at or above minimum wage (910) |
6) Are you enrolled in one of the following? (Only check if applicable) |
Field 17.12–Postsecondary Status Code, if checked |
Postsecondary Status Code Set |
7) If none of the above options apply, check one of the following: |
Field 17.12–Postsecondary Status Code |
Postsecondary Status Code Set |
8) If you are employed, what type of business or in what field are you employed? Check which industry best represents the type of employment) |
Field 17.14–Industry Field |
Career Technical Education Industry Field Code |
9) Have you received one of the following? |
Field 17.15–Post-High School Credential |
Post-High School Credential Type Code Set |
CTE Survey Reporting FAQs
The following are answers to the most common question pertaining to the CTE completer survey collection and reporting taken from the 2022 CTE Completer Data webinar.
Question: What year students are we surveying and reporting during the 2023-2024 Career Technical Education (CTE) Completer Data reporting period?
- Answer: You should survey CTE Completers from the previous academic year (AY). For the 2023-2024 CTE Completer data reporting period due on February 24,2023, you will report CTE Completer data for completers who exited 12th grade in the 2021–22 AY.
Question: Does the California Department of Education (CDE) have a Career Technical Education Course Code Definitions by Sector and Pathway User Guide?
- Answer: Yes, the 2021–22 is the most recent version. To request a copy, please send an email to ctedata@cde.ca.gov.
Question: If we already know where the majority of our students went because we have access to the information through the National Student Clearinghouse and our students received industry-recognized credentials while they were enrolled with our school, would we still need to send out a survey to students we have information about? If we are able to use data that we already have, do we only send out the survey to students who we have no data for?
- Answer: Yes, provided data for items on the Survey Template is available from the National Student Clearinghouse, you can use it. For all other items, you would be required to survey students using the CTE Completer Survey template provided by the CDE.
Question: We noticed it seems that you can either be enrolled at an educational/training program or be employed, but not both. Is this correct? If it is, which should supersede the other?
- Answer: No. Collect the information for both enrollment and employment when surveying completers. You can report both in California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS).
Question: If the school is an independent study charter school and a Dashboard Alternative School Status (DASS) school, are they still expected to complete these surveys for CTE completers?
- Answer: Yes, and they will use their previous AY 12th grade students.
Question: Should the requested survey information below be uploaded by each individual school district in the consortium (many have different student information systems) or by the consortium lead Local Education Agency (LEA)?
- Answer: Yes, individual school districts will upload their own information. If the consortium lead is an LEA with their own students, then they would report only their own students, and not the other members of the consortium.
Question: My question is about what students to survey. I have heard that we are to survey any previous AY graduate who completed a pathway, no matter what year they completed. I’ve also heard that we will survey only previous AY graduates that completed a pathway in the previous AY. Which is it?
- Answer: The students to be surveyed are those who exited secondary education in the previous AY with a specific designation in CALPADS, who completed a sequence of 300 hours, including the capstone course with a passing grade (C- or better), even if the capstone was completed prior to their senior year. These students should be included in the survey.
Question: Students from our regional occupational program are surveyed by their home schools and data is put into their school’s Student Information System. Our County Office of Education (COE) does not submit ROP data into CALPADS. Do we need to submit the same survey to students and send in the information, even if it is duplicative?
- Answer: No, data reporting is done by individual LEAs. COEs would only report completer data if the students were CTE completers while enrolled directly with the COE. The home school would still be responsible for entering the data into CALPADS.
Question: If our LEA does NOT have any completers for the AY being reporting, where do we state that information?
- Answer: For reporting done in CALPADS, Report 17.1 will have zeros if LEAS do not report any students. LEAs can “approve” the report with zeros to indicate they have no responses, or they can submit a record for each student and use the CALPADS code 950 or 960 to indicate they surveyed students but did not get a response.
Question: The first year we applied for CTEIG funds was this grant year. We did not apply, or receive, CTEIG funding in previous years. Are we correct in that we do not need to submit the Postsecondary Status (PSTS) file by this year’s deadline, but will need to submit this data next year?
- Answer: No. Independent of funding, all LEAs operating CTE programs must collect and submit the required data to CDE according to federal law.
Question: Who do I work with to enter the CTE data into CALPADS once it’s collected.
- Answer: As the CTE Coordinator or person responsible for completing the CTE Data Collection, it is important that you reach out to your LEAs CALPADS Coordinator and develop a relationship with them as they are responsible for entering your CTE data. Working with the CALPADS Coordinator will help ensure that not only is your CTE data reported, but it is reported correctly. You should review the CTE data reports with the CALPADS Coordinator to ensure the accuracy of these reports.
Question: How are LEAs collecting this data?
- Answer: CTE data is collected in a variety of ways including mobile number, email, social media account, Google survey, Survey Money, and phone banking.
Questions: Adult Education Schools do not report in CALPADS. Where do they report their CTE Completer Data?
- Answer: TOPSpro is the application that Adult Education programs use to record student information and program outcomes for CTE Completer Data reporting.
Which students require postsecondary status records in the EOY 4 submission?
LEAs are required to survey SWD with Education Plan Type = 100 (IEP) or 200 (ISP), who exited secondary education in AY 22-23 with one of the following exit or school completion status codes and who did not re-enroll in 2023-2024:
-
School Completion Status Code
- Graduated, standard HS diploma (100)
- Students with Disabilities Certification of Completion (120)
- Adult Ed High School Diploma (250)
- Received a High School Equivalency Certificate (and no standard diploma) (320)
- Passed CHSPE (and no standard diploma) (330)
- Completed grade 12 without completing graduation requirements, not grad (360)
-
Or alternatively, if a student exits using one of the following exit reasons:
- No known Enrollment – Truant (E140)
- Prior completion of Special Education (E125)
- Expelled No known Enrollment (E300)
- Other or Unknown (E400)
- Medical Reasons (E410)
- Transferred to College (T280)
Is there a survey template LEAs can use to collect postsecondary status data from students with disabilities?
Yes. Attachment 1, “Special Education Postsecondary Status Survey Template and Mapping Guide to CALPADS Postsecondary Transition Status File” provides a survey template that LEAs can use to survey students with disabilities who exited secondary education in 2019−20. This template also maps the survey responses to the CALPADS postsecondary status codes.
Can LEAs upload the Postsecondary Status File for EOY 4 from the Special Education Data System through the Application Programming Interface?
Yes. Special Education Data System (SEDS) vendors must update the PSTS file layout via the Application Programming Interface (API) to include the three new data elements 17.13, 17.14, and 17.15, even though these fields should not be populated for students with disabilities in the EOY 4 submission. SEDS vendors may create these as filler fields. LEAs are reminded that this is a full replacement file and that data that pass the input validation rules automatically posts.
What is the PSTS data used for?
The data submitted to and certified in CALPADS on the PSTS file in EOY 4 for students with disabilities are used to calculate State Performance Plan Indicator (SPPI) 14 – Post School Outcomes. This indicator is one of the measures used to determine the compliance status of each LEA as required by the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and to select LEAs for participation in the Focused Monitoring process.
How is the PSTS data used to calculate State Performance Plan Indicator 14 – Post School Outcomes?
State Performance Plan Indicator 14 – Post School Outcomes, includes the percent of youth exiting secondary education in the prior year who had Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) in effect at the time they left school, and were: (20 U.S.C. 1416(a)(3)(B))
A. Enrolled in higher education within one year of leaving high school.
B. Enrolled in higher education or competitively employed within one year of leaving high school.
C. Enrolled in higher education or in some other postsecondary education or training program; or competitively employed or in some other employment within one year of leaving high school.
In order to calculate this indicator, the postsecondary status codes submitted to CALPADS are first mapped to one of the following SSPI 14 outcomes (a, b, c, d, e):
SSPI 14 Outcome |
Description |
a |
Higher Education |
b |
Competitive Employment |
c |
Any other Education/Employment/Training |
d |
Other Employment |
e |
Not Education or Employment |
The postsecondary status codes are mapped to the SSPI 14 outcomes as follows:
Postsecondary Status Code |
Name |
SPPI 14 Outcome |
200 |
Enrolled in a 4-year college/university |
a |
210 |
Enrolled in a community college |
a |
220 |
Enrolled in a vocational or technical school (2-yr degree program) |
a |
300 |
Enrolled in a High School Equivalency Test Preparation Program |
c |
310 |
Enrolled in a vocational or technical school (certificate program) |
c |
320 |
Enrolled in a Regional Occupational Program (ROP) |
c |
330 |
Enrolled in a Work Force Innovation & Opportunity Act (WIOA) Supported Program |
c |
340 |
Enrolled in a Non-Workability Employment Program |
c |
350 |
Enrolled in an Adult Training Program |
c |
360 |
State Apprenticeship Program* |
c |
370 |
Other Job Training Program* |
c |
400 |
Military enlistment |
c |
500 |
Peace Corps* |
c |
510 |
Ameri Corps* |
c |
900 |
Incarcerated |
e |
910 |
Competitively employed |
b |
920 |
Not Competitively employed |
d |
930 |
Other employment |
d |
940 |
Other |
e |
950 |
Not able to contact |
N/A (not included) |
960 |
Refused to answer |
N/A (not included) |
PSTS Survey Template Guide for EOY 4
To alleviate the administrative burden of collecting CTE Completer data for three separate programs, the CDE has created the CTE Completer Postsecondary Status Survey template. This guide will aid in populating the survey results to the appropriate CALPADS field.
Download: PSTS for SPED Survey Template
Question |
CALPADS PSTS Field |
Possible Code Choices |
1) Are you enrolled in one of the following educational or training programs? Select the one that best applies. If you are not enrolled in any educational or training program, do not check any. |
Field 17.12–Postsecondary Status Code |
|
2) Are you enlisted in the military? |
Field 17.12–Postsecondary Status Code, if response is Yes |
- Yes (Populated with Code 400–Military Enlistment) |
3) Are you incarcerated? |
Field 17.12–Postsecondary Status Code, if respose is Yes |
- Yes (Populated with Code 900–Incarcerated) |
4) Are you employed? |
Field 17.12–Postsecondary Status Code, if response is Yes |
- Yes, Full-time or part-time employment with compensation at or above minimum wage (910) |
5) Are you enrolled in one of the following? (Only check if applicable) |
Field 17.12–Postsecondary Status Code, if checked |
Postsecondary Status Code Set |
6) If none of the above options apply, check one of the following: |
Field 17.12–Postsecondary Status Code |
Postsecondary Status Code Set |
PSTS Data Population Training
Additional Resources
CALPADS File Specifications
This document provides detailed information about the input files that are used to batch load data into CALPADS.
CALPADS Update FLASH #203
This flash includes topics on: Reporting Postsecondary Status File in End-of-Year 4 for Special Education in 2020–21.
CALPADS Update FLASH #196
This flash includes topics on: Streamlining postsecondary status data collection through CALPADS.
CALPADS Update FLASH #164
This flash includes topics on: New Postsecondary Status file; reporting postsecondary status for career technical education.
PSTS Handouts
PSTS CTE Data Survey (Template)
Survey template for surveying the postsecondary status (PSTS) of Career Technical Education (CTE) completers who completed high school in the prior academic year. Most of the data that LEAs collect from this survey will be reported to CALPADS through the new Postsecondary Status File (PSTS) in the CALPADS Fall 2 submission, and will be used to meet federal reporting for Perkins V (formerly E-2 data submission).
PSTS SPED Data Survey (Template)
Survey template for surveying the postsecondary status (PSTS) of students with disabilities who completed or left high school in the prior academic year. The data submitted to and certified in CALPADS on the PSTS file in EOY 4 for students with disabilities are used to calculate State Performance Plan Indicator (SPPI) 14 – Post School Outcomes. This indicator is one of the measures used to determine the compliance status of each LEA as required by the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and to select LEAs for participation in the Focused Monitoring process.