Data Access
Visit our Get the Data page for instructions on accessing both public and restricted-use datasets for HSB:80 and NLS:72.
Documentation & Resources
Explore our extensive documentation to better understand and utilize the data:
Learn More
- Watch our Introductory Video.
- Visit our Bibliography Search to find publications that used HS&B:80 and NLS:72.
- Review our most recent publications.
- Visit our FAQ page for answers to common questions, or contact us directly for further support.
What's included in the Data
The HS&B:80 and NLS:72 cohorts, spaced a decade apart, offer harmonized longitudinal data designed to reveal how U.S. educational experiences shape people’s lives. The EdSHARe project repurposes these datasets for research into the social, institutional, and biological pathways through which early-life factors – particularly education – impact later-life economic, health, labor, and cognitive outcomes.
The NLS:72 and HS&B:80 cohorts include:
- Large, population-representative samples of individuals followed from high school through late life.
- Rich information about educational contexts, opportunities, and outcomes.
- High-quality measures of later-life cognition, physical health, mortality, economic circumstances, and more.
- Extensive measures of biological, social, economic, and other factors that mediate and moderate the effects of education on healthy aging and cognition.
- Oversamples of key subpopulations.