The 2012 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study, 2012 Base Year (BPS:12) is part of the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS) program. BPS:12 is the base year of a longitudinal study that followed a cohort of students who enrolled in postsecondary education for the first time during the 2011–12 academic year, irrespective of date of high school completion. The 2012–13 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:12) data provided the base-year sample for BPS:12. BPS:12 data are representative of all first-time beginning (FTB) students enrolled in postsecondary institutions in the 50 United States and the District of Columbia that were eligible to participate in the federal financial aid programs in Title IV of the Higher Education Act. The cohort includes a subset of students initially sampled for participation in NPSAS:12 and classified by their NPSAS institution as FTBs. Key statistics produced from BPS:12 are data on student persistence in, and completion of, postsecondary education programs; their transition to employment; demographic characteristics; and changes over time in their goals, marital status, income, and debt, among other measures.