This report describes the methods and results for the 2011-12 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:12), conducted for the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Washington, DC. The following legislation authorizes this and previous cycles of NPSAS, as well as two longitudinal studies deriving from it--the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS) and the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B): (1) the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended by the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, 20 U.S.C. § 1015(a) (2012); (2) the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, 20 U.S.C. §§ 9541 to 9548 (2012); and (3) the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, 20 U.S.C. § 1070 et seq. (2012). This cycle of NPSAS occurs 4 years after the last data collection (NPSAS:08) in response to the need to collect periodic information on financial aid programs. The large-scale and rapid changes in federal policy concerning postsecondary student aid necessitate such frequent studies. Eligibility restrictions change, size of grant and loan amounts fluctuate, and the balance between various aid options can change dramatically. Student loan programs create continued obligations for the federal government as long as the loans are being repaid, thus a recurring study like NPSAS is essential to help predict future costs for financial aid. Chapter 1 of this report provides an overview of the background and purpose of NPSAS, as well as the study design and its schedule and products. Chapter 2 describes the sampling design and the steps NPSAS statisticians used to select institution and student samples. Chapter 3 describes the design, outcomes, and evaluation activities associated with institution data collection. Chapter 4 provides details on the student interview design, data collection, outcomes and evaluations. Chapter 5 includes information on the student administrative records matching activities and outcomes. Chapter 6 contains a description of postdata collection data file processing, including editing, weighting, imputation, bias analysis, and variance estimation. For the following appendices (A-I), see ED545104: (A) Technical Review Panel; (B) Sampling Details; (C) Data Elements for Student Records; (D) NPSAS Endorsements; (E) Institution Data Collection Materials; (F) Data Elements for Student Interview; (G) Student Interview Instrument Facsimiles; (H) Student Data Collection Materials; and (I) Training Agenda. For the remainder of the appendices (J-O), see ED545103: (J) Nonresponse Bias Analysis; (K) Weighted Analysis Considerations; (L) Design Effects; (M) Imputations; (N) Analysis Variables; and (O) NPSAS:12 Field Test.