This document provides the description, summary, and evaluation of methodological procedures and results for the field test of the 1995-96 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:96). Chapter 1 describes the background, purposes, and scheduled procedures of the NPSAS:96 and the unique purposes of the field test. The NPSAS is a comprehensive nationwide study to determine how students and their families pay for postsecondary education and to describe some demographic and other characteristics of those enrolled. In Chapter 2, field test design and method are described. Descriptions and overall outcomes of several stages of data collection, as well as the results of special studies, are presented in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 describes the results of a comparative evaluation of sampling design options. Chapter 5 presents evaluations of procedures used to collect information from institutions and students and parents. Chapter 6 examines issues related to the quality of the data collected, and Chapter 7 summarizes the major recommendations for changes in design for the full scale study. The field test differed in some ways from the planned full-scale study, and field test tracing, contact, and response rates are expected to improve in the full-scale study. Materials used during the field test are provided as six appendixes to the report. (Contains 6 figures and 50 tables.) (SLD)