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Measure 9, Undergraduate participation in special academic opportunities

Measure: Percent participating in special academic opportunities, of calendar year bachelors degree recipients who entered CU-Boulder as full-time fall freshmen.

The special academic opportunities considered are honors courses, independent study, credit internships, service learning, and independent research courses; courses sponsored by research centers including the museum; special research programs for undergraduates; study abroad; completion of an honors thesis in the major discipline; leadership, residential, and first-term small-group academic programs; double and student-designed majors; formal minors; combined bachelors-masters programs; and academically-intense programs for students with special needs.

Rationale: Special academic opportunities are a hallmark of the total learning environment provided by a comprehensive research university with top faculty and a large and diverse student population. Our ultimate goal is that all undergraduates have the opportunity for a personalized, small-group academic experience, whether they avail themselves of such opportunities or not. We measure the proportion of entering-freshmen graduates who have participated in special academic opportunities as a proxy, and aim to keep this proportion at or above two-thirds.

Time period: Calendar year 2000 bachelors recipients. Last year: 1999 recipients.

Benchmark: Maintain the participation level at or above 67%.

Results: 79% of calendar year 2000 bachelors recipients who had entered as freshmen (N=2858) had participated in at least one special opportunity. This exceeds the benchmark and our long-term goal.

The four most popular programs each garnered participation by over 15% of the 2000 graduates: honors courses (16%), credit internships (19%), study abroad (25%), and first-year residential academic programs (20%). We are especially pleased that 25% of graduates entering as freshmen had studied abroad, for this program is probably our most intense.

For comparison: In 1999, 77% of calendar year bachelors recipients who had entered as freshman (N=2728) had participated in at least one special opportunity.

Data sources and definitions

• Full-time fall freshmen: First time students, usual IPEDS definition; includes those entering the prior summer and enrolled in their first fall
• Calendar year bachelors degree recipients: From spring, summer, and fall terms.
• Participation is measured by course enrollments, degree records (e.g., for honors and combined bachelors/masters), and listings of participants by programs in which participation yields neither credit enrollments or identifiable degrees (e.g., undergraduate research participation).

National comparisons: Comparable overall (unduplicated) participation figures from other institutions are not available. Informal comparisons with estimates published in the Best Colleges issue of U.S. News and World Report show that CU-Boulder has much higher rates of participation in study abroad and honors than do other public AAU institutions that reported.

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Last revision 12/19/03