PBA Home > Institutional Research & Analysis > Surveys > NSSE 2002 > CU-Boulder by college

National Survey of Student Engagement 2002

CU-Boulder Results, by College

NSSE data for CU-Boulder were analyzed to identify college-level differences or similarities in student responses. Aggregate data for students in Arts and Sciences (A&S) were analyzed. In addition, analyses were performed for the following A&S subgroups: Humanities, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and Open Option (no declared major, freshmen only).

Some degree of caution should be used when interpreting results for students in the colleges of Architecture and Planning, Journalism, and Music, because the total numbers of respondents from these colleges that were included in the analyses are relatively small (19, 19, and 16, respectively). Only three freshmen from the College of Music responded to the survey; data for Music freshmen were therefore excluded. For certain items, the number of respondents may be very small. For example, only five Architecture and Planning freshmen responded to an item that asked about the overall quality of academic advising. Detailed information about the numbers of respondents, by item, college, and class level, is available in Excel (see the tab "By college").

Results for the NSSE scales are displayed graphically for the different colleges. This link displays a graph with NSSE scales; clicking on a particular scale will display results for items within that scale. A guide to interpreting the graphs is provided.

To view a table containing item numbers and names for each item within each of the scales, see NSSE Item Numbers and Variable Names, by Scale.

Summary of Principal Results

Across all colleges, students reported high average levels of satisfaction with the academic quality of CU-Boulder and with the academic quality of their majors. Students typically reported that they would attend CU-Boulder again if they were starting college over.

Students typically reported that they seldom work with faculty outside of class, with the exception of seniors in the colleges of Music, Architecture and Planning, and Engineering. Students in all colleges typically reported that they ask questions in class, and that professors make clear what they expect students to learn.

Relative to students in other colleges, students in Journalism gave low ratings of the extent to which their course work emphasizes analysis, synthesis, and applying theories, and of the university’s contribution to the development of critical thinking skills. Journalism students gave relatively high ratings of the extent to which CU-Boulder contributes to their writing and speaking clearly and effectively. It is, of course, important to keep in mind the fact that the sample size for Journalism was relatively small.

Students in the colleges of Engineering and Business gave relatively high average ratings of the extent to which CU-Boulder contributes to their computing skills. Journalism students gave relatively high ratings of the extent to which they use the internet in class assignments.

Seniors in Architecture and Planning gave relatively high ratings, on average, of the accuracy of information from advisors, the availability of advisors, and the overall quality of academic advising. Freshmen in that college gave similarly high ratings to the overall quality of academic advising, relative to freshmen in other colleges.

Comparing Results from the 2000 and 2002 NSSE Administrations

Across colleges, the largest positive change in average ratings from 2000 to 2002 occurred for freshmen in Architecture and Planning on an item that asked students how often they used the internet in a class assignment. In 2000, Architecture and Planning students’ average rating on this item was 1.8; in 2002, it was 3.2. It is important to note, however, that there were relatively few freshman respondents from Architecture and Planning (16 in 2000; 9 in 2002). Caution should therefore be used when interpreting results for this college. Because of relatively small numbers of respondents in 2002, caution should also be used when interpreting results for the colleges of Journalism and Music.

The largest negative change in average ratings occurred for students in the College of Music on an item that asked the extent to which CU-Boulder contributed to students’ skills in analyzing quantitative problems (2.7 in 2000 vs. 2.0 in 2002). Additional information concerning noteworthy changes in average ratings from 2000 to 2002 is provided in Table 1. All items are on a four-point scale unless otherwise noted. Average ratings, by college, on other items that are common to the 2000 and 2002 NSSE administrations are available in Excel.

Table 1
Noteworthy Changes in CU-Boulder Students’ Average Ratings from 2000 to 2002, by College

*The averages reported in this table are weighted to adjust statistically for different sampling fractions and response rates over academic majors.

CU-Boulder NSSE 2002 Main Page

l:\ir\survey\NSSE\02\report\bycollege.doc

Last revision 02/05/03