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CU-Boulder 1998 Community Survey

Recommending CU-Boulder

Recommending CU-Boulder to a friend: Survey respondents complete a short letter to a hypothetical friend from their high school. For the following question, they circle the bracketed choice and then write a short response:

"Dear CJ:
I know that you are considering coming to CU-Boulder next year. I [WOULD] [WOULD NOT] recommend coming here because…"

Overall, 87% of students say they would recommend CU-Boulder to a friend considering enrolling. Responses differ by racial/ethnic group, with African-American (80%) and white (81%) students least likely and Asian-American (95%) and Hispanic (92%) most likely to recommend UCB. Native Americans fall between these two groupings, with 87% saying they would recommend UCB to a friend.

The reasons given for recommending UCB range from opportunities for individual growth, to UCB's size, to diversity, to academic quality. Five basic themes emerge from students' responses: UCB's academic quality and reputation, social opportunities, the general atmosphere and opportunities at UCB, location, and cost. Among students who recommend UCB, 48% give reasons related to academics and reputation, 44% cite social activities and opportunities, 38% cite UCB's location, and 20% cite general atmosphere and opportunities. Only 1% of students recommending UCB cite cost as a reason. (Note that percentages do not sum to 100% because students were free to give more than one reason.)

Again looking only at students who recommend UCB, African-American students are much less likely to base their recommendation on academics than are students from other groups; they are also less likely to recommend UCB based on social activities and opportunities than are Asian students. [In fact, social activities and opportunities are the most common reason given by black students for recommending CU-a typical comment is "The people here are friendly and nice." However, black students are simply less likely than Asian students to make these comments. Black students are also somewhat less likely than white and Native American students to recommend UCB based on location.]

Among students who do NOT recommend UCB, 48% cite negative aspects of social activities and opportunities, 33% object to location, 22% criticize academic quality and reputation, 17% dislike the general atmosphere and opportunities, and 24% complain about cost. There are no significant differences among the five racial/ethnic groups in reasons for NOT recommending UCB.

To see all the reasons students wrote to explain their recommendations, with overall percentages of students citing each reason, click here.

Overall ratings of CU-Boulder: Students are also asked to rate CU-Boulder as a place to be for all students, for students of their racial/ethnic group, for themselves, and for themselves as a member of their racial/ethnic group.

Note: For graph display, A=Asian-American, B=Black/African Amer, H=Hispanic, N=Native American, W=White

In general, white students appear most satisfied, and black/African American and Hispanic students appear least satisfied. When explicitly taking race into account (thinking about CU as a place for members of their group), African Americans are particularly dissatisfied; average ratings of CU-Boulder by African American students are below the midpoint when considering CU as a place for students of their racial/ethnic group or for themselves as a member of their racial/ethnic group. In all cases, students of color rate their own situation more positively than that of their group. However, they also rate their own situation overall more highly than their situation as a member of their racial/ethnic group.

To see results in tabular form, click here. (table 10-I)

Interestingly, white students show a very different pattern of responses from students of color. Sixty-seven percent of white students call CU-Boulder a "good" or "great" place to be for all students. Only black students are less likely to rate UCB positively, with 56% giving "good" or "great" ratings. However, when white students consider CU-Boulder as a place for their racial/ethnic group, for themselves, or for themselves as a member of their racial/ethnic group, their ratings rise. Seventy-eight percent of white students call CU-Boulder a "good" or "great" place for white students, 74% consider CU-Boulder "good" or "great" for themselves personally, and 73% consider it "good" or "great" for themselves as white students.

Given that white students rate CU-Boulder more highly as a place for their group, themselves, and themselves as group members than for all students, it seems that they perceive a relative advantage on campus compared to students of color.

Things are worse in general than they are for me: Research commonly finds that survey respondents, especially those who are minority group members, see the situation for their group as more negative than the situation for themselves. Many impressions of the racial climate at any institution may consist largely of second- and third-hand experiences; that is, students hear about negative things happening to group members, and though they may not personally experience the negative events, these can become part of their perception of how the university treats group members.

The respondents themselves probably do not experience their race or ethnicity as the single most salient factor in every situation. Therefore, when evaluating how they feel about CU-Boulder, they are less likely to consider only examples related specifically to their racial or ethnic identity, but instead to use many examples to which race and ethnicity are not the central dimension of identity, such as academic performance, social life, living situation, job, sports involvement, and many others. Thus, they rate their own experiences positively, but those of their group-for which they use only race-related examples-more negatively. Here, we asked about "you as a member of your group" specifically to encourage respondents to consider how race- and ethnic-related experiences have affected them personally. As cited above, students of color rate CU-Boulder more highly as a place for themselves than as a place for themselves as a group member, which in turn is higher than ratings for their group as a whole.

This result suggests two things. First, in rating their own situations, it is indeed likely that students rely on a variety of experiences that go beyond race-related examples. Second, in rating the situation for their group, students probably form opinions based on what they have heard from others, and not necessarily from their own experiences.

Changes over time in recommendations and satisfaction: Changes are mixed since 1994. Though there is no overall difference in students' willingness to recommend UCB to a friend considering coming here, there are some differences among particular groups. Native American and white students are much less likely to recommend UCB. Although 98% of Native American students would recommend UCB in 1994, by 1998 only 87% would do so. In 1994, 95% of white students would recommend UCB, but in 1998 that percentage fell to 81%. The slight increases in recommendations by Asian-American, African American and Hispanic students are small and nonsignificant.

There are even fewer differences in students' ratings of UCB as a place for all students, for themselves, and for themselves as group members. Slight differences in ratings suggest that Asian-American students see UCB more positively in 1998 than in 1994 for themselves, their group, and all students, whereas all other groups give equal or lower ratings in 1998. However, the differences in ratings between the two survey administrations are extremely small and should not be interpreted as meaningful changes.

To see results in tabular form, click here. (tables 10-II, 10-III)

Table of Contents for 1998 Community Survey

jo - l:\ir\survey\comm\cm98\report\sectn10.doc
hm - last updated 5/31/2000

Last revision 07/23/02