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CU-Boulder Entering Freshmen Survey, 1996

Freshmen's Attitudes, Expectations, and Experiences
During their First Year at CU-Boulder

For information or a paper copy of this report, contact ir@colorado.edu

Highlights
Results Summary
Detailed Results
Background & Methods

Highlights

• Freshmen entering fall 1996 were surveyed in fall and again in spring about their academic and social-related abilities, attitudes, expectations, and experiences.
• The freshman year is a pleasing year socially but a relatively trying year academically and is characterized by experiences that fall short of initial expectations.
  • Students' self-reports indicate that they are more comfortable in social than in academic-related activities, have stronger social than academic abilities, are more likely to have an active social life than to do well academically, and are more likely to mention social-related aspects when writing about the one best thing about their freshmen year and academic-related aspects when writing about the one thing they would like to change.
  • In addition, freshmen's self-reported ability to interact with professors, study effectively, and deal with academic pressures decreases from fall to spring; about of freshmen do less well academically than they originally expect.
• However, even with the trials and tribulations of the freshman year, 93% of freshmen plan to return the following fall, and 75% expect to receive a bachelors degree from CU-Boulder.

Results Summary

• In the spring of the freshmen year:
  • Freshmen report having the highest ability in making new friends and interacting with students and the lowest ability in interacting with professors, studying effectively, and dealing with academic pressures.
    • In addition, freshmen's self-reported ability to make new friends increased from fall to spring, but their self-reported ability to interact with professors, study effectively, and deal with academic pressures decreased from fall to spring.
  • Although on average, freshmen report being comfortable in each of nine activities, they report having the greatest comfort in attending football/basketball games, going to students parties and get-togethers, and studying with students and the least comfort in interacting with faculty and getting advising on courses. Plus, freshmen's self-reported comfort in interacting with faculty decreased from fall to spring.
  • The frequency with which freshmen contribute in class, receive acknowledgment for their successes, attend a meeting of a student club, participate in residence hall activities, and attend a campus activity sponsored by a racial/ethnic group is less than they originally expect in the fall.
  • More freshmen report having had an active social life at CU-Boulder during their freshman year (85%) than report doing well academically (59%).
    • Furthermore, about of freshmen did less well academically than they originally expected compared to only 6% reporting being less active socially than they expected.
  • Freshmen are most likely to mention social-related aspects when writing about the one best thing about their freshmen year and academic-related aspects when writing about the one thing they would like to change.
    • When asked to comment about the "one best thing" about their freshmen year, 69% of freshmen mentioned a social activity (e.g., making friends, having fun) whereas 20% mentioned an academic-related activity (e.g., having good classes, getting good grades).
    • Conversely, when writing about the one thing they wish they could change, 16% mentioned a social-related aspect (e.g., a lack of friends), whereas 52% mentioned an academic-related activity (e.g., wishing for better study habits, better grades, more academic help).
• When asked in the spring term of their freshmen year, 93% of freshmen say they plan to return the following fall, and 75% say they expect to receive a bachelors degree from CU-Boulder.
  • Official University records data indicate that of those surveyed freshmen who said they would return the following fall, 99% did; of those who didn't expect to return, 32% did.
  • The expectations students have their fall term of their freshmen year also relate to the expectations students have in the spring and their subsequent enrollment.
    • Of the 170 freshmen who in the fall of 1996 said they probably or definitely would return to CU-Boulder in the fall of 1997, 96% reported in the spring that they still planned on returning to CU in fall 1997, and 97% actually did return.
    • Of the 24 freshmen who in the fall of 1996 said they were unsure of their returning to CU:
      • 75% said in the spring of 1997 that they planned to return in fall 1997, and 86% of them actually did return
      • 25% said in the spring of 1997 that they didn't plan on returning, and 86% of them did not return.

Background & Methods

Overview

The Entering Freshman Survey was designed to assess freshmen's abilities, knowledge, and expectations in the fall, soon after entering CU-Boulder, and compare them to their abilities, knowledge, and behaviors in the spring, after they had experienced college life.

The survey was developed by a group of faculty, staff, and students: Susan Adams, Student Affairs Research Services; Dan Raybon, Cleo Estrada, and Gwen Sunata, Cultural Unity Student Center; Ron Stump, Dean of Students; Bernadette Park, psychology faculty; Tim Ryan, psychology honors student.

The questionnaire was administered to a sample of freshmen in fall 1996 and to a subset of this same sample in spring 1997. The spring version consists of about ½ of the items on the fall version.

Fall Population, Sample, and Response Rate

The population was all students classified as entering freshmen in fall 1996 (n=3,952). The sample consisted of all entering freshman of color (n=582) and a random sample of 215 white entering freshman.

Of the 797 freshmen in the fall sample, 373 returned completed questionnaires for a response rate of 47%. When we eliminate those students for whom we did not have correct addresses, the adjusted response rate is 51% (373/732). Native Americans and African Americans were less likely to respond (26% and 36%, respectively) than freshmen from the other three racial/ethnic groups (49%-55%), and males (42%) were less likely to respond than females (59%).

Spring Sample and Response Rate

The spring sample consisted of the 358 freshmen who completed the fall survey and were enrolled at CU-Boulder in spring 1997 and an additional 190 freshmen who did not complete the fall survey. Of the 548 freshmen in the spring sample, 42% (n=223) returned the questionnaire. Native Americans (26%) were less likely to respond than freshmen from the other four racial/ethnic groups (39%-46%), and males (35%) were less likely to respond than females (48%). In addition, students who completed the fall survey were more likely to respond in the spring than students who didn't complete the fall survey (54% vs 15%).

Analysis

The following analysis is based on the 194 freshmen who completed both the fall and spring questionnaires. Results are reported only for those items included on both the fall and spring questionnaires. We based the analyses on only those who completed both questionnaires because we wanted to make sure that we were accurately detecting true attitudinal changes, and not merely sampling changes, from fall to spring. For all analyses, we have weighted to correct for both the oversampling and response rate biases.

Compared to students who completed both questionnaires, students who completed only one questionnaire had slightly lower CU-Boulder cumulative GPAs, assigned lower ratings to their ability in academic and social domains, reported having less knowledge of CU-Boulder resources, and expected/experienced more negative events.

Had we included in the analyses the ratings of students who completed one questionnaire, the absolute scores on several items would have been slightly less positive, but the patterns of results from fall to spring and across the items would not have changed. Furthermore, the absolute difference in scores would have been very small (e.g., 71% of students who completed both questionnaires rated their ability in developing a course plan as "good" or "great" compared to 69% of students who completed either both questionnaires or just one). However, we must caution that the 194 freshmen who responded in both fall and spring represent only one-quarter of all fall 1996 freshmen--in all probability, a group more involved and committed than other freshmen.

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Susan Adams - L:\IR\FR96\SPR97\WWW\Report.htm, Last updated July 2, 1998

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