North Carolina State University:
2004 First-Year Student Survey
Executive Summary

• NC State conducted its annual survey of entering first-year students during New Student Orientation sessions held in July and early August 2004.
• The survey response rate was 85.1 percent (N=3,367 of 3,957). There were no significant gender or racial/ethnic differences between the first-year students actually enrolled at NC State and those responding to the survey. While high school grade point averages were slightly higher among survey respondents than among first-year students as a whole, there were no differences in the standardized achievement test scores of the two groups.

• About two-thirds of all survey respondents (64.5%) reported that they expect to receive some form of financial aid. Respondents were more likely to expect aid based on "financial need" (38.5%) than "academic ability" (34.3%). Substantially more African American students expected to receive financial aid than whites or non-African American minorities (90.3% vs. 60.8% and 69.0%, respectively). African American respondents were more than twice as likely as white respondents to expect aid based on "financial need" (67.9% vs. 33.5%) . African Americans were also more likely than whites and non-African American minority respondents to expect aid based on "academic ability" (50.8% vs. 32.2% and 34.9%, respectively).
• More than one-third (37.9%) of white respondents reported family incomes over $100,000 per year, compared to 15 percent of African Americans and 22 percent of other minorities. African American respondents were five times more likely than whites to report family incomes of $25,000 or less (28.2% vs. 5.3%).
• The most common parent/guardian educational attainment reported by all respondents was a four-year baccalaureate degree. A majority of fathers/male guardians (61.4%) and mothers/female guardians (57.4%) had a baccalaureate or higher (e.g. M.S., Ph.D.) degree. African American and non-African American minority respondents were more likely than whites to report that neither parent had attended college (13.9% and 11.7% vs. 5.5%, respectively).
• A majority of first-year students (62.0%) reported having four or more household members currently supported by parents/guardians. More than two-thirds (67.5%) of all respondents reported being the only household dependent currently enrolled in college.
• More than one-half of respondents reported coming from either a "moderate size city" (29.9%) or a "small town" (26.1%). Non-African American minorities were more likely than both white and African American respondents to be from a "large city" or "urban area" (33.1% vs. 25.5% and 23.8%, respectively). White respondents were more likely than both African American and non-African American minorities to be from a "rural area" (19.3% vs. 13.9% and 13.1%, respectively).
• Baptist was the most common religious preference reported by respondents (27.8%), followed by Methodist (16.3%) and Catholic (12.2%). About 15 percent of respondents reported that they had no religious preference.
• More than one-third of respondents (38.2%) reported that they play a musical instrument and close to one-fourth (23.4%) reported recent participation in a choral group.
• Over 40 percent of respondents said they were "well prepared" for college by their high school (45.8%) and by their own efforts (45.0%). African Americans were less likely than whites and non-African American minorities to say they were "well prepared" by their high school (36.7% vs. 46.7% and 48.4%, respectively) and through their own efforts (36.4% vs. 46.5% and 41.2%, respectively). Men were slightly less likely than women to feel "well prepared" through their own efforts (43.5% vs. 46.8%).
• More than 90 percent of all respondents reported that they will bring either a desktop computer (26.1%), a laptop (60.1%), or both a desktop and a laptop (6.2%) to campus. African American respondents were much less likely than white and non-African American minority respondents to report that they would definitely bring a personal computer to NC State (70.5% vs. 95.4% and 89.5%, respectively). More than 90 percent of those bringing a personal computer reported that they would be able to connect to the Internet (93.6%).
• Almost one-third of respondents (32.2%) said they would not be seeking employment after graduation, most likely indicating their intention to attend graduate or professional school. Among those respondents who will be seeking employment after graduation, more than 40 percent (42.7%) reported that location will not be important in their search for employment, while more than 20 percent (22.0%) said that they plan to look for employment in North Carolina only.
• Of those who will be seeking employment after graduation, a majority of respondents in the Colleges of Design (62.3%) and Textiles (52.1%) report that they will seek employment "anywhere." Almost one-half of those in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (47.4%) and First Year College (47.4%) report that they will seek employment "anywhere." About sixty percent in the College of Education (61.1%) report that they will seek employment in North Carolina only. This figure is anywhere from two to five times that reported by first-year students in other colleges.

• More than one-half of respondents (55.2%) applied to "three or more colleges" including NC State. Men were more likely than women (27.5% vs. 14.5%) and whites were more than twice as likely as African Americans (24.1% vs. 8.8%) to report having applied "only to NC State." Two-thirds or more respondents in the Colleges of Design (72.2%), Education (79.7%), Humanities and Social Sciences (71.0%), and Management (65.4%) applied to "three or more colleges" including NC State. While one-third (33.7%) of respondents in the College of Engineering reported that they applied only to NC State, less than 10 percent of respondents in the Colleges of Design (6.9%) and Education (2.9%) reported that they applied only to NC State.
• About 60 percent of survey respondents reported that after applying for admission to NC State they received a letter from someone at NC State other than the Admissions Office (61.3%). Considerably fewer respondents reported having received calls from NCSU faculty/staff (21.5%), current NCSU students (21.9%), or NCSU graduates (5.9%). African American respondents were much more likely than white and non-African American minority respondents to report having received a call from NCSU faculty/staff (44.2% vs. 17.7%, and 29.0%, respectively) or a current NC State student (36.3% vs. 20.4%, and 19.0%, respectively) during the admissions process.
• More than one-third of respondents in the Colleges of Design (34.7%) and Natural Resources (34.4%) reported that they received a call from NCSU faculty/staff during the admissions process. About 40 percent of respondents in the Colleges of Education (39.1%) and Management (42.0%) reported that they received a call from a current NCSU student.
• In general, African American respondents tended to give higher ratings than white and non-African American minority respondents to the factors influencing their decision to attend NC State. African Americans gave substantially higher ratings than whites to scholarships/financial aid (mean rating 3.70 vs. 2.66), letter from someone other than admissions office (2.59 vs. 1.92), attendance at a college fair (2.77 vs 2.12), and publications from NC State (2.81 vs. 2.16).
• Overall, academic reputation (26.0%) was most likely to be rated the "single most influential factor" in the decision to attend NC State, followed by level of support for intended major (16.4%) and availability of program (12.8%). African Americans were more than three times as likely as white respondents to report that scholarships/financial aid available (12.4% vs. 3.8%) was the "single most influential factor" in their decision to attend NC State.
• The vast majority of respondents were "moderately" or "very satisfied" with university (94.1%) and departmental (93.6%) admissions processes. Women were more likely than men to report being "very satisfied" with university (57.6% vs. 48.6%) and departmental (56.7% vs. 45.8%) admissions processes.
• Relatively fewer respondents (70.9%) reported being "moderately" (45.3%) or "very satisfied" (25.6%) with the university financial aid process. African American respondents were much more likely than whites and non-African American minority respondents to report that they were "very satisfied" with the financial aid process (41.7% vs. 22.9% and 25.4%, respectively).
• A majority of respondents (58.5%) "did not know about" NC State's Virtual Advising Center website. Among those respondents who had used the website, 86 percent rated the website as "excellent" (22.3%) or "good" (64.2%).

• Almost 90 percent (88.9%) of respondents intended to enroll for 15 credit hours or more during their first semester. African American respondents were slightly more likely than white and non-African American minority respondents to report enrolling for less than 15 credit hours. Among those taking less than 15 credit hours, the most common reason reported was "want to make better grades" (49.0%).
• 80 percent of respondents indicated that they intend to complete a degree at NC State in 4 years (76.1%) or less (3.9%). Respondents' intended time to complete a degree varied by gender, race/ethnicity, and college. Men were more likely than women (25.2% vs. 11.7%) and African Americans and white respondents were more likely than non-African American minorities (20.4% and 19.5% vs. 15.7%, respectively) to report that they intend to take more than 4 years to complete a degree. Slightly more than one-third of Engineering students (34.1%) indicated that it would take them more than four years to complete their degree.
• A majority of respondents reported that their primary goal or objective for attending NC State is to "obtain a bachelor's degree as preparation for graduate or professional school" (55.3%). Women were more likely than men (63.6% vs. 48.6%) and African Americans (62.4%) and non-African American minority respondents (66.1%) were more likely than whites (53.2%) to report that their primary goal or objective is to "obtain a bachelor's degree as preparation for graduate or professional school." On the other hand, men were more likely than women (37.7% vs. 28.8%) and white respondents (35.6%) were more likely than African American (27.8%) and non-African American minority respondents (23.6%) to report that their primary goal or objective is to "obtain a bachelor's degree as preparation for a career". With few exceptions, respondents in all colleges were more likely to report that their goal was to "prepare for graduate/professional school" than to say they were "preparing for a career." Those in the Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences (79.2%) and Physical and Mathematical Sciences (72.5%) were most likely to be pursuing a bachelor's degree as preparation for graduate/professional school. College of Natural Resources respondents were the only ones notably more likely to be getting a degree to prepare for a career (51.1%) rather than for graduate/professional school (23.3%).
• The vast majority of respondents reported that they intend to obtain a Master's degree or higher (70.4%). Women were more likely than men (76.0% vs. 65.8%) and non-African American minority respondents (85.4%) and African American respondents (80.3%) were more likely than whites (67.5%) to report that they intend to obtain a Master's degree or higher. Women were more than twice as likely as men to report that they intend to obtain a medical degree (11.9% vs. 5.2%) and four times as likely to report that they intend to obtain a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree (7.7% vs. 1.9%). African American respondents were more likely than white and non-African American minority respondents to report that they intend to obtain a doctoral degree (22.0% vs. 12.1% and 19.3%, respectively) or a law degree (9.3% vs. 4.0% and 4.3%).
• Respondents??? educational aspirations also varied by college. One-third or more respondents in the Colleges of Design (36.6%), Education (34.8%), Engineering (35.5%), Natural Resources (56.2%), Textiles (44.1%), and First-Year College (33.4%) reported that they planned on stopping at the baccalaureate. Physical and Mathematical Sciences respondents were much more likely than others to plan on getting a doctoral degree (28.7%). College of Agriculture and Life Sciences respondents were more likely than others to plan on getting a medical (28.4%) or veterinary medicine degree (26.0%), and those in the Humanities and Social Sciences were more likely than others to say they were going to get a law degree (22.5%).
• 70 percent of respondents indicated that they were "certain" (43.2%) or "very certain" (27.6%) of their choice of college major. African Americans were more likely than whites and non-African American minority respondents to report that they were "very certain" of their choice of major (35.4% vs. 27.0%, and 24.0%, respectively). Students in Design (61.4%) were much more likely than those in other colleges to be "very certain" of their choice of major.
• Nearly two-thirds of respondents (63.9%) reported that they do not intend to work during their first semester at NC State. Non-African American minority respondents (44.0%) were more likely than African Americans (33.6%) and whites (35.5%) to report that they plan to work during their first semester at NC State. The majority of respondents who plan on working said they would work less than 20 hours per week (80.3%).
• Overall, respondents indicated greatest interest in intramurals (49.5%), club sports (45.8%), and study abroad/student exchange (45.6%) from a list of 26 co-curricular activities and programs. There were persistent gender differences in interest in participating in the various activities. For example, women were far more interested than men in fitness/wellness, study abroad, and volunteer services, while men were more interested than women in co-op programs, intramurals, and club sports. Racial/ethnic differences in interest in the various activities were somewhat less widespread. African Americans were most interested in social fraternities/sororities and multicultural/diversity programs. Non-African American minority respondents were most interested in study abroad/student exchange and and club sports. White respondents were most interested in club sports and intramurals.

• For each of 35 knowledge, skills, and personal development goals held by NC State, respondents were asked to rate their current level of development and the importance of the goal for undergraduate preparation. Respondents consistently gave higher importance ratings than current development ratings to these knowledge, skills, and personal development goals. In general, goals that received high importance ratings tended to receive high development ratings.
• While current development ratings tended to be higher for personal development and world view goals than for general education goals, importance ratings were consistently higher for personal development goals than for both general education and world view goals.
• Scatterplots depicting mean importance and current level of development of each goal reveal that taking responsibility for my own behavior is the highest ranking goal in terms of both importance and development. Other goals ranking high in importance and development include valuing racial equity and valuing gender equity. Handling stress and time management ranked high in importance, but low in development. Several goals central to the University's core general education curriculum received low importance and development ratings, including developing an appreciation of the arts, developing the ability to apply scientific principles, developing the ability to communicate in writing, and understanding the present as it relates to history.
• The patterns of individual goal rankings remained fairly stable by gender and race/ethnicity. However, women and African American respondents consistently assigned higher importance and development ratings to the goals for undergraduate education than did their counterparts.

For more information on the 2004 First-Year Student Survey contact:
Dr. Nancy Whelchel, Associate Director for Survey Research
Office of Institutional Planning and Research
Box 7002
NCSU
Phone: (919) 515-4184
Email: Nancy_Whelchel@ncsu.edu

Posted: January, 2005

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