North Carolina State University
2005 First-Year Student Survey:
Highlights
- NC State conducted its annual survey of entering first-year students during New Student Orientation sessions held in July and early August 2005. The survey response rate was 85.8 percent (N=3,753 of 4,375). 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.
- More than one-half of respondents (57.8%) applied to "three or more colleges" including NC State. Two-thirds or more respondents in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (72.0%), the College of Education (67.3%), and First Year College (67.2%) applied to "three or more colleges" including NC State. College of Engineering respondents (28.6%) were more likely than others to report having applied "only to NC State."
- Out of a list of 20 factors potentially influencing the decision to attend NC State, academic reputation (23.9%) was most likely to be rated the "single most influential factor," followed by level of support for intended major (14.8%) and availability of program (13.0%). African Americans were more than four times as likely as white respondents to report that scholarships/financial aid available was the "single most influential factor" in their decision to attend NC State (17.1% vs. 4.0%).
- Although 45 percent of respondents said they were "well prepared" for college by their high school, close to 10 percent felt they had been "poorly prepared" their high school. Forty percent of respondents reported being "well prepared" for college by their own efforts (39.7%).
- The vast majority of respondents (86.8%) intend to enroll for 15 credit hours or more during their first semester and three-fourths (75.9%) intend to complete a degree at NC State within 4 years. 70 percent of respondents report being "certain" (42.3%) or "very certain" (28.0%) of their choice of college major.
- Nearly two-thirds of respondents (63.8%) reported that they do not intend to work during their first semester at NC State. Non-African American minorities (43.3%) and African Americans (39.4%) were more likely than whites (34.9%) to report that they plan to work during their first semester at NC State. Among those who plan to work, the vast majority said they would work less than 20 hours per week (82.0%).
- More than 70 percent of respondents reported that they ultimately plan on obtaining a Master's degree or higher (71.7%). Consistent with this finding, the 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" (55.6%). Those in the Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences (80.7%) and Physical and Mathematical Sciences (72.2%) were most likely to be pursuing a bachelor's degree as preparation for graduate/professional school.
- More than one-third of respondents (34.2%) said they would not be seeking employment after graduation, most likely indicating their intention to attend graduate or professional school. Among those who will be seeking employment after graduation, more than 40 percent (42.8%) reported that location will not be important in their search for employment, while about half as many (21.7%) said that they plan to look for employment in North Carolina only. Those in the Colleges of Design (62.7%), Engineering (47.5%), and Textiles (46.2%) are most likely to report that they will seek employment "anywhere." More than half of respondents in the College of Education (55.3%) said that they will seek employment in North Carolina only. This figure is a low of 8.5 percent among College of Design respondents.
- Respondents consistently gave higher ratings to the importance of each of 35 different knowledge, skills, and personal development goals than to their current development of the goal. However, in general, goals that received high importance ratings tended to receive high development ratings. Taking responsibility for my own behavior, valuing racial equity, and valuing gender equity were among the highest rated goals in terms of both development and importance. 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 the ability to communicate in writing, developing the ability to apply scientific principles, and understanding the present as it relates to history.
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: February, 2007
Download a Microsoft Word Version of this report.
Return to 2005 First-Year Student Survey Table of Contents Page