North Carolina State University
2006 First-Year Student Survey:
Gender and Racial/Ethnic Comparisons
of Background Characteristics

This document reports gender and racial/ethnic differences in respondents' general background characteristics, such as financial aid, parent/guardian education, employment plans, and other personal information. For information about the survey and analysis methods see "2006 First-Year Student Survey: Introduction, Methods, and Student Demographic Profile." Exact question wording is available on the web or by clicking on the "Q" next to the table heading.

Financial Aid | Parent/Guardian Income | Parent/Guardian Educational Attainment | First Generation Students | Household Dependents | Respondents' Home Community | Religious Preference | Musical Interests | Preparation for College | Personal Computers | Intended Work Community

Q Financial Aid

		NCSU	Women	Men	AfAm	White	Other
Expect Financial Aid	%	63.6%	66.8%	61.0%	88.2%	60.6%	67.6%
Total	N	3836	1716	2120	314	3099	423

Type of Aid Expected:		NCSU	Women	Men	AfAm	White	Other
Academic	%	34.1%	35.9%	32.7%	40.5%	34.1%	29.6%
Financial need	%	38.4%	41.6%	35.8%	68.9%	34.5%	44.2%
Athletic based	%	2.0%	2.2%	1.9%	3.2%	2.1%	0.7%
Other - dance, music, etc.	%	1.5%	1.6%	1.4%	2.2%	1.5%	0.9%
Other aid than listed above	%	12.6%	13.2%	12.1%	13.7%	12.5%	12.5%

Note: Respondents could list more than one type of aid.
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Q Parent(s)/Guardian(s) 2004 Combined Income

Parent's income		NCSU	Women	Men	AfAm	White	Other
$10,000 or less	%	1.9	2.0	1.8	7.2	1.0	4.5
$10,001-$15,000	%	1.4	1.5	1.3	6.4	0.8	2.1
$15,001-$20,000	%	1.6	2.2	1.2	7.2	0.8	3.4
$20,001-$25,000	%	2.5	2.9	2.2	6.4	2.0	3.7
$25,001-$30,000	%	2.8	2.9	2.7	7.2	2.4	2.9
$30,001-$35,000	%	3.2	3.8	2.9	7.2	2.5	6.1
$35,001-$40,000	%	4.7	5.9	3.8	8.7	3.9	7.1
$40,001-$50,000	%	5.9	6.1	5.8	5.3	5.6	8.4
$50,001-$60,000	%	8.9	8.8	9.1	8.3	9.0	9.0
$60,001-$75,000	%	12.5	13.2	11.9	10.6	13.0	10.0
$75,001-$100,000	%	18.9	18.7	19.1	12.1	19.9	16.1
$100,001-$150,000	%	20.3	18.7	21.5	6.4	22.4	15.0
$150,001-$200,000	%	7.9	6.8	8.8	3.4	8.6	6.6
$200,000 plus	%	7.5	6.5	8.1	3.4	8.2	5.0
Total	N	3355	1436	1919	264	2712	379

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Q Father/Male Guardian Educational Attainment

Father Education		NCSU	Women	Men	AfAm	White	Other
Less than high school	%	2.1	2.1	2.1	5.2	1.4	5.6
High school graduate	%	15.0	15.0	14.9	24.5	13.8	16.6
Some college/no degree	%	12.0	12.8	11.3	16.0	11.4	13.3
2-4 yr. associate degree	%	9.9	9.6	10.1	11.9	10.0	7.4
4 year baccalaureate degree	%	35.1	35.8	34.5	21.9	37.8	24.3
Some graduate or prof. coursework/no degree	%	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.7	2.8	4.3
Master's degree	%	15.9	15.6	16.1	12.3	15.7	19.4
Doctorate or other professional degree	%	7.1	6.0	8.0	4.5	7.1	9.0
Total	N	3524	1556	1968	269	2864	391

Q Mother/Female Guardian Educational Attainment

Mother Education		NCSU	Women	Men	AfAm	White	Other
Less than high school	%	1.4	1.5	1.3	1.5	0.6	6.9
High school graduate	%	13.7	13.8	13.7	15.8	12.6	20.4
Some college/no degree	%	12.6	13.7	11.6	18.1	11.9	13.8
2-4 yr. associate degree	%	15.0	15.4	14.8	20.5	14.8	13.3
4 year baccalaureate degree	%	36.7	35.9	37.3	25.9	39.1	25.5
Some graduate or prof. coursework/no degree	%	3.7	3.9	3.5	4.6	3.7	2.6
Master's degree	%	14.0	13.1	14.8	9.3	14.5	14.0
Doctorate or other professional degree	%	2.9	2.7	3.1	4.2	2.7	3.6
Total	N	3585	1606	1979	259	2934	392

First Generation Students

		NCSU	Women	Men	AfAm	White	Other
First generation college student	%	8.1	8.2	8.0	14.2	6.4	16.4
At least one parent some college/no degree	%	20.5	21.6	19.5	32.9	19.2	20.9
Not first generation	%	71.5	70.3	72.4	52.9	74.5	62.8
Total	N	3833	1715	2118	310	3101	422

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Q Dependents in Respondent???s Household

Number in household		NCSU	Women	Men	AfAm	White	Other
One	%	3.5	3.2	3.8	6.4	3.2	4.0
Two	%	11.0	9.1	12.5	17.4	10.2	11.9
Three	%	21.9	22.0	21.8	26.0	21.8	19.8
Four	%	39.6	40.6	38.8	28.0	41.3	36.0
Five or more	%	24.0	25.1	23.1	22.2	23.6	28.3
Total	N	3822	1713	2109	311	3091	420

Q Household Dependents in College

Number of dependents in college		NCSU	Women	Men	AfAm	White	Other
Only self	%	66.2	65.8	66.4	66.7	66.2	65.4
Two	%	29.0	29.8	28.3	26.3	29.1	29.6
Three or more	%	4.9	4.4	5.2	7.0	4.6	5.0
Total	N	3797	1700	2097	300	3078	419

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Q Respondent???s Home Community

High school area population		NCSU	Women	Men	AfAm	White	Other
Rural area	%	15.5	14.8	16.0	14.0	16.8	6.9
Small town	%	24.0	24.7	23.5	19.6	25.0	20.0
Moderate city	%	29.7	32.1	27.8	30.6	29.1	33.4
Large city	%	14.7	15.0	14.5	18.3	13.8	19.1
Urban area	%	16.1	13.5	18.2	17.6	15.3	20.5
Total	N	3662	1618	2044	301	2957	404

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Q Religious Preference

		NCSU	Women	Men	AfAm	White	Other
Assemblies of God	%	0.8%	0.7%	0.9%	0.0%	0.8%	1.2%
Baha'i	%	0.1%	0.0%	0.2%	0.3%	0.1%	0.2%
Baptist	%	26.1%	26.9%	25.5%	47.1%	25.5%	14.2%
Buddhist	%	1.2%	1.1%	1.2%	0.0%	0.8%	5.1%
Catholic	%	15.0%	14.9%	15.0%	2.7%	15.3%	21.9%
Disciples of Christ	%	1.1%	1.2%	1.0%	2.1%	1.1%	0.2%
Episcopal	%	2.6%	3.2%	2.0%	2.4%	2.7%	1.6%
Hindu	%	1.0%	1.0%	1.0%	0.0%	0.1%	8.6%
Jewish	%	1.0%	0.9%	1.0%	0.0%	1.1%	0.7%
Latter-Day Saints	%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%	0.0%	0.3%	0.2%
Lutheran	%	3.0%	2.5%	3.4%	0.3%	3.5%	1.4%
Moravian	%	0.5%	0.5%	0.6%	0.0%	0.6%	0.2%
Muslim	%	0.8%	1.0%	0.6%	1.5%	0.2%	4.9%
Presbyterian	%	8.4%	8.6%	8.2%	2.4%	9.6%	4.4%
Unitarian	%	0.2%	0.3%	0.1%	0.0%	0.3%	0.0%
United Methodist	%	13.7%	14.0%	13.4%	1.8%	16.4%	2.8%
Non-denominational	%	9.8%	12.3%	7.7%	9.4%	10.4%	5.6%
No religious preference	%	15.7%	14.1%	17.0%	15.4%	14.8%	22.6%
Other religious preference	%	8.6%	8.5%	8.7%	17.5%	7.5%	10.0%
Total	N	3920	1748	2172	331	3160	429

*Note: Respondents were able to select multiple religious preferences.
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Q Musical Interests

		NCSU	Women	Men	AfAm	White	Other
Play musical instrument(s)	% yes	36.2%	33.5%	38.3%	35.2%	35.9%	38.9%
Total	N	3894	1739	2155	327	3143	424

		NCSU	Women	Men	AfAm	White	Other
Recent participation in choral group	% yes	20.6%	27.5%	14.9%	28.9%	20.2%	17.0%
Total	N	3878	1738	2140	325	3129	424

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Q Preparation for College by High School

		NCSU	Women	Men	AfAm	White	Other
Well prepared	%	42.3	42.8	42.0	34.5	43.1	43.1
Adequately prepared	%	48.2	49.9	46.8	51.2	47.8	48.9
Poorly prepared	%	9.5	7.3	11.2	14.2	9.2	8.0
Total	N	3908	1744	2164	330	3151	427

Q Preparation for College by Self

		NCSU	Women	Men	AfAm	White	Other
Well prepared	%	38.7	40.8	37.0	31.9	39.9	35.1
Adequately prepared	%	56.3	55.6	56.8	60.2	55.9	56.2
Poorly prepared	%	5.0	3.6	6.2	7.9	4.3	8.7
Total	N	3903	1741	2162	329	3147	427

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Q Extent and Types of Personal Computers

Have personal computer		NCSU	Women	Men	AfAm	White	Other
Yes, Laptop	%	82.8	86.4	79.9	67.5	84.8	78.9
Yes, Desktop	%	6.0	5.4	6.5	7.5	5.8	6.1
Yes, Laptop and Desktop	%	7.1	3.3	10.1	5.2	7.0	8.7
No	%	0.7	1.1	0.5	6.5	0.2	0.5
Do not know	%	3.4	3.8	3.1	13.3	2.1	5.8
Total	N	3792	1702	2090	308	3072	412

Q Personal Computer Connection to Internet

Connect to NCSU Internet		NCSU	Women	Men	AfAm	White	Other
Yes	%	93.1	91.2	94.7	81.4	95.1	84.0
No	%	0.3	0.5	0.2	1.1	0.2	1.3
Do not know	%	6.6	8.3	5.1	17.5	4.7	14.7
Total	N	2916	1340	1576	183	2427	306

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Q Intended Work Community

Location of future employment		NCSU	Women	Men	AfAm	White	Other
Anywhere	%	33.1	30.6	35.1	32.7	32.6	37.2
In North Carolina	%	16.4	17.7	15.3	12.4	17.8	9.2
Outside NC but in USA	%	26.3	23.4	28.6	26.1	26.8	22.6
Outside the USA	%	1.1	1.0	1.2	1.0	1.0	2.2
Will not seek employment	%	23.1	27.2	19.8	27.8	21.9	28.7
Total	N	3749	1674	2075	306	3032	411

Intended Work Community (Among those seeking employment, N=2,295)

Location of future employment		NCSU	Women	Men	AfAm	White	Other
Anywhere	%	43.0	42.1	43.8	45.2	41.7	52.2
In North Carolina	%	21.3	24.4	19.1	17.2	22.8	13.0
Outside NC but in USA	%	34.2	32.2	35.6	36.2	34.3	31.7
Outside the USA	%	1.5	1.4	1.5	1.4	1.3	3.1
Total	N	2883	1219	1664	221	2369	293

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For more information on the 2006 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: February, 2007

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