North Carolina State University
First-Year Student Survey Trends, 1994-2009:
Introduction, Methods, and Student Demographic Profile
Introduction
This series of reports presents trends in First-Year Student Survey data collected from 1994-2009. Entering students have been surveyed each year during the summer prior to their first semester. The data used for this analysis is representative of students entering into 10 of the 11 undergraduate academic units, excluding the Agricultural Institute. The First-Year Student Survey contributes to the University of North Carolina General Administration's (UNC-GA) system-wide efforts to evaluate institutional performance.
This introductory report describes the survey's methodology and provides a demographic profile of survey respondents. It compares gender, race/ethnicity1, and academic unit of survey respondents over the sixteen years covered in this analysis. This report is followed by an overview of results from the trend analysis. Summary statistics are presented for survey items related to student background characteristics, applying to NC State, paying for college, preparation for college, and educational intent and interests. Data for some survey items are unavailable for certain years due to changes in the survey instrument over time. These changes are documented within the overview report. This series of reports is available on the web on the Table of Contents page.
Survey Methods
Administration Mode
From 1994 through 2008, the First-Year Student Survey was administered during New Student Orientation. Students attending Orientation were asked to complete a paper-and-pencil version of the survey during one of their regularly scheduled orientation sessions. In 2009, the research design switched to an online administration, which was available to students after they had attended New Student Orientation. Students were sent an email the week following their Orientation program and invited to participate in the online survey. Non-respondents were sent up to four follow-up email reminders. Students not attending any of the Orientation sessions were emailed the first week of the semester and asked to complete the survey. The 2009 research design also included an incentive. Specifically, one student from each week of New Student Orientation sessions who submitted the online survey by the deadline for that week was randomly selected to have $100 added to his/her NC State "AllCampus Card,' and one student from all respondents was randomly selected to have $500 added to his/her AllCampus Card.
Respondents (Table 1)
A total of 53,770 First-Year Student Surveys collected from 1994-2009 were used in these analyses. Table 1 presents a breakdown of the number of surveys collected in each year along with information on the response rate and margin of error for each year. Response rates range from a low of 69.7 percent in 2009 to a high of 92.2 percent in 2007. Due to a fairly large first-year student population and a high response rate in each survey year, the margin of error for survey results in each year is very low -- under ±1.0 at a 95 percent confidence interval2. The total sample used in this trend analysis represents 85.2 percent of the first-year students entering NC State during the study years, and the margin of error for the entire trend analysis sample is ±0.1 at a 95 percent confidence interval.
Table 1: Response Rates and Margin of Error for First-Year Student Surveys, 1994-2007| Year | First-Year Population (N) |
Survey Respondents (N) |
Response Rate (%) |
Margin of Error |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 3,530 | 2,784 | 78.9% | ± 0.4 |
| 1995 | 3,528 | 2,738 | 77.6% | ± 0.4 |
| 1996 | 3,535 | 3,155 | 89.3% | ± 0.2 |
| 1997 | 3,650 | 3,063 | 83.9% | ± 0.3 |
| 1998 | 3,642 | 3,143 | 86.3% | ± 0.2 |
| 1999 | 3,552 | 2,996 | 84.3% | ± 0.3 |
| 2000 | 3,748 | 3,353 | 89.5% | ± 0.2 |
| 2001 | 3,728 | 3,360 | 90.1% | ±0.2 |
| 2002 | 3,549 | 3,136 | 88.4% | ±0.2 |
| 2003 | 3,854 | 3,348 | 86.9% | ±0.2 |
| 2004 | 3,847 | 3,293 | 85.6% | ±0.2 |
| 2005 | 4,253 | 3,660 | 86.1% | ±0.2 |
| 2006 | 4,559 | 3,920 | 86.0% | ±0.2 |
| 2007 | 4,790 | 4,415 | 92.2% | ±0.1 |
| 2008 | 4,669 | 4,169 | 89.3% | ±0.2 |
| 2009 | 4,644 | 3,237 | 69.7% | ±0.5 |
| Total | 63,078 | 53,770 | 85.2% | ± 0.1 |
Analyses
The data were analyzed using standard statistical methods. In analyses not presented in these reports, responses were tested to determine whether there were significant differences in responses to survey items across years3. Complete results are available from UPA on request.
These reports attempt to provide a level of detail that makes the data more accessible and interpretable to the novice data user. A primary purpose is to highlight patterns found in responses to related question items or across years. Such consistencies among items or across years are usually more important for understanding the data than are the sizes of the differences between individual pairs of ratings or rankings or, to some extent, whether the differences are statistically significant. While some individual small differences might be statistically significant, they may not be substantively meaningful. On the other hand, when even relatively small differences yield consistent patterns within a similar series of questions, the results are potentially more telling.
Demographics of the Survey Respondents, 1994-2009
Gender and Race/Ethnicity (Tables 2 and 3)
With the exception of 2009, in each survey year tests of statistical significance reveal no significant gender differences between the survey sample and first-year student population. The gender composition of the first-year class remained relatively stable 1994 and 2008, with females comprising between 40 and 45 percent of survey respondents in each year. In 2009, women were slightly overrepresented among survey respondents, making up 49 percent of respondents, but only 44 percent of the first-year population.
In each survey year, there were no racial/ethnic differences between survey respondents and the first-year student population. The proportion of white respondents has declined slightly across survey years, from 83 percent in 1994 to 77 percent in 2009. Black/African American respondents make up between 8 and 13 percent of respondents. Beginning in 2009, results are broken out for individual groups of non-African American minority respondents4.
Table 2: Trends in Gender Composition of Survey Respondents| Gender | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 40.2% | 43.2% | 41.3% | 40.8% | 42.5% | 42.8% | 44.0% | 43.4% | 42.2% | 42.6% | 43.9% | 44.3% | 44.6% | 45.0% | 46.1% | 49.1% |
| Male | 59.8% | 56.8% | 58.7% | 59.2% | 57.5% | 57.2% | 56.0% | 56.6% | 57.8% | 57.4% | 56.1% | 55.7% | 55.4% | 55.0% | 53.9% | 50.9% |
| Total (N) | 2,784 | 2,738 | 3,155 | 3,063 | 3,143 | 2,996 | 3,353 | 3,360 | 3,136 | 3,348 | 3,293 | 3,660 | 3,920 | 4,415 | 4,169 | 3,237 |
Table 3: Trends in Racial/Ethnic Composition of Survey Respondents
| Race/Ethnicity | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | 83.4% | 80.7% | 84.2% | 82.3% | 82.2% | 84.6% | 82.4% | 84.0% | 82.5% | 82.9% | 80.8% | 80.0% | 80.6% | 79.6% | 79.9% | 76.6% |
| Black/African American | 10.8% | 12.8% | 10.4% | 11.4% | 10.9% | 8.8% | 9.9% | 9.0% | 10.3% | 10.1% | 10.4% | 9.9% | 8.4% | 9.1% | 8.4% | 7.7% |
| Non-African American Minorities | 5.8% | 6.5% | 5.4% | 6.3% | 6.8% | 6.6% | 7.7% | 6.9% | 7.2% | 7.0% | 8.8% | 10.1% | 10.9% | 11.2% | 11.7% | NA |
| Asian American | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 5.2% |
| Hispanic | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 3.4% |
| Other/Unknown | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 7.1% |
| Total (N) | 2,784 | 2,738 | 3,155 | 3,063 | 3,143 | 2,996 | 3,353 | 3,360 | 3,136 | 3,348 | 3,293 | 3,660 | 3,920 | 4,415 | 4,169 | 3,237 |
Academic Units (Table 4)
Table 4 shows enrollment of survey respondents by academic unit and year. With the exception of 2009, there were no significant differences in academic unit enrollment between the survey respondents and the first-year class in any of the survey years. In 2009, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences was slightly overrepresented among survey respondents.
In general, enrollment in the individual units has remained proportional over time. The greatest fluctuation in college of enrollment was seen for the First Year College, for which enrollment figures more than doubled between 1994 and 1997 (from 11.9% to 25%), before declining steadily through 2009.
Table 4: Trends in Academic Unit Enrollment of Survey Respondents| College/School | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture and Life Sciences | 17.8% | 20.8% | 18.7% | 16.8% | 16.1% | 16.0% | 16.1% | 15.0% | 15.5% | 14.5% | 15.6% | 15.7% | 16.5% | 17.2% | 17.4% | 19.2% |
| Design | 1.8% | 1.6% | 2.5% | 2.7% | 2.4% | 2.7% | 2.1% | 2.8% | 2.2% | 1.9% | 2.2% | 2.3% | 2.1% | 1.5% | 1.8% | 1.9% |
| Education* | 3.2% | 3.1% | 2.1% | 2.6% | 3.2% | 3.3% | 3.0% | 1.5% | 1.6% | 1.9% | 2.1% | 2.6% | 2.7% | 2.9% | 3.4% | 3.7% |
| Engineering** | 34.5% | 28.9% | 27.6% | 30.1% | 32.1% | 33.3% | 32.3% | 29.4% | 31.0% | 31.3% | 33.8% | 29.8% | 31.6% | 30.6% | 29.7% | 27.7% |
| First-Year College*** | 11.9% | 18.5% | 23.0% | 25.2% | 22.1% | 22.0% | 22.9% | 24.4% | 21.4% | 20.5% | 17.7% | 20.8% | 19.1% | 18.4% | 18.8% | 16.4% |
| Humanities and Social Sciences**** | 10.3% | 8.8% | 8.8% | 6.9% | 7.3% | 7.0% | 8.2% | 9.7% | 11.3% | 11.2% | 10.1% | 12.5% | 10.1% | 11.0% | 10.2% | 10.7% |
| Management | 7.4% | 7.0% | 8.2% | 5.7% | 6.7% | 6.6% | 7.1% | 8.0% | 8.3% | 7.4% | 8.2% | 6.0% | 7.8% | 7.5% | 8.4% | 8.6% |
| Natural Resources***** | 3.0% | 3.3% | 2.3% | 2.7% | 2.8% | 2.4% | 1.6% | 3.0% | 2.7% | 3.4% | 2.8% | 2.1% | 2.8% | 2.9% | 2.9% | 3.2% |
| Physical and Mathematical Sciences | 5.5% | 4.2% | 2.9% | 3.4% | 3.1% | 3.5% | 3.2% | 2.9% | 3.7% | 4.6% | 4.7% | 4.3% | 4.2% | 4.3% | 4.1% | 4.5% |
| Textiles | 4.7% | 3.8% | 3.8% | 3.8% | 4.2% | 3.3% | 3.5% | 3.3% | 2.4% | 3.4% | 2.9% | 3.9% | 3.2% | 3.7% | 3.3% | 4.0% |
| Total (N) | 2,784 | 2,738 | 3,155 | 3,063 | 3,143 | 2,996 | 3,353 | 3,360 | 3,136 | 3,348 | 3,293 | 3,660 | 3,920 | 4,415 | 4,169 | 3,237 |
**Undesignated Textile Engineering students are included in the College of Engineering figures.
***First Year College includes University Undesignated Program and University Transition Program in the 1994 statistics.
****In 2001, Psychology was added to The College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
*****In 1999, the College of Forest Resources changed its name to the College of Natural Resources.
Endnotes:
1. The term "racial/ethnic"
is used throughout these reports to recognize the potentially blurred
distinction between the individual terms. Between 1994 and 2008, students
were requested to identify themselves on application materials using the following categories:
Caucasian, African American or Black (not of Hispanic origin), Native American
Indian or Alaskan, Asian or Pacific Islander, or Hispanic (Mexican, Puerto
Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish origin or culture,
regardless of race). For analysis purposes, these categories were collapsed
into "White," "African American," and "other
minorities." In 2009, students were requested to identify themselves using any number of the following categories: Hispanic or Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and White. For analysis purposes, these categories were collapsed into "Asian American," "Black/African American," "Hispanic," "White," and "Other/Unknown." (back)
2. A 95 percent confidence interval denotes the range of
values which contains the true population value in 95 of 100 possible random
samples of the first-year student population. The margin of error given in the
text is conservative since it was calculated assuming a 50/50 response distribution
for all questions. Margins of error for individual survey items are likely to
be even smaller because response distributions are rarely symmetrical.(back)
3. Questions requiring categorical responses were
analyzed with chi-square tests, and questions with numerically coded responses
were analyzed with either T-tests or one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with
Duncan's multiple comparison procedure. (back)
4. For individual year results go to the Incoming Freshmen Survey page.(back)
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: July, 2010
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