• NC State conducted its annual survey of graduating seniors during the fall 2000 and spring 2001 semesters. Eligible students were those who were graduating in December 2000 or May 2001. The survey's response rate among all AY00-01 graduates was 62.4%.
• Academic units chose whether their seniors would take Web or paper versions of the survey. Spring graduates were more likely than fall graduates to have completed the survey.
• Respondents did not differ from the AY00-01 graduating senior class in gender or race/ethnicity. College of Design and College of Textiles graduates were slightly underrepresented in the sample due to the relatively low response rates among students in these colleges.
• The margin of error for the survey is +0.82 percent for all respondents.

• African Americans and whites were more likely than non-African American minorities to say their primary objective for attending NC State was to "prepare for a new career" (49.6%, 46.7%, and 39.9%, respectively). Women were more likely than their men to say their primary goal was to "prepare for graduate or professional school" (38.1% vs. 25.9%). Respondents graduating in May were more likely than those graduating in December to cite graduate school preparation as their primary goal (34.1% vs. 24.2%), while December graduates were more likely than May graduates to say their primary goal was to prepare for a new career (51.4% vs. 44.1%).
• Almost three-fourths of all respondents (74.5%) said they "fully accomplished" their primary goal. Racial minorities were less likely than whites to have said they "fully accomplished" their goal.
• Over one-fifth of all respondents said they were planning on going to graduate or professional school either full-time (17.7%) or part-time (3.5%). Non-African American minorities and whites were more likely than African Americans to plan on going to graduate/professional school full time (19.5%, 18.0%, and 11.7%, respectively). Respondents graduating in May were more likely than those graduating in December to be planning full-time graduate work (21.0% vs. 10.2%).

• While almost three-fourths (73.8%) of all respondents said they would choose NC State again if they could start over, African Americans were more than twice as likely as whites to say they would not do so (17.4% vs 7.9%).
• About two-thirds (66.9%) of all respondents said they would choose the same major again. African Americans, however, were more likely than whites to say they would not choose the same major (21.9% vs. 13.7%).
• Large majorities of respondents gave positive ratings to the overall education they received at NC State, the overall quality of instruction, and the quality of instruction in their major. A majority also rated the intellectual environment on campus as strong (54.0%) or very strong (13.2%).

• Respondents generally gave positive ratings to the different types of academic services listed. Technology services and career-related services received the highest overall ratings for an area. Research support services received the lowest overall rating for an area.
• The three highest ranking individual items were within technology services: access to the Internet, hours of operation for computer labs and help desks, and access to up-to-date facilities. However, the two lowest ranking individual items were also within technology services: access to trained staff for help and technology training classes.
• Gender and racial/ethnic patterns in the rating of services varied by service area. Non-African American minorities tended to rate academic advising more favorably than did whites and African Americans. Women and African Americans tended to rate technology services more favorably than their respective counterparts. Non-African American minorities gave lower ratings than other groups to career-related services.
• Over half of students (56.7%) who completed an off-campus degree program said it was "very likely" or "probable" that they would have obtained their degrees on a UNC campus had the off-campus program not been available. Half of African American respondents who completed an off-campus program said it was "not likely" that they would have graduated from a UNC campus had the program been unavailable.

• A majority of respondents (53.8%) said NC State met their intellectual growth needs "very well." Respondents were slightly less positive about the other areas; 45.4 percent said their personal growth needs were met "very well," and only 33.4 percent said this about their career training needs. Women were more likely to have given high ratings to NC State's contribution to their personal growth, and whites were more likely than racial minorities to have done so in the area of intellectual growth.
• Respondents were asked to rate NC State's contribution to 35 goals for their undergraduate education. On a scale of 1 ("none") to 4 ("very much"), only 2 of the 35 items received mean ratings below 3.0. Higher ratings were given to general education and personal development goals than to world view goals.
• Women rated personal development and world view goals higher than did men. Across all goal categories, racial minorities tended to rate NC State's contribution to the goals higher than did whites.
• On average, highest ratings were given by all respondents to enhancing analytic skills (3.62), ability to critically analyze ideas and information (3.59), ability to plan and carry out projects independently (3.59), developing potential for success (3.57), and ability to function as part of a team (3.56).
• Lowest ratings were given to the university�s contribution to a number of worldview goals: advancing appreciation of the arts (2.76), exercising public responsibility/community service (2.89), commitment to personal health/fitness (3.00), appreciating racial equity (3.04), appreciating gender equity (3.06), understanding the present as it relates to history (3.10), and understanding issues and problems facing the world (3.10).

• About 80 percent of respondents (80.4%) indicated that they were employed during their graduation year. Over half (56.7%) of African American respondents, 39.4% of whites, and 33.8% of non-African American minorities who were employed were working more than 20 hours per week. Over one-third (36.5%) of all employed respondents were working in jobs that were directly related to their major, although women and African Americans were less likely than their respective counterparts to have said this was the case.
• Over half (52.9%) of respondents had a co-op, internship, practicum or field experience while at NC State. Over 40 percent (44.1%) of those with such experience said they received a job offer from their employer. African Americans tended to rate their co-op experiences less positively than did white and non-African American minorities, and fewer reported that they had received a job offer from their employer.

For more information on the 2000-2001 Graduating Senior 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