North Carolina State University
2009-2010 Graduating Senior Survey:
Executive Summary
Survey Methods
NC State conducted its annual survey of graduating seniors during the 2009-2010 academic year (AY09-10). Eligible students were those who were graduating in December 2009 or May 2010. Due to low participation rates, College of Design graduates were excluded from all analyses. Results, therefore, are generalizable to all NC State AY09-10 graduates, excluding those from the College of Design.
The online survey acheived a 53.4 percent response rate, with a margin of error of ±1.0 percent (excluding the College of Design). There were no significant gender or racial/ethnic differences between survey respondents and the AY09-10 graduating senior class. The Colleges of Design, Textiles, and Natural Resources are underrepresented among survey respondents, while the Colleges of Engineering and Agriculture and Life Sciences are slightly overrepresented.
Student Goals and Intentions
Respondents were most likely to have said their primary goal for attending NC State was to "prepare for a new career or profession" (41.5%) or to "prepare for graduate/professional school" (39.9%). More than 70 percent of respondents (72.3%) said they "fully accomplished" their primary goal.
Over one-fourth of respondents said they planned to go to graduate or professional school either full-time (24.4%) or part-time (3.6%) after graduation. Only 16 percent reported having obtained full-time or part-time employment for after graduation. However, this figure is much higher among those who completed the survey less than 2 months prior to graduation (22.2%), as compared to those who completed the survey 4 or more months prior to graduation (11.1%).
Close to one-half of respondents (48.6%) said it took them longer than four years to graduate. Respondents gave various reasons for taking longer than 4 years to graduate, most of which were related to academic or curriculum issues. The most commonly reported curricular reason for taking longer than four years to graduate was changed majors (40.8%), followed by wanted/advised to take a lighter courseload (25.1%), and double major/minor (23.5%). Time spent working was also frequently reported, with more than one-fifth giving this reason (22.3%). Other, less commonly reported reasons for delayed progress toward degree included financial and personal reasons and participation in Study Abroad programs.
More than one-fifth of all respondents said they had considered withdrawing or transferring from NC State (19.1%), or had actually left and returned (2.2%). The most commonly reported reasons for considering leaving NC State related to curriculum/program (e.g., program or major offered), campus life, and personal reasons (e.g., health, family, or friends), with one-fourth or more giving such reasons.
Academic Environment
More than 90 percent of respondents (92.2%) said they would recommend NC State to a friend. More than three-fourths (81.6%) of respondents said they would choose NC State again if they could start over, and 65 percent said they would choose the same major again.
Over 90 percent of respondents rated the intellectual environment on campus as "strong" (54.1%) or "very strong" (39.8%). Although ratings for each item were overwhelmingly positive, respondents were much more likely to give ratings of "excellent" to the quality of instruction in their major (62.3%) and to the overall education they received (56.0%) than to the quality of instruction overall (39.2%).
A majority of respondents gave a rating of "excellent" to faculty in setting high expectations for learning (56.1%) and encouraging that time and energy be devoted to coursework (54.1%). Although still rated as "excellent" or "good" by majorities of respondents, factors related to faculty involvement with students on a more individual basis received somewhat lower ratings (e.g., encouraging student-faculty interaction and giving frequent and prompt feedback).
More than 60 percent of respondents indicated having had at least one of several different types of mentoring relationships with a faculty member. Respondents most commonly reported regularly meeting with a faculty member to get academic guidance (44.3%) or professional guidance (37.4%). A substantial number of students also reported working with faculty on campus activities (21.0%) and independent study projects (20.3%). Regardless of the type of mentoring experience, majorities of respondents said it contributed "a great deal" to their personal and/or professional growth.
Campus Climate
There are large racial/ethnic differences in the extent to which students agree that NC State is committed to helping minority students succeed. White respondents (59.1%) were much more likely than Asian American (42.1%), African American (36.6%), and Hispanic (45.2%) respondents to "strongly agree" that NC State is committed to helping minority students succeed. White respondents were also more likely than their Asian Americans, African Americans, Hispanics counterparts to "strongly agree" that NC State leaders foster diversity on campus (40.0% vs. 32.7%, 20.6%, and 31.7%, respectively).
Three-fourths or more respondents said they believe the campus environment is at least "mildly supportive" of 6 out of the 8 student groups asked about (i.e., women, men, African Americans, other racial/ethnic minorities, international students, and students with disabilities). In contrast, less than 60 percent of respondents rated the campus climate as supportive of gay, lesbian, and bisexual students (59.1%) and transgender students (50.9%).
Services for Students
Large majorities of respondents gave positive ratings to academic services related to academic advising, research support, technology services, library services, career-related services, and employment search assistance. Respondents tended to give the highest ratings to library and technology services and relatively lower ratings to services related to academic advising and research support. Of all the items asked about, library hours of operation received the highest ratings, followed by access to the Internet. Opportunities to do research/creative projects received the lowest average ratings.
Although non-academic services tended to receive slightly lower ratings than academic services, with the exception of campus food services, each of the non-academic services asked about was rated as at least "good" by three-fourths or more respondents. Campus counseling (not career) services (41.3%), University Career Center (40.5%), and campus health services (39.7%) were most likely to be rated as "excellent." Staff associated with the non-academic services also received positive ratings from more than three-fourths of respondents, with the exception of food services staff, for which 71 percent of respondents gave positive ratings. Most likely to be rated "excellent" were staff associated with the University Career Center (43.2%) and campus counseling (not career) services (42.5%).
Two-thirds of graduating seniors reported receiving some sort of financial aid. More than half of those who received aid (51.6%) were "very satisfied" with their aid package, and another 42 percent were "moderately satisfied." About 40 percent or more financial aid recipients rated financial aid advisor staff (46.5%), reception staff (45.3%), and phone staff (39.7%) as "excellent."
Knowledge, Skills and Personal Development
Seventy percent of respondents (70.6%) said NC State met their intellectual growth needs "very well." Respondents were slightly less likely to report that their personal growth needs were "very well" met (60.1%) and even less likely to say their career training needs were "very well" met (48.8%).
Respondents were asked to rate NC State's contribution to 44 specific goals for undergraduate education. Higher ratings were given to the university's contribution to goals related to general education and personal development than to world view goals.
Respondents were most likely to report that NC State contributed "very much" to the general education goals of problem-solving skills (68.5%), enhancing analytic skills (67.1%), and critical analysis of ideas/information (66.3%) and to the personal development goals of potential for success (66.9%), personal growth (66.3%), and independence and self-reliance (66.3%).
Although still rated positively by a majority of respondents, graduating seniors were least likely to say NC State contributed "very much" to the general education goals of appreciating the arts (34.3%), appreciating the humanities (41.4%), and applying social science methods to understand human behavior (41.6%), the personal development goals of exercising public responsibility/community service (44.7%) and maintaining an active and healthy lifestyle (46.4%), and the world view goal of appreciating differences in sexual orientation (43.3%).
Employment and Extra-Curricular Involvement
About 70 percent of respondents (71.3%) indicated that they were employed during their senior year. More than 60 percent of employed respondents worked off campus only (62.6%), one-fifth worked on campus only, and another 17 percent worked both on and off campus. Respondents most commonly reported working in order to pay basic living expenses, such as rent and groceries.
Employed students worked an average of 20 hours per week. Students working off campus were more than four times as likely as those working on campus to report working more than 20 hours per week (35.3% vs. 7.6%). Students working on campus (39.5%) were more likely than those working off campus (29.1%) to have jobs directly related to their major.
About 40 percent of respondents (40.1%) had a co-op, internship, practicum or field experience while at NC State, and more than 70 percent of those respondents (72.1%) said it made an "excellent" contribution to their personal or professional growth. More than one-fourth of all respondents with such experience said they received a job offer from their employer (26.5%).
From a list of 18 extracurricular activities, respondents were most likely to report participation in organizations/clubs related to their major (47.3%), followed by intramural/recreational sports/club teams (39.7%). More than two-thirds of respondents said they had attended at least one NC State concert, performance, or exhibit while a student at NC State. More than one-fourth of graduating seniors reported attending University Theatre performance(s) (28.8%) and Music Department concert(s) (28.2%).
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: November, 2010
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