• NC State conducted its annual survey of graduating seniors during the spring 1999 semester. Eligible students were those who were graduating in May, 1999.

• In most cases students were given a copy of the survey as part of their "Application for Degree" process. The final response rate was 50.5 percent.
• Respondents did not differ from the graduating senior class in gender or race/ethnicity. Due to their high response rate, College of Management students are slightly over-represented in the survey.
• The margin of error for the survey is about 1.6 percent for all respondents, and about 6.8 percent for small subgroups (e.g., African Americans).

• A plurality of respondents (46.5%) said their primary goal in attending NC State was to "prepare for a new career". Women were more likely than men to say their primary goal was to "prepare for graduate or professional school" (37.1% vs. 27.1%). Three-fourths (74.0%) of white respondents compared to 63.2 percent of African Americans said they had "fully accomplished" their goal.
• Almost one-fourth of respondents said they were planning on going to graduate or professional school either full-time (20.2%) or part-time (3.9%). White respondents, however, were much more likely than African Americans to be planning on attending graduate school full-time rather than part-time (whites: 21.3% full-time and 3.5% part-time; African Americans: 13.0% full-time and 11.1% part-time). Men were more likely than women to say that at the time of the survey they had already accepted a job (17.0% vs 11.7%).

• While three-fourths (74.4%) of all respondents said they would choose NC State again if they could start over, almost one-third of African Americans (32.1%) compared to 15.4% of whites said they were "not sure" if they would do so.
• More than two-thirds (68.4%) of all respondents said they would choose the same major again.
• Large majorities of respondents give 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 (57.5%) or very strong (15.5%)
• Faculty received higher ratings for their teaching (e.g., setting high expectations for learning) than for their interpersonal relationships with students (e.g., caring about students' academic success and welfare). Women gave consistently higher ratings than men to faculty contributions.

• While majorities of students said they believe the campus environment is at least moderately supportive of various groups of people at the university, one-fourth (25.6%) said the campus is either "moderately" or "strongly unsupportive" of gay and lesbian students. Women were much more likely than men to say the campus is "strongly supportive" of men, and whites were much more likely than African Americans and other minority respondents to say the campus is "strongly supportive" of African Americans, other ethnic minorities and international students.

• Respondents were generally positive about academic advising, technology services, and research support on campus. African American respondents, however, gave notably higher ratings than whites to technology services, and notably lower ratings to access to faculty in research. Among all respondents, ratings for technology training classes and access to trained staff for help received relatively low ratings.
• With the exception of campus food services, a majority of respondents rated various non-academic services and the staff associated with them as either "excellent" or "good". While white respondents gave higher ratings than African Americans to opportunities for community service, African Americans gave higher ratings than whites to campus health services and residence life programs. African Americans also gave much higher ratings than whites to library, campus food services and campus health services staff.
• Almost 60 percent of respondents said they had received some type of financial aid, and the large majority of them (87.3%) were "moderately" or "very satisfied" with the aid package they received. More than 90 percent (93.1%) of African American respondents received financial aid, but less than one-third (32.1%) of them said they were "very satisfied" with their aid package.

• On a scale of 1 ("none") to 4 ("very much") NC State's contribution to the student's development of 31 of 35 knowledge, skills and personal development goals was rated at 3.0 or higher. Women and African Americans gave similar or higher ratings than men and whites, respectively, to almost all goals.
• On average, highest ratings were given by all respondents to enhancing analytic skills (3.60), developing computer skills (3.60), ability to critically analyze ideas and information (3.59), ability to plan and carry out projects independently (3.60), and developing potential for success (3.59).
• Lowest ratings were given to the university’s contribution to a number of worldview goals: appreciating gender equity (2.92), appreciating racial equity (2.90), exercising public responsibility and community service (2.82), and advancing appreciation of the arts (2.61).

• Half (50.0%) of African American respondents, and 30.4% of whites were employed and working more than 20 hours per week during their graduation year. About one-third of all employed respondents were working in jobs that were directly related to their major, although men and whites were more likely than women and African Americans, respectively, to have said this was the case.
• About half of respondents had had a co-op, internship, practicum or field experience while at NC State, and almost 40 percent of them (38.5%) got a job offer through that experience.
• A majority of respondents (57.5%) said they had participated in organizations or clubs related to their majors.

For more information on the 1999 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

Posted: April 2000

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