Vol. 1, No. 3, March 1996

 

New Century College Freshman Survey

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This report examines the responses of 157 New Century College (NCC) first-time freshmen students who took the national Freshmen Survey developed by the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) and administered to students at the beginning of their first semester of enrollment (fall 1995). The overall response rate for this survey was 82%, excluding the responses of six freshmen transfers. Comparisons between NCC students and freshmen attending public universities across the United States are given . Only select items from the survey are included in this report.

II. Students Characteristics/Background

The table below highlights those characteristics of NCC students that differ substantially from freshmen who enrolled at a public university in the fall of 1995. NCC students are more ethnically diverse, more likely to be non-native speakers of English and more likely to be "far left" or "liberal" in their political orientation. NCC freshmen said their home was closer to college than other freshmen. Further, parents of NCC students are more likely to be divorced or living separately than the parents of freshmen nationally. The average age of NCC students (not shown here) is slightly lower than for public university freshmen.

Characteristics and Background	NCC Freshmen			Public Univ Freshmen
	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
Ethnic background*
White American African American Asian American Hispanic American All others	72.5 4.3 10.1 11.5 7.2	59.1 19.3 11.1 3.4 14.8	65.0 12.7 10.8 7.0 11.5	85.2 5.3 6.5 3.2 3.7	83.1 8.3 5.8 3.2 3.8	84.1 6.9 6.1 3.2 3.8
Non-native English speakers	19.1	14.8	16.7	6.4	5.8	6.1
Parents divorced/living separately	29.0	30.7	29.9	20.5	24.2	22.5
Miles from college to home
5 or less 6-10 11-50	5.8 14.5 44.9	10.5 15.1 44.2	8.4 14.8 44.5	4.0 4.8 20.8	3.7 5.1 20.6	3.8 4.9 20.7
"Far left" or "liberal" political orientation	27.7	38.5	33.8	22.4	29.3	26.0

*Percentages add to more than 100 due to students checking more than one category.

III. Reasons For Going to College

NCC students were more likely to give altruistic reasons for their college attendance. For example, they were more likely to say that becoming a more cultured person, learning more about things, and encouragement from a role model or mentor were very important reasons for attending college. NCC students were slightly less likely to say that making more money was a very important reason for attending college.

Reasons Very Important in Deciding to go to College	NCC Freshmen			Public Univ Freshmen
	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
become a more cultured person	52.2	65.9	59.9	34.6	49.5	42.5
make more money	65.2	72.7	69.4	75.0	69.9	72.3
learn more about things	76.8	86.4	82.2	72.5	80.8	76.9
gain general education	68.1	75.0	72.0	57.1	70.8	64.4
improve reading and study skills	50.7	59.8	55.8	35.4	44.1	40.0
role model/mentor encouraged me	17.4	21.8	19.9	11.4	12.5	12.0

IV. Reasons Very Important In Deciding To Attend George Mason

NCC students differed from students nationally in their reasons they gave for their choice of college. Having special programs was identified by the largest proportion of Mason students as very important in selecting their college. NCC students were more likely than other freshmen to say that relatives wanted them to come and that they wanted to live near home. They were less likely to say that a good academic reputation, financial assistance, the opportunity to attend top graduate schools or post-graduation jobs were very important in their decision to attend Mason.

Reasons Very Important in Deciding to go this College	NCC Freshmen			Public Univ Freshmen
	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
relatives wanted me to come	7.2	14.1	11.0	6.2	7.4	6.8
good academic reputation	29.0	54.0	42.9	53.0	62.9	58.2
offered financial assistance	11.8	19.0	15.8	20.6	26.3	23.6
wanted to live near home	14.5	33.3	25.0	11.8	16.5	14.3
graduates go to top graduate schools	5.8	19.0	13.1	23.8	32.7	28.5
offers special programs	33.3	51.8	43.5	14.7	23.9	19.6
graduates get good jobs	24.6	28.9	27.0	43.8	50.8	47.5

V. Educational Choice, Goals and Experiences

Describing their goals relative to the institution in which they had matriculated, NCC students were less likely to say that GMU was a first choice institution and that GMU was the only college they applied to compared with other freshmen. NCC students were more likely to say they planned on earning a Ph.D. or Ed.D. and were more likely to indicate that their baccalaureate would be earned at GMU. NCC students were more likely to say they had or would need remedial work in math, English and science. The difference between NCC males and females are striking, particularly in their rating of their need for remediation in math and science. One-quarter of both males and females say they will need remedial work in math, however, only 6% of men said they will need remedial work in science.

Educational Choice/Goals/Experiences	NCC Freshmen			Public Univ Freshmen
	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
College they're attending wasn't their first choice	7.2	14.1	11.0	6.2	7.4	6.8
Applied only to the college they are attending	29.0	54.0	42.9	53.0	62.9	58.2
Highest degree student plans to earn
Bachelor's Master's (MA or MS) Ph.D. or Ed.D.	24.0 38.0 20.0	14.9 29.7 35.1	18.5 33.1 29.0	26.0 38.9 17.1	21.6 40.3 17.2	23.7 39.6 17.2
Highest degree planned where currently enrolled
Bachelor's Master's (MA or MS)	56.8 27.0	71.7 26.1	65.1 26.5	59.3 25.6	60.7 24.2	60.0 24.8
Had remedial work in...
English Mathematics Science	14.5 24.6 13.0	10.2 25.0 10.2	12.1 24.8 11.5	4.4 7.7 3.6	3.0 10.4 3.3	3.6 9.1 3.5
Will need remedial work in...
English Mathematics Science	11.6 26.1 5.8	11.4 38.6 20.5	11.5 33.1 14.0	8.8 16.3 6.6	6.1 25.5 11.1	7.4 21.2 8.9

VI. Educational Preparation

NCC students rated themselves substantially higher on artistic ability, social self confidence and understanding of others when compared to other freshmen. They rated themselves substantially lower on mathematical ability and somewhat lower on physical health when compared to others. Further, NCC students were dramatically less likely to say their average grade in high school was between a B+ and an A+.

Educational Preparation	NCC Freshmen			Public Univ Freshmen
	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
Proportion who rated self above average or top 10% in...
artistic ability leadership ability mathematic ability physical appearance physical health popularity intellectual self confidence social self confidence understanding of others	42.0 69.6 40.6 62.3 58.0 50.7 69.6 68.1 79.7	39.8 55.7 17.0 45.5 45.5 39.1 52.3 55.2 90.9	40.8 61.8 27.4 52.9 51.0 44.2 60.0 60.9 86.0	30.2 63.1 59.8 49.5 66.8 48.8 68.8 54.2 65.9	26.6 59.2 42.3 39.6 50.1 38.0 54.9 49.2 78.0	28.3 61.1 50.5 44.3 57.9 43.1 61.4 51.6 72.3
High School Grade was B+ to A+	21.6	33.4	28.1	57.0	66.3	61.9

VII. Important College Objectives

A greater proportion of NCC freshmen rated each of the objectives listed below as essential or very important when compared to freshmen nationally. Very striking differences exist between the two groups. NCC students, in general, place a higher priority on community involvement than freshmen nationally.

Objectives Considered to be Essential or Very Important	NCC Freshmen			Public Univ Freshmen
	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
achieve in a performing art	13.4	19.8	17.0	11.0	11.5	11.3
influence political structure	32.8	33.3	33.1	19.7	16.5	18.0
write original works	30.9	24.1	27.1	13.5	13.0	13.2
create artistic work	19.1	19.5	19.4	13.1	13.3	13.2
be involved in enviromental clean-up	32.4	36.8	34.8	20.5	23.6	22.2
participate in community action	25.0	47.1	37.4	18.1	27.8	23.2
promote racial understanding	45.6	57.5	52.3	28.2	37.2	32.9
be a community leader	41.2	42.5	41.9	31.6	32.7	32.2
develop a philosophy of life	58.8	59.8	59.4	43.3	45.0	44.2

VIII. Opinions and Activities

NCC freshmen were more likely than freshmen nationally to say that they would participate in student protests and participate in volunteer community service. They were less likely to think that married women are best at home, more likely to say that sex was OK if the people like each other and less likely to agree that racial discrimination is no longer a problem.

Opinions and Activities	NCC Freshmen			Public Univ Freshmen
	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
Chances are very good that student will....
participate in student protests participate in volunteer/community service	18.2 16.4	18.4 45.8	18.3 32.7	4.5 11.5	6.6 26.2	5.6 19.3
Agrees strongly or somewhat that...
married women are best at home sex OK if people like each other racial discrimination is no longer a problem	15.2 62.7 13.4	14.0 46.0 3.4	14.5 53.2 7.8	27.2 56.9 22.1	15.5 33.2 13.6	21.0 44.3 17.6

IX. Activities Engaged In During the Past Year

NCC freshmen were more likely to say they had felt depressed during the past year, to say they worked in a political campaign, used a personal computer, and socialized with different ethnic groups. NCC men were more likely than NCC women and freshmen men nationally to say that they had drunk beer, wine or liquor. Women were more likely than men to feel overwhelmed or depressed, with NCC women more than twice as likely to feel depressed when compared to freshmen women nationally.

Activities Engaged in During Past Year	NCC Freshmen			Public Univ Freshmen
	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
drank beer	71.0	36.4	51.6	59.3	54.4	56.7
drank wine or liquor	71.0	47.7	58.0	53.5	59.8	56.9
felt overwhelmed	20.3	37.5	29.9	16.4	34.2	25.8
felt depressed	8.7	21.6	15.9	6.4	9.7	8.2
worked in a political campaign	26.1	22.7	24.2	10.4	10.2	10.3
was bored in class	49.3	45.5	47.1	38.7	38.6	38.7
didn't complete homework in time	79.7	77.0	78.2	69.7	62.1	65.7
used a personal computer	63.8	65.9	65.0	59.6	53.3	56.2
socialized with different ethnic groups	85.5	87.5	86.6	61.5	66.7	64.3