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| From the issue dated February 1, 2008 |
This Year's Freshmen at 4-Year Colleges: a Statistical Profile
Related article: Colleges Face Touch Sell to Freshmen, Survey Finds (2/1/2008)
Age, language, race, religion |
|
17 or younger |
1.7% |
18 |
67.9% |
19 |
29.0% |
20 |
0.9% |
21 to 24 |
0.4% |
25 or older |
0.1% |
English is native language |
Yes |
92.3% |
No |
7.7% |
Racial and ethnic background |
White/Caucasian |
75.1% |
African-American/Black |
10.7 % |
Asian-American/Asian |
8.0% |
Mexican-American/Chicano |
4.0% |
Puerto Rican |
1.3% |
Other Latino |
3.5% |
American Indian/Alaska Native |
2.1% |
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander |
1.1% |
Other |
3.4% |
|
Roman Catholic |
26.8% |
Baptist |
11.3% |
Methodist |
5.2% |
Lutheran |
4.1% |
Church of Christ |
3.9% |
Presbyterian |
3.4% |
Jewish |
2.8% |
Episcopalian |
1.5% |
Buddhist |
1.1% |
Latter-day Saints (Mormon) |
1.0% |
Hindu |
0.9% |
Islamic |
0.8% |
United Church of Christ/Congregational |
0.8% |
Eastern Orthodox |
0.6% |
Seventh-day Adventist |
0.3% |
Quaker |
0.2% |
Other Christian |
13.0% |
Other religion |
2.9% |
None |
19.4% |
Making the choice, settling in |
Number of other colleges applied to for admission this year: |
None |
17.3% |
1 |
11.8% |
2 |
14.4% |
3 |
16.0% |
4 |
12.6% |
5 |
9.1% |
6 |
6.3% |
7 to 10 |
10.1% |
11 or more |
2.4% |
Accepted by first-choice college: |
Yes |
80.6% |
No |
19.4% |
College attended is student's: |
First choice |
64.1% |
Second choice |
24.7% |
Third choice |
7.5% |
Less than third choice |
3.8% |
Miles from college to permanent home |
5 or less |
4.9% |
6 to 10 |
5.8% |
11 to 50 |
24.7% |
51 to 100 |
17.9% |
101 to 500 |
33.3% |
Over 500 |
13.4% |
Housing plans during fall term |
College residence hall |
80.3% |
With family or other relatives |
13.4% |
Other private home, apartment, or room |
3.6% |
Other campus student housing |
2.2% |
Fraternity or sorority house |
0.3% |
Other |
0.3% |
Top reasons noted as very important in selecting college attended |
College has a very good academic reputation |
63.0% |
57.2% |
67.6% |
Graduates get good jobs |
51.9% |
47.3% |
55.6% |
A visit to the campus |
40.4% |
34.4% |
45.2% |
Was offered financial assistance |
39.4% |
34.8% |
43.1% |
Wanted to go to a school about the size of this college |
38.9% |
31.4% |
45.0% |
College has a good reputation for its social activities |
37.1% |
35.2% |
38.6% |
The cost of attending |
36.8% |
32.7% |
40.1% |
|
Concern about financing college |
None (I am confident that I will have sufficient funds) |
38.9% |
45.2% |
33.6% |
Some (but I probably will have enough funds) |
51.6% |
47.5% |
55.1% |
Major (not sure I will have enough funds to complete college) |
9.5% |
7.3% |
11.3% |
|
Business |
17.7% |
Professional |
14.5% |
Arts and humanities |
12.8% |
Social sciences |
11.1% |
Education |
9.2% |
Biological sciences |
8.6% |
Engineering |
7.5% |
Physical sciences |
3.2% |
Technical |
1.0% |
Other fields |
7.2% |
Undecided |
7.0% |
|
Parents education (highest level) |
Grammar school or less |
3.1% |
2.8% |
Some high school |
4.7% |
3.3% |
High-school graduate |
20.9% |
19.5% |
Postsecondary school other than college |
3.8% |
4.2 % |
Some college |
14.4% |
16.8% |
College degree |
27.9% |
32.5% |
Some graduate school |
2.1% |
2.7% |
Graduate degree |
23.0% |
18.0% |
Estimated parental income |
Less than $10,000 |
3.2% |
$10,000 to $14,999 |
2.5% |
$15,000 to $19,999 |
2.4% |
$20,000 to $24,999 |
3.4% |
$25,000 to $29,999 |
3.2% |
$30,000 to $39,999 |
6.2% |
$40,000 to $49,999 |
7.3% |
$50,000 to $59,999 |
8.6% |
$60,000 to $74,999 |
11.4% |
$75,000 to $99,999 |
14.7% |
$100,000 to $149,999 |
18.0% |
$150,000 to $199,999 |
7.8% |
$200,000 to $249,999 |
4.0% |
$250,000 or more |
7.4% |
|
Both alive and living with each other |
70.7% |
Both alive, divorced or living apart |
25.7% |
One or both deceased |
3.7% |
Did either of your parents or legal guardians attend the institution that you are now attending? |
No |
89.1% |
Yes, mother or female legal guardian only |
4.0% |
Yes, father or male legal guardian only |
3.8% |
Yes, both |
3.0% |
|
Middle of the road |
43.4% |
Liberal |
29.3% |
Conservative |
23.1% |
Far left |
2.7% |
Far right |
1.5% |
|
Students rated self above average or highest 10 percent in: |
Drive to achieve |
74.8% |
72.5% |
76.7% |
Cooperativeness |
72.6% |
71.8% |
73.2% |
Academic ability |
69.1% |
72.8% |
66.1% |
Understanding of others |
65.6% |
63.3% |
67.6% |
Leadership ability |
61.6% |
65.7% |
58.3% |
Self-confidence (intellectual) |
60.1% |
69.6% |
52.3% |
Competitiveness |
58.0% |
70.4% |
47.8% |
Self-understanding |
56.8% |
62.1% |
52.5% |
Physical health |
56.0% |
68.0% |
46.2% |
Creativity |
55.8% |
56.0% |
55.6% |
Emotional health |
54.5% |
62.1% |
48.3% |
Self-confidence (social) |
53.2% |
58.5% |
48.8% |
Writing ability |
45.9% |
44.2% |
47.3% |
Mathematical ability |
43.5% |
53.1% |
35.7% |
Computer skills |
39.9% |
49.3% |
32.1% |
Spirituality |
37.9% |
37.2% |
38.5% |
Public-speaking ability |
37.0% |
40.9% |
33.8% |
Artistic ability |
28.7% |
27.9% |
29.3% |
Agree strongly or somewhat that: |
The federal government is not doing enough to control environmental pollution |
79.8% |
76.5% |
82.5% |
Through hard work, everybody can succeed in American society |
78.8% |
79.3% |
78.4% |
The federal government should do more to control the sale of handguns |
75.9% |
67.9% |
82.6% |
A national health-care plan is needed to cover everybody's medical costs |
74.5% |
70.4% |
77.9% |
The chief benefit of a college education is that it increases one's earning power |
66.2% |
69.0% |
63.8% |
Only volunteers should serve in the armed forces |
66.2% |
65.4% |
66.8% |
Same-sex couples should have the right to legal marital status |
63.5% |
55.3% |
70.3% |
Dissent is a critical component of the political process |
62.8% |
66.4% |
59.6% |
Wealthy people should pay a larger share of taxes than they do now |
58.4% |
57.9% |
58.8% |
Abortion should be legal |
56.9% |
57.6% |
56.2% |
There is too much concern in the courts for the rights of criminals |
55.9% |
59.1% |
53.2% |
Undocumented immigrants should be denied access to public education |
48.1% |
53.7% |
43.5% |
Affirmative action in college admissions should be abolished |
47.8% |
53.2% |
43.3% |
Colleges have the right to ban extreme speakers from campus |
41.2% |
44.1% |
38.8% |
Marijuana should be legalized |
38.2% |
43.8% |
33.5% |
The death penalty should be abolished |
35.1% |
31.5% |
38.0% |
Federal military spending should be increased |
31.4% |
34.6% |
28.6% |
Realistically, an individual can do little to bring about changes in our society |
26.5% |
30.4% |
23.4% |
The federal government should raise taxes to reduce the deficit |
25.8% |
29.9% |
22.4% |
It is important to have laws prohibiting homosexual relationships |
24.3% |
31.8% |
18.1% |
Racial discrimination is no longer a major problem in America |
19.5% |
24.1% |
15.8 |
Students reported they frequently did the following in the past year: |
Asked questions in class |
54.4% |
50.3% |
57.8% |
Supported their opinions with a logical argument |
58.2% |
60.8% |
56.1% |
Sought solutions to problems and explained them to others |
49.4% |
48.6% |
50.1% |
Revised their papers to improve their writing |
46.8% |
36.9% |
54.9% |
Evaluated the quality or reliability of information they received |
35.0% |
34.9% |
35.0% |
Took a risk because they felt they had more to gain |
37.8% |
42.3% |
34.1% |
Sought alternative solutions to a problem |
41.6% |
43.2% |
40.2% |
Looked up scientific research articles and resources |
21.2% |
22.4% |
20.2% |
Explored topics on their own, even though it was not required for a class |
29.0% |
32.1% |
26.4% |
Accepted failure as part of the learning process |
20.3% |
21.4% |
19.4% |
Sought feedback on their academic work |
43.9% |
37.6% |
49.0% |
NOTE: The statistics are based on survey responses of 272,036 first-year students entering 356 four-year colleges and universities in the fall of 2007. The figures were statistically adjusted to represent the total population of approximately 1.4 million first-time, full-time students at four-year institutions. Because of rounding or multiple responses, figures may add up to more than 100 percent. |
SOURCE: "The American Freshman: National Norms For Fall 2007," published by the U. Of California at Los Angeles Higher Education Research Institute |
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http://chronicle.com
Section: Students
Volume 54, Issue 21
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