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bgsu first year students: thirty years trends

ABSTRACT

BGSU has collected survey data to profile the characteristics, attitudes, values, and future goals of the new first year students at the main campus since 1973. This report provides an overview of the thirty years of data from the survey, highlighting the significant changes over the time and discussing the impact that these changes may cause.

BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY

Bowling Green State University has collected descriptive information about its new first year students since 1973. This was done via the "Freshman Survey" developed by Dr. Alexander Astin and coordinated by the American Council of Education/University of California at Los Angeles between 1973 and 1979 and between 1990 and 1995, the locally-developed "BGSU Freshman Survey" administered between 1980 and 1989, and the locally-developed "BGSU First Year Student Questionnaire" which has been used since 1997. Although new questions are introduced in the survey each year to reflect changing interests in the community, many of the survey items are comparable across the thirty year interval and they group into three areas: enrollment management-related information, demographic information, and expectations and values information.

This report arrays trend information based on the survey data of 1973, 1978, 1983, 1994*, 1998 and 2003. Significant changes over time and their implications are also discussed.

The  results were analyzed by noting the percentages of participants who provided various responses to each questionnaire item. Percentages may not always sum to 100 due to rounding. Since new questions are introduced in the survey each year to reflect changing interests in the community, every question cannot be repeated each year.

* data of 1993 are not available.

ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT RELATED INFORMATION

Trends in enrollment management-related information are presented in Table 1 through Table 5, Figure 1 and Figure 2.

First year students report applying for admission to a greater number of other institutions besides BGSU in recent years than they did earlier (see Table 1 and Figure 1). While the majority (56%) of 1973 entering freshmen applied to no other college besides BGSU, only 27% of the 2003 entering freshmen did so. Despite more than half of the first year students indicated that they have been admitted to colleges other than BGSU (see Table 2), the University is the overwhelming first choice among colleges to attend (see Table 3).

Table 1. How many other colleges besides BGSU did you apply to?
  1973 1978 1983 1988 1994 1998 2003
% % % % % % %
none 56 42 34 29 29 31 27
one 24 21 28 27 23 25 24
two 13 19 22 22 23 22 22
three or more      7 19 16 23 25 22 27

Table 2. How many other colleges besides BGSU admitted you this year?

  1973 1978 1983 1988 1994 1998 2003
% % % % % % %
none 49 13 NA 31 NA 39 28
one 28 37 NA 30 NA 31 30
two 15 27 NA 20 NA 17 20
three or more      7 22 NA 18 NA 13 22

Table 3.  Among colleges to attend, was BGSU your…

  1973 1978 1983 1988 1994 1998 2003
% % % % % % %
First choice NA 84 82 77 83 85 82
Second choice NA 15 16 20 15 14 16
Third choice or less       NA 2 2 3 2 2 3

Table 4 below shows the most important reasons why people chose to go to college in general. While a few items on that table showed little variation over the thirty years interval, the rest showed pronounced changes. For example, the percentages of entering freshmen who note that a very important reason for them to go to college is "to gain a general education and appreciation of ideas" declined between the 1970s and the mid-1990s, but increased between 1994 and 2003 (see Figure 2). During the same period of time, however, the trends of going to college in order  "to be able to make more money"  and "to be able to get good job" went the opposite way (see Figure 2). In addition, the number of students who stated that a very important reason to attend college are "to learn more about things that interest me" and  "I wanted to get away from home" has steadily increased since 1978.

Despite the changes in individual items from time to time, "to learn more about things that interest me", "to gain a general education & appreciation of ideas", "to be able to get a better job", "to meet new and interesting people", "to be able to make more money", and "to prepare for a professional career" remained the top five important reasons for most BGSU first year student to attend college in general.

Table 4. How important were each of the following in your decision to attend college in general?
(Percent "Very Important")
  1973 1978 1983 1988 1994 1998 2003
% % % % % % %
To prepare for a professional career NA NA NA NA NA 93 92
To learn more about things that interest me NA 70 72 74 75 74 80
To gain a general education & appreciation of ideas NA 66 66 63 55 64 71
To be able to get a better job NA 78 84 86 85 83 68
To meet new and interesting people NA 64 66 67 NA NA 60
To be able to make more money NA 55 63 68 75 69 55
To make me a more cultured person NA 30 NA NA 34 43 46
I wanted to get away from home NA 10 15 17 20 24 37
To improve my reading and study skills NA 34 38 35 34 35 36
My parents wanted me to go NA 27 20 22 30 31 26
A mentor/role model encouraged me to go NA NA NA NA 10 19 18
To prepare for graduate/professional school NA 31 32 41 45 NA NA

As for the reasons why students decided to attend BGSU in particular, the University's academic reputation and programs, the friendly and safe community, and  BGSU's job or graduate school preparation were considered more important than other factors on the survey list (see Table 5.) The percentage of entering freshmen who indicated that a "very important" reason to attend BGSU is "I was offered financial assistance" increased steadily between 1973 and 2003.

Table 5.  How important were each of the following in your decision to attend BGSU?
(Percent "Very Important")

  1973 1978 1983 1988 1994 1998 2003
% % % % % % %
BGSU's graduates get good jobs NA NA NA NA 43 63 72
my BGSU visit was pleasant and friendly NA NA NA NA NA 55 65
BGSU offers unique educational programs NA NA NA NA NA 52 65
BGSU's academic reputation 65 55 63 66 54 53 63
BGSU takes student safety seriously NA NA NA NA NA 42 57
BGSU is in a small and safe community NA NA NA NA NA 47 56
BGSU has an attractive campus NA NA 45 46 NA 39 53
BGSU's graduates gain admis. to top grad/Prof schools NA NA NA NA 17 49 53
the reputation of BGSU's faculty, staff, and students NA NA NA NA NA 42 48
BGSU's social reputation NA NA 27 28 25 36 44
I wanted to attend a school of BGSU's size NA NA 23 25 40 40 43
Cost of tuition at BGSU 25 17 38 37 32 33 35
BGSU's rankings in national magazines NA NA NA NA NA 28 29
I was offered financial assistance 8 8 13 15 16 33 29
I wanted to live near home NA NA NA NA 13 23 14
A friend suggested attending NA 7 21 20 10 13 13
BGSU contacted and recruited me NA NA NA NA NA NA 9
A teacher advised me 6 3 3 3 3 11 8
My relatives  wanted me to come here 6 4 7 8 5 12 8
A high school guidance counselor recommended BGSU NA NA 6 5 4 NA 7


DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

The majority of entering BGSU freshmen consistently reported that their home is between 101 and 500 miles from BGSU (Table 6). A Bachelor’s Degree in education (teacher or administrator), business, other, and undecided remained the most popular occupational choices of first year students across the thirty year interval (see Table 7 and 8). The percentage of freshmen who plan to obtain a master's degree at BGSU has steadily increased since early 70s, from 14% in 1973 to 26% in 2003.

Table 6. How many miles from BGSU is your permanent home?
  1973 1978 1983 1988 1994 1998 2003
% % % % % % %
10 or less 3 3 3 NA 3 3 4
11 to 50 19 21 18 NA 22 23 19
51 to 100 22 23 18 NA 20 18 23
101 to 500 54 52 60 NA 53 54 49
over 500              3 2 2 NA 3 2 5

 

Table 7. Your Probable Occupation (more than 5% of respondents)
  1973 1978 1983 1988 1994 1998 2003
% % % % % % %
Teacher or administrator 20 12 NA NA 17 18 28
Other 7 8 NA NA 8 11 13
Business 18 21 NA NA 12 12 11
Undecided 11 9 NA NA 16 17 9
Actor, artist, or musician 5 6 NA NA 5 5 5
Accountant NA 8 NA NA 5   5
Writer or journalist NA   NA NA     5
Unemployed   NA NA NA NA 6  
Therapist NA   NA NA 9 5  
Computer programmer or analyst                            NA 5 NA NA      
Lawyer 5   NA NA      

Table 8.  The Highest Degree You Plan to Obtain at BGSU

  1973 1978 1983 1988 1994 1998 2003
% % % % % % %
Associate or equivalent 3 2 1 6 1 NA NA
Bachelor's 77 76</