CIRP Freshman Survey � Executive Summary
Philip Batty, Director of Institutional Analysis
This is a report of results from the 2007 administration of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) Freshman Survey.� The survey was administered during orientation from May - July, 2007.� The results reported here are for the 3,309 respondents who indicated that they would be full-time FTIACs in the fall.
Following are some areas in which GVSU�s freshmen differ from freshmen at similar schools nationwide.� Please refer to the report �2007 CIRP Institutional Summary� for additional details.� Reports showing trends and gender differences in GVSU freshmen�s responses are also available.
� GVSU freshmen regard GVSU highly�� Our students were more likely to be attending their first choice school (82% vs. 71%).� GVSU freshmen were more likely that national peers to cite a good academic reputation (68% vs. 60%) or a good reputation for social activities (37% vs. 33%) among the reasons for choosing their college. GVSU students also indicate higher expectations for satisfaction with their college than the national norm (62% vs. 53%).
� GVSU freshmen are less politically involved�� GVSU students are less likely than national peers to consider �influencing the political structure� an important personal goal (14% vs. 22%) or to value �keeping up to date with political affairs� highly (31% vs. 36%). GVSU freshmen are less likely than other freshmen to say they discussed politics frequently (26% vs. 31%).
� GVSU freshmen have less experience with ethnic diversity� �Our students were more likely to describe their high school as �Mostly White� or �Completely White� (79% vs. 69%).� Similarly, they tended to describe their neighborhoods as mostly or completely white (86% vs. 80%). They were also less likely to say they had socialized frequently with someone of another ethnic group in the past year (62% vs. 66%).
� Reporting of alcohol and tobacco use is much lower among GVSU freshmen� According to their self-reports, GVSU students are less likely to have drunk beer (20% vs. 42%), drank wine or liquor (25% vs. 48%), or smoked cigarettes frequently (1% vs. 6%) in the last year. However, GVSU freshmen's parents are often present when they complete the survey, so the honesty of their self-reports of illegal substance use is highly suspect
� GVSU freshmen are concerned about financing college�� GVSU freshmen are less likely than peers to indicate confidence in their ability to finance their education (36% vs. 47%).� They�re more likely to say they�ll get a job to pay for college (64% vs. 43%) �and to count on their own earnings to cover expenses (62% vs. 57%).
For more information on these survey results, please see the attached reports*, or contact the Office of Institutional Analysis (331-8648).