Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP ... · Mt. San Antonio College CIRP Survey Results: An Eight-Year Comparison (2002-2005, 2007, 2009, 2011 & 2014) Executive Summary

Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP): Freshmen Survey Analysis

Micheline Pontious M.A. Project Coordinator

Research and Institutional Effectiveness Mt. San Antonio College

1100 N Grand Ave Walnut, CA 91789

May 15, 2015

Mt. San Antonio College CIRP Survey Results: An Eight-Year Comparison (2002-2005, 2007, 2009, 2011 & 2014)

Executive Summary

The Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) conducts an annual Freshmen Survey of incoming students throughout the country. Administered since 1973 by the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) at the University of California, Los Angeles, it lays claim to being the oldest empirical study of higher education. The purpose of the survey is to gather data which will allow colleges and universities to better understand their changing institutional needs, as well as the needs of the secondary educational system as a whole, while also “providing a comprehensive portrait of the changing character of entering students and American society at large”1 .

The survey collects data regarding a wide-array of student information, including: “parental income and education, ethnicity, and other demographic i tems; financial aid; secondary school achievement and activities; educational and career plans; and values, attitudes, beliefs, and self-concept”1.

Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) has been a participant a number of times over many years, but this report will be focused predominantly on the 2014 survey, with comparisons to the past 8-years of survey data. Occasionally some survey items will not have been i ncluded in past years and comparisons will only b e made with the years available. A national comparison group is not possible because few schools that use CIRP are 2-year schools, thus Mt. SAC uses its year to year findings to benchmark itself.

Key points about the 2014 CIRP Survey

In 2009 Mt. SAC began offering the survey online, a trend that continued to 2014. In the past, however, the survey has been administered in hard copy. The electronic administration might have compelled students to be more honest in their responses on account of the heightened sense of anonymity. Over the last 8 years the number of participating students at Mt. SAC ranged from the low 800’s to the 1900’s. The following will be a summary of the self-reported data collected, highlighting changes, trends, motivations, and a general overview of the 2014 incoming student surveyed at Mt. SAC.

Mt. SAC derived supplemental questions for the survey. However, these questions are always addressed in a separate report. The current report only summarizes the findings for the main survey.

1 (http://www.heri.ucla.edu/cirpoverview.php)

Micheline Pontious updated 5/15/15 from version by Jason Vickers updated: 6/7/12 Page 1

http://www.heri.ucla.edu/cirpoverview.php

Highlights from the Survey Findings from Mt. SAC’s Eight Year Comparison

A number of interesting response rates were found between the 8-year comparisons of the entire sample of Mt. SAC CIRP respondents. Below are some of the highlights of those responses.

On average, 1,152 students take the survey each year, in 2014, 1,355 INCOMING STUDENTS

PARTICIPATED. The majority of the survey takers have never attended college before. 854 were

first time full time Students, 343 were first time part time students, and 167 were transfer

students (non-first time students).

DEMOGRAPHICS

A large majority of incoming students IDENTIFIED AS LATINO/A (64.7%) which is 10% above the

average for the school. In general, a little over half of the Mt. SAC population are Latino/a.

Incoming students are OLDER THAN IN PAST YEARS. In the past the majority of the incoming

students are 18 or younger. In 2014, 51% are 18 or younger and 16.9% are between the ages of

20 and 24 which is up from 3.9% in 2009.

As usual, the majority of incoming students plan on living with family in the fall semester, are

native speakers, U.S. Citizens and did well in high school. In 2014 more students are LIVING

FURTHER AWAY from the Mt. SAC campus than ever before.

Many of the students come from LOW INCOME FAMILIES. More students reported their

parent’s income in the lowest bracket than in the past 8 years with 40.0% reporting parent

income is less than 24,999.

A large portion of Mt. SAC students are from low income families and continue to live with their families during their time at Mt. SAC. This may lead to more students using resources on campus they may not have available otherwise (i.e. Wi-Fi, computers, student health services, etc.)

COST OF ATTENDING MT. SAC

Mt. SAC’s ACADEMIC REPUTATION and THE COST OF TUITION are the top reasons students

choose to attend Mt. SAC in 2014.

Only 19.9% of incoming students have no concerns for how they will COVER THE COST OF

TUITION at Mt. SAC. The other incoming students have Major concern (26.4%) or some concern

(53.7%).

Interestingly, the percentage of incoming students who report cost of attending Mt. SAC

as a deciding factor in their decision enroll at Mt. SAC has dropped 14.5% since 2009

even though the percentage of students reporting their parents make less than $24,999

is at an all-time high


Many students plan on working during their time at Mt. SAC which is not unusual. Of the

incoming 2014 students 59.1% WORK TO HELP PAY FOR COLLEGE but, 26.5% plan on WORKING

FULL-TIME which is the highest reported in the past 8 years.

There may be a higher need for more night classes or a more flexible schedule

ACCADEMICS

Many of the incoming students believe they WILL DO WELL during their time at Mt. SAC with

62.6% believing they will receive a “B” average and 31.5% planning to transfer to another

college or university.

The majority of incoming students plan on CONTINUING THEIR EDUCATION after Mt. SAC.

Twenty six percent of incoming students reported wanting their bachelors and 34.8% reported

wanting a Master’s degree or higher.

Resources such as Transfer Services are vital to student success at Mt. SAC

Although many students believe they will do well at Mt. SAC a large portions still feel a HIGH

NEED FOR REMEDIAL SERVICES. Over the past 8 years many students reported a need for

remedial math and in 2014 the trend continues with 48.7% reporting a need. However the need

for remedial writing and remedial English are on the rise; 33.4% feel they need remedial writing

which is the highest reported in past 6 survey years and 26.9% feel they need remedial English

which is the highest since 2003.

Choice of MAJOR has changed over the years. In 2014 Health Professional (20.8%), Business

(15.6%) and Engineering (10.6%) were the most popular majors selected and Arts and Humanity

(3.7%), Education (2.9%) and Social Sciences (6.0%) were less popular than they have ever been in

the past 8 survey years

Needing a higher income after graduation may explain. The cost of living in

California is expensive and many students come from Low income families.

POLITICAL VIEWS

Although the majority of Mt. SAC students reported middle-of-the-road as their political

standing many of the responses to specific issues were more liberal than conservative. Many

students agree that, same sex couples should have the right to legal marital status (75.0%),

students from disadvantaged backgrounds should be given preferential treatment by admissions

(72.0%), addressing global climate change should be federal priority (72.6%), and

undocumented immigrants should have access to public education (74.0%)


Mt. San Antonio College CIRP Survey Results: An Eight-Year Comparison (2002-2005, 2007, 2009, 2011 & 2014)

The Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) Freshman Survey is the largest national survey of entering college freshman and has been conducted by the Cooperative Institutional Research Program since 1966. It is administered by the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) at the University of California, Los Angeles’ School of Education, and numerous higher education institutions participate in this survey. The findings zero in on the general characteristics of the entering freshmen population in order to gain a more well-rounded understanding of students. The purpose of this survey is to provide data for future decision-making and strategic planning.

Mt. San Antonio Community College has participated a number of times over many years of CIRP survey history. The survey results provide a detailed profile of the students including their demographic characteristics, educational objectives, expectation, life goals, high school activities, self-ratings of competency, and views on social as well as political issues. This was the third year in which the survey was offered online to Mt. SAC students. In previous years, students have received this survey in hard copy. This year also had the third highest number of respondents compared to previous years. This CIRP survey report will concentrate on Mt. SAC students only and will only focus on the main survey. For the purpose of this report, the supplemental questions of the survey will be examined in a separate report.

This summary report looks at CIRP survey responses from Mt. SAC’s entering students and compares responses to past years. The findings of this survey are discussed in terms of this year’s highlights and are examined for multiple-year trends. Occasionally 8 years of data will not be available because new questions have been added to the CIRP survey or old questions that are no longer relevant have been removed from the CIRP survey. For example, from 2002 – 2007 the CIRP survey asked students, "how do you used a personal computer" and removed it from the survey in 2009. This question may have been removed because most people or households own a personal computer.


Participant Count of Mt. SAC CIRP Survey Comparison Groups

Methods

The CIRP survey was administered to incoming Mt. SAC students during their Placement Test Appointment on Mt. SAC’s campus. All incoming Mt. SAC students are required to take a placement test prior to registering for classes that requires that type of prerequisite. Over the course of the summer, the Assessment Center scheduled special testing sessions for incoming students, with an extra time allowance to participate in the online survey. Participating students were given a random login ID and password to complete the survey online at the testing site. Completion was voluntary (students could choose to opt out at anytime) and students received no compensation for participating.

The survey has been performed online since 2009, though previous administering has taken place in-person during the New Student Orientation sessions with paper and pen formatting. On average, 1,152 surveys have been completed each year since 2002 [Table1]. This year, 1,355 incoming students completed the survey which consist of fulltime (first time students), part-time (first time students) and Transfer (non-first time students) students [Figure 1]. A special thanks to Student Services for all of their help and support throughout this process.

Table 1

2002 2003 2004 2005 2007 2009 2011 2014

All Mt. SAC Respondents 852 889 800 921 1,104 1,925 1,371 1,355

Paper survey Online Survey

Figure 1

Total Students Surveyed

N=1,355

N=167 Transfer Students

(Non First Time)

N=854 First Time Full-time Students

N=343 First Time Part-

time Students


Within-campus Comparison & Eight-Year Trend Analysis:

In this report, the collective sample of Mt. SAC CIRP survey respondents is examined for recent updates as well as the 8-year trend analysis (2002-2005, 2007, 2009, 2011 & 2014). Notable findings from the 2014 survey are discussed, and changes across the 8 years of collected data are examined in detail. Some of the survey’s highlights include: surveyed students’ demographics, family background, self-ratings of strength and competency, high school experiences, concerns, and values and beliefs.

Please note that data gathered was based upon self-reporting by incoming students and only by those students that took a placement test and chose to participate in the CIRP survey. Students started to take the survey as early as May 2014 and survey collection continued into the first part of the fall 2014 semester. As such, the results represent responses of the surveyed participants and may not reflect the overall Mt. SAC new-student population; students can take placement tests year round and enroll in winter or spring semester. Also note that numbers in the following tables are represented as the percentage of participating students who responded to a particular survey item.

Student Demographics

The overall Mt. SAC CIRP sample continues to a higher number of males (55.4%) to females (44.6%) [Table 2]. Latino/a as continue to represent the ethnic majority of Mt. SAC students, with 64.7% of respondents identifying as Latino/a in 2014 [Table 2]. Please note that these numbers may not represent the entire Mt. SAC population, but rather only what incoming students who took the survey and chose to select their race/ethnicity. In general Mt. SAC has a 53% Latino/a population1.

Table 2 Student Demographics

Mt. SAC All Survey Respondents (%)

2002 2003 2004 2005 2007 2009 2011 2014

Gender

Male

Female

44.7

55.3

44.4

55.6

51.1

48.9

48.6

51.4

49.2

50.8

47.7

52.3

52.8

47.2

55.4

44.6

Race/Ethnicity

White 18.7 18.9 22.2 21.2 22.2 18.1 22.6 19.7

Latino/a 62.1 59 55.9 62.1 62.1 67.5 64.6 64.7

African American

Asian Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander

Native American

Other

6.5

11.4

2.5

2.1

5.7

6.5

13.1

2.9

1.7

6.0

12.3

9.2

4.1

2.8

5.8

7.1

12.6

4.4

2.4

6.8

7.1

12.6

4.4

2.4

6.8

6.3

17.8

5.1

2.5

7.0

9.3

14.3

3.1

3.6

6.6

8.9

16.7

2.7

2.4

7.4 Note: Percentages may add up to more than 100%, as students could make multiple selections across ethnic categories. 1 (datamart.cccco.edu)


https://datamart.cccco.edu

In 2014, students continued a trend towards being U.S. citizens, having performed well in high school and most students living with relatives, but not all of the demographics below are as constant. Students are trending towards living further away from the college and students reporting English as their native language dropped down to where it was in 2002-2007. Moreover, students are older now than they have been in the past 4 years surveyed. Although 51% of the students are entering as 18 or younger, a large rise in the 20 – 24 age bracket from 3.9% in 2009 to 14.7% in 2011 and now 16.9% in 2014, with a coinciding decline in younger students. The “aging” population could simply be a function of those students actually surveyed; older students may be more prone to take an assessment test earlier than younger students, for example.

Figure 3

Figure 2 Makeup of Incoming 2014 Mt. SAC Students


Table 3 Student Demographics Continued


2002 2003 2004 2005 2007 2009 2011 2014

U.S. Citizen 82.5 78.8 87.7 85.9 87.0 88.4 89.7 83.8

Average Grade In HS – A and B ranges 57.0 61.9 58.3 65.7 62.0 72.4 71.1 70.7

College Distance from Home: 10 Miles Or Less

52.8 57.3 52.1 61.8 56.0 63.6 50.3 49.9

Plan To Live With Family Or Relative in Fall Term 85.2 83.4 83.2 92.8 88.6 92.2 83.4 82.3

Age 18 or less by end of Fall Term 50.3 53.1 52.4 75.3 64.9 77.9 61.1 51.0

English Is My Native Language 60.2 58.5 68.5 68.2 69.1 70.3 78.9 69.3

Parent Education Level

Parent education has been pretty consistent for incoming students over the past 8 survey years. In 2014, fathers of incoming students have a higher rate of not finishing high school than mothers, with 35.1% of fathers without a high school degree and 29.7% of mothers without a high school degree. Whereas, mothers have a higher rate of obtaining a college degree or above compared to fathers of incoming students, with 25.5% of mothers having a college degree or above and 21.9% of fathers having a college degree or above.

Figure 4

Table 4 Parent’s Education Level


2002 2003 2004 2005 2007 2009 2011 2014

Father’s Education – College Degree Or Above

Father’s Education – No High School Degree

Mother’s Education – College Degree Or Above

Mother’s Education – No High School Degree

20.9

40.2

19.6

38.9

21.9

36.6

20.9

35.4

22.8

32.7

21.3

31.5

23.2

32.3

24.0

30.3

25.2

31.8

24.6

30.3

24.6

35.2

25.9

30.0

21.4

38.7

21.3

34.2

21.9

35.1

25.5

29.7


Parental Income

In 2014 more students are reporting their parent’s income in the lowest bracket than have been in the past 8 years [Figure5]. Between 2002 and 2007 parent income rose over the years, with less students reporting between the lowest brackets (39.3% in 2002 to 31.9% in 2007) and more students reporting their parent’s income in the two higher brackets (22.30% in 2002 to 34.30% in 2007) [Figure6]. Now, students reporting in the lowest bracket for parent income have steadily been rising since 2009 [Figure5]. This may be part of a consistent pattern of parental income rises and falling over the years.

Figure 5

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

40.00%

45.00%

Average of2007-2002

2009 2011 2014

Perc

enta

ge

Years

Incoming Students Parent Income

Less than $24,999

$25,000 to $59,999

$60,000 to $99,999

$100,000 and more


Figure 6

Table 5 Parent Income


2002 2003 2004 2005 2007 2009 2011 2014

Less Than $24,999 39.3 37.9 36.6 32.2 31.9 34.2 38.3 40.0

$25,000 to $59,999

$60,000 to $99,999

38.3

14.7

33.5

15.8

34.7

15.7

35.6

18.6

33.7

18.8

38.6

16.7

33.4

17.2

33.9

14.9

$100,000 and more 7.6 10.9 13.3 13.7 15.5 10.4 11.1 11.1

Self-Ratings of Strength and Competency

Incoming students were asked to rate themselves on traits [Table 6]. Over the years, incoming students had consistent perceptions of their strengths and competency across a number of academic-related abilities, with academic ability, math ability, popularity and writing ability staying pretty consistent over the years. Public speaking and computer skills are exceptions to the consistent pattern. Since 2002 slightly more students are reporting higher public speaking abilities than their peers with a high of 34.1% of incoming students in 2014 perceive their public speaking skills to be above average or in the top 10% of their peers.


Overall, First Time Full Time (FTFT) and Part-time Students (FTPT) and Transfer students (non-first time students) had similar responses (no more than a 4% difference) in all of the skills and abilities areas with the exception of ‘academic ability’ and ‘computer skills’. Incoming 2014 FTPT students did not rate their academic ability as high as their FTFT and Transfer student peers. Only 29.9% of FTPT rated their academic ability as top 10% or above average compared to 42.3% response rate for FTFT and 41.4% response rate for transfer students. This may be a reason a student choose to enroll as part-time, although part-time students rated their writing or math abilities similarly to fulltime students. Incoming transfer students rate their computer skills slightly higher than the incoming first time students (fulltime and part-time), with 40.3% of transfer students selecting “highest 10%” or “above average” for computer skills compared to 34.7% for FTFT and 35.5% for FTPT. Transfer students have experience using computers for college level courses which might explain their higher perceived ability.

Interestingly, in 2011 and continuing on into 2014 there was a slight decrease in the amount of students who reported having high abilities in computer skills. From 2002 to 2007 students reporting above average or in the top 10% of their peers in regards to computer skills rose steadily, but in 2011 that shifted. Although fewer students are reporting their computer skills as above average, in 2014, 52% reported their computer skills as average and only 12.3% of incoming students reported their skills as below average or bottom 10% of their peers. The down shift in perceived above average computer skills to average may be explained by the prevalence of computers and technology in today’s society; many own or have access to a computer, smartphone, or tablet, etc. Many high schools use curriculum that require the use of computers and many high schools offer computer labs or provide laptops or tablets for students to use at home. This may make students view their computer skills as average compared to their peers.

Table 6 Perceived Ability in top 10% or Above Average compared to peers


2002 2003 2004 2005 2007 2009 2011 2014

Academic Ability 31.4 35.0 39.4 38.8 39.3 38.7 40.4 39.0

Computer Skills 26.1 31.7 31.5 35.1 37.4 39.4 36.6 35.6

Math Ability 18.8 23.0 25.0 24.2 23.4 23.8 22.5 25.7

Public Speaking Ability 27.9 29.7 29.9 29.7 30.0 30.1 31.2 34.1

Popularity

Writing Ability

27.1

25.4

26.7

28.2

---

27.7

---

28.6

---

32.1

29.2

28.7

32.2

32.2

29.6

30.4 Based on a 5 point scale with the following response options: Highest 10%, Above average, Average, Below average, Lowest 10%. ---This survey item was not included in this particular year


Figure 7

The 6-year comparison [Table 7] indicates a slight increase of students reporting a need for remedial work in math, writing and English [Figure 8]. There were no differences between men and women responses for these questions. Students perceived remedial math needs were down in 2007-2009 by approximately 7% and are back up to 48.7% which has been the average reporting rate for 2002, 2003, 2011 & 2014 [Table7]. The perceived remedial writing need is at an all-time high, with 33.4% of students reporting a need. The perceived need for remedial English is following a similar trend to math over the past 6 years of survey data. The reported need for remedial English was higher in 2002-2004 and went down over the next few years and is now back up to approximately where it was at the beginning of our comparison, with 26.9% of students reporting a need for remedial English. This may simply be cyclical, but it also might portend to some greater trend amongst students’ perception of their abilities.

In summary, the overall feeling within the incoming Mt. SAC student population is that there is a reported increase in the need for remedial services.


Figure 8

Table 7 Currently need more remedial work in…


2002 2003 2007 2009 2011 2014

Math 46.9 49.2 41.4 41.1 48.8 48.7 Writing 25.6 27.8 22.4 25.6 22.7 33.4 English 25.5 29.8 22.9 20.4 17.3 26.9

Response options: Yes, No

Students’ Choices for College and Reasons to Attend

Since 2002 large majority of students reported Mt. SAC as their first choice for college. 2014 was no exception with 64.2% of incoming students reporting Mt. SAC as their first choice [Table 8]. Although a large number of students reported Mt. SAC as their first choice for a college it is still below the average for the past 8 years surveyed. This pattern follows for students who selected that Mt. SAC was the only college they applied for, with 52.4% of students selecting “none” when asked what other colleges besides Mt. SAC they applied for. This response rate is again below average for the past 8 years.


Table 8


2002 2003 2004 2005 2007 2009 2011 2014

Mt. SAC is my First Choice 74.7 72.3 71.1 68.7 72.0 70.0 63.2 64.2

Mt. SAC – Only College Applied for 73.4 71.8 68.4 62.4 65.9 58.7 47.8 52.4

The college’s good academic reputation (50.0%) is the top reason students chose to attend Mt. SAC in 2014, followed by the cost of tuition (47.5%) and students success (graduates admitted to a good college (35.2%) and graduates get a good job (40.1%)) after graduation [Figure 9]. In 2009 all six reasons for attending Mt. SAC rose to the highest point since 2002 and are now back to the average response rate from before 2009 [Table9]. Less than 1/3 of Mt. SAC incoming students chose to attend this college because they wanted to live near home. The size of Mt. SAC is not a deciding factor for many incoming students.

Interestingly, the percentage of incoming students who report cost of attending Mt. SAC as a deciding factor in their decision enroll at Mt. SAC has dropped 14.5% since 2009 even though the percentage of students reporting their parents make less than $24,999 is at an all-time high [Table 5].

Figure 9

Wh

y St

ud

ents

Ch

oo

se M

t. S

AC


Table 9 Reason for decision to attend Mt. SAC

Mt. SAC

Very important 2002 2003 All Survey Respondents (%)

2004 2005 2007 2009 2011 2014

College Has Good Academic Reputation

46.8 46.3 44.2 48.9 51.5 60.0 57.3 50.0

Cost of attending Mt. SAC 42.0 38.7 44.3 48.6 49.5 62.0 49.7 47.5

Graduates admitted to good colleges

--- --- 33.9 39.0 40.9 52.3 45.6 35.2

Graduates get good jobs --- --- 41.0 41.6 41.2 53.8 49.6 40.1

Want to live near home 30.9 27.4 28.9 29.9 30.7 39.8 29.5 28.2

Size of College 10.5 8.8 11.7 11.0 10.0 15.6 10.4 10.8

Mt. SAC All Survey Respondents ( %)

2002 2003 2004 2005 2007 2009 2011 2014

Major Concern 27.8 27.7 26.3 23.1 18.3 23.1 24.1 26.4 Some Concern 46.4 45.0 44.1 51.2 51.3 56.9 57.6 53.7

No Concern 25.8 27.3 29.6 25.7 30.4 20.0 18.3 19.9

Based on a 5 point scale with the following response options: Very important, Somewhat important, Not important. Percentages reflect response rates for Very Important.

---This survey item was not included in this particular year.

Financial Concern

The majority of incoming students have at least some concern about their ability to finance their college education. The concern about finances in regards to a college education support why many students choose Mt. SAC based off of the cost of education [Table10].

Table 10 Degree of Concern about Financing College Education

Choice of Major

Health Professional (20.8%), Business (15.6%) and Engineering (10.6%) were the most popular majors selected by incoming 2014 surveyed students [Table 11]. Across the 8 survey years Health Professional and Business have always been among the top three most popular majors every year


and Engineering is more popular in 2014 than it has been in the last 8 survey years. Interestingly, Arts and Humanity (3.7%), Education (2.9%), Social Sciences (6.0%) and Other (6.1%) were less popular than they have ever been in the past 8 survey years [Figure10]. Health Professional, Business and Engineering may be viewed as money making fields unlike Arts and Humanities, Education and Social Sciences which may explain the popularity in the first three majors and drop in popularity in the last three majors for 2014. A higher income after graduation may be a driving factor; many incoming students reported coming from low income families and at least some financial concern for paying for college which might explain the choices for major. Also, the cost of living in California and the prices of housing is higher than many other parts of the country which may be an alternate explanation.

Biological sciences has been growing in popularity since 2004 with a 6.0% selection rate for 2014. The Undecided option slowly went down over the last 5 years (10.5% in 2004 to 5.9% in 2011) until 2014 with a 9.2% selection rate. Physical sciences remained constant over the 8 survey years.

Figure 10

0.00%

2.00%

4.00%

6.00%

8.00%

10.00%

12.00%

14.00%

16.00%

18.00%

20.00%

2002 2003 2004 2005 2007 2009 2011 2014

Perc

enta

ges

YEAR

Majors with Drop in Popularity in 2014

Arts & Humanities

Education

Social Sciences

Other


Table 11 Probable Major Field of Study


2002 2003 2004 2005 2007 2009 2011 2014

Arts & Humanities 12.3 12.1 9.6 9.4 10.9 9.1 15.5 3.7

Biological Sciences 1.2 13.9 2.6 3.2 3.7 4.5 4.1 6.0

Business 14.2 15.0 16.6 14.1 15.5 11.1 10.2 15.6

Education 12.0 9.9 8.3 8.2 5.5 4.8 3.9 2.9

Engineering 5.6 6.8 6.4 3.9 4.9 6.7 7.3 10.6

Physical Sciences 0.4 1.0 0.9 0.9 1.0 1.0 1.2 1.6

Health Professional 19.0 17.6 20.8 25.6 24.1 20.9 16.5 20.8

Social Sciences 9.2 8.2 7.7 9.3 9.0 7.6 7.1 6.0

Technical

Other Fields

Undecided

3.5

11.1

11.6

3.9

11.5

7.3

4.0

13.0

10.5

2.8

13.1

9.0

4.4

12.1

8.7

5.5

16.7

7.9

6.5

17.3

5.9

---

6.1

9.2

Degree Aspiration

The majority of incoming students plan on continuing their education after Mt. SAC which has been the trend for the past 8 survey years [Table 12]. Many of incoming students intend to obtain a Master’s degree (34.8%) followed by Bachelor’s (26.0%) and PhD’s (13.4%) which makes resources such as Transfer Services vital to student success at Mt. SAC [Figure 11]. Transfer services offer workshops and fairs on the transfer process, application process and how to research other colleges along with guided tours of local and Northern California colleges and universities.

Figure 11


Table 12 Highest Academic Degree Intended to Obtain Anywhere


2002 2003 2004 2005 2007 2009 2011 2014

Associate 8.0 8.4 9.7 7.1 6.7 10.0 8.5 9.9 Bachelor’s Degree 27.5 29.5 29.1 30.4 26.2 25.6 24.4 26.0 Master’s Degree 33.3 32.5 36.6 40.7 41.8 37.6 34.0 34.8 PhD -- -- -- -- -- 11.9 11.9 13.4 Other -- -- -- -- -- 14.5 19.6 16.0

None, Vocational Certificate, M.D. (and other medical degrees), J.D., B.D. and Other were collapsed into Other. Before being collapsed, individually all less than 5%. -- Information not available.

Students’ Activities Noted in their Past Year

Many of the frequency of activities in the past year fluctuate dramatically between Figure 12 2009, 2011 and 2014. Approximately 21% of studied with other students and asked a Frequent internet usage for research teacher for advice outside of class in the past and Homework

year which is similar to the responses from 2009 [Table 13]. The frequency for both, asking a teacher for advice outside of class and studying with other students dropped from 2009 to 2011 and is now back up in 2014. A slight majority of students frequently use the internet for research or homework purposes which is a huge drop from 2009. In 2014 many of the incoming students are older than in past years and may not have had homework in the past year which could account for the drop in internet usage for homework and research.

Attendance of religious services has remained steady over the past 2 survey years. The majority of the incoming students did not report being late to class, feeling board or frequently drinking alcohol.


Table 13 Activity Noted In Past Year (Frequently)

2009 2011 2014


Asked teacher for advice after class 21.3 9.0 21.0

Used the internet for research or homework 70.0 57.7 53.2

Studied with other students 20.7 16.1 21.7

Came late to class 8.5 1.8 5.3

Was bored in class 21.9 2.7 14.9

Performed volunteer work 19.8 8.0 21.1

Attended a religious service 25.9 20.5 23.7

Drank beer, wine or liquor 6.8 17.8 5.6

The following response options were offered for each item: Frequently, Occasionally and Not at all. The percentages above show Frequency only. - This table does not have data from before 2009 due to a change in CIRP reporting methods in 2009.

High School-Related Activities

During the last year of high school many students spent the majority of their time socializing with friends, studying and doing homework and socializing using social media (i.e. Facebook or Twitter). Socializing with friends has gone down over the past 3 years where social media has gone up [Figure 12]. The decrease in socializing in friends may be explained by the increase in social media usage. Smartphones, tablets and now watches allow many high school students have access to social media 24-7 which may be more convenient than meeting up in person and hanging out with friends.

Figure 13


The time spent watching TV is at the lowest point in the last 8 surveyed years, with only 41% of students watching more than 3 hours per week [Table 14]. This drop may be because other forms of entertainment are available such as, Video games, movies and Netflix can be used on other devices (i.e. tablet, smartphone, and computer) besides the TV. Volunteer work, participating in student clubs and reading for pleasure continue to be the least popular activities with the majority of students reporting less than 3 hours a week. Student clubs seems to be the least popular with 54% of incoming students reporting not volunteering at all.

Table 14 Time spent on these activities in a typical week during last year of high school


2002 2003 2004 2005 2007 2009 2011 2014

Volunteer Work Less than 3 hours 85.9 80.9 80 78.2 80.2 74 75.5 75.3

3 hours or more 14.1 19.1 19 21.8 19.7 26 24.5 24.5

Student Club Less than 3 hours 85.1 81.7 84 84.8 82.3 79.4 77.7 80.5

3 hours or more 14.9 18.3 15 15.2 17.7 20.6 22.2 19.5

Reading for Pleasure Less than 3 hours 79 78 77 82.1 76.5 72.2 75.5 75.7

3 hours or more 21 22 22 17.9 23.6 27.8 24.5 24.2

Watching TV Less than 3 hours 49.7 47.4 45 45.2 50 46.8 48.3 58.3

3 hours or more 50.3 52.6 54 54.8 50 53.2 51.7 41.7

Studying/Homework Less than 3 hours 3 hours or more Socializing with Friends Less than 3 hours

47.8 52.2

21.1

49 51

19.9

42 57

1

51.7 48.3

15.6

49.6 50.3

15.7

48.5 51.5

17.6

43.1 56.9

19.8

46.0 54.1

26.9

3 hours or more 78.9 80.1 8 84.4 84.3 82.4 80.2 73.0

Socializing using a computer network (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) Less than 3 hours --- --- --- --- 61.0 61.2 57.4 54.1

3 hours or more --- - -- --- --- 39.0 38.8 42.6 45.9

The survey asked students to report their activity levels on an hourly basis; we collapsed the ranges into either 3 hours or more or less than 3 hours within a typical week of high school. ---This survey item was not included in this particular year


Political Views and Beliefs

The majority of students surveyed reported being “middle of the road” politically- speaking, which has been evident in previous years. Though students’ reporting their political views as liberal is at its lowest point in the 8-year comparison, conservative reports have remained fairly steady [Table15].

Table 15 Political Views


2002 2003 2004 2005 2007 2009 2011 2014

Liberal 28.1 25.7 29.0 25.9 24.4 25.0 23.4 22.7 Middle-Of-The- Road 52.2 50.0 47.0 48.5 51.1 54.7 54.2 54.8

Conservative 14.9 17.9 16.7 17.3 18.7 15.9 17.6 16.4

Over the years the CIRP survey has added and removed survey items to reflect current political issues. Due to that, survey items in Table 16 only compares the past two to three survey years. Although the majority of Mt. SAC students reported middle-of-the-road as their political standing many of the responses to specific issues were more liberal than conservative. Most of the students agree that same sex couples should have the right to marry (75.0% agree; 25.0% disagree), students from disadvantaged social backgrounds should be given preferential treatment in college admissions (72.0% agree; 28.0% disagree), climate change should be a federal priority (72.6% agree; 27.4% disagree) and undocumented immigrants should have access to public education (74.0% agree; 26.0% disagree) [Table 16]. All of those agreement rates are slightly higher than previous years with the exception of the same-sex marriage rights with jumped up approximately 15% this year. The rise in students agreeing that disadvantaged students should receive preferential treatment may be due to the rise in students from low income families enrolling in 2014. Incoming students are almost split on their views about military spending with the slightly higher majority believing military spending should not be increased (55.3% disagree with increase; 44.6% agree with increase). Students in 2014 are more split than incoming students from 2011. Lastly, the majority of students believe that racial discrimination still a major problem in the United States (60.8% problem; 39.2% not a problem) but not as many as previous years.


Table 16 Political Views Cont.


2009 2011 2014

Same-sex couples should have the right to legal marital status

Agree (Strongly/Somewhat) 61.8 60.3 75.0

Disagree (Strongly/Somewhat) 38.2 39.7 25.0 Federal military spending should be increased

Agree (Strongly/Somewhat) -- 30.4 44.6 Disagree (Strongly/Somewhat) -- 69.6 55.3 Students from disadvantaged social backgrounds should be given preferential treatment in college admissions


Disagree (Strongly/Somewhat) 36.6 36.8 28.0 Addressing global climate change should be a federal priority

Agree (Strongly/Somewhat) -- 71.5 72.6

Disagree (Strongly/Somewhat) -- 28.5 27.4 Undocumented immigrants should have access to public education*

Agree (Strongly/Somewhat) -- 71.4 74.0

Disagree (Strongly/Somewhat) -- 28.6 26.0 Racial discrimination is no longer a major problem in America


Disagree (Strongly/Somewhat) 72.2 70.6 60.8

---This survey item was not included in this particular year. * Question in table changed to be worded positively. Original question undocumented immigrants should be denied access to public education.

The majority of Mt. SAC students feel it is essential or very important to raise a family, be well off financially, help others in need and to become an authority in their field. Less than half of the student respondents feel it is important to understand other countries and cultures. Across the 8 survey years these responses have remained consistent [Table 17]. Mt. SAC may be the first step to becoming financially well off, being able to raise a family or becoming an authority in their field.


Table 17 Objectives considered essential or very important


2002 2003 2004 2005 2007 2009 2011 2014

Raising A Family 65.6 68.8 74.2 73.6 71.4 75.2 78.4 71.9

Being Very Well Off Financially 81.5 78.8 82.3 85.7 82.7 90.3 88.1 86.7

Helping Others Who Are In Difficulty 63.8 65.4 64.9 70.8 69.1 77.5 76.6 77.1

Become Authority in own field 55.3 61.4 59.3 --- 58.4 65.8 67.6 60.0

Improve Understanding Of Other Countries And Cultures

37.5 41.1 43.6 48.6 47.8 50.1 50.3 46.0

Based on a 4 point scale with the following response options, essential, very important, somewhat important and not important.

During time at Mt. SAC…

Many of the incoming students plan on working (59.1% work to help pay for college; 26.5% plan on working full-time) while attending Mt. SAC which has been pretty stable trend thought the 8 surveyed years [Table19]. Students planning to work full-time while attending Mt. SAC has reached an all-time high.

Many of the incoming students believe they will do well during their time at Mt. SAC with 62.6% of students reporting there is a very good chance they will receive at least a ‘B’ average and 31.5% planning on transferring to a different college before graduating [Table18]. Approximately two-fifths of students expect to communicate with their professors regularly, discuss course work outside of class and work on a professor’s research project. Along with academic work many students believe they will participate in student clubs (27.7%) and large majority believe they will be likely to communicate with someone of a difference race (70.8%). Over the last 8 surveyed years all of these responses jumped up in 2009 and have been pretty consistent into 2011 and 2014 with the exception of the 2 (see table 18) that were not included in CIRP survey before 2009.

Overall 44.4 % of students believe they will be satisfied with Mt. SAC. This trend has stayed pretty consistent thought the 8 years.


2009

Table 18 Objectives considered a very good chance

Mt. SAC

51.8 43.5 45.9 51.1 48.5 60.1 62.6 59.1

22.2 21.4 23.6 12.3 18.4 20.1 23.8 26.5

36.8 42.9 40.4 43.3 41.1 49.6 48.0 44.4

42.6 46.5 46.2 48.9 50.8 65.8 67.3 62.6

35.2 37.0 32.5 33.2 30.1 34.3 29.9 31.5

26.2 24.6 21.8 24.0 27.6 41.8 38.7 39.5

53.5 53.8 54.4 61.5 58.6 70.7 78.6 70.8

13.4 18.4 15.8 18.1 17.3 26.3 29.0 27.7

--- --- --- --- --- 38.4 41.1 38.1

--- --- --- --- --- 44.8 43.6 40.1

Get Job To Help Pay Cost

Work Full Time While Attending

Be Satisfied with your College

Make At Least B Average

Transfer To Other College Before Graduating

Communicate Regularly With Professors

Socialize With Someone Of Another Race

Participate In Student Clubs

Discuss course content outside of class

Work on a professor’s research project Based upon a 4-point scale with the following response options: “very good chance”, “some chance”, “very little chance”, and “no chance”. ---This survey item was not included in this particular year.


2002 2003 2004 2005 2011 2014 2007 All Survey Respondents (%)

Summary

The following is an overview of how a typical incoming Mt. SAC student might feasibly describe his/herself, according to the self-reported data supplied on the CIRP survey.

To Whom It May Concern:

I am an incoming Mt. SAC student. I identify as Latino/a, but my native language is English. My parents make less than $60,000/year, and as I am somewhat concerned with my ability to finance my college education. I plan on living with my parents or another relative for the upcoming fall term and getting a job to help pay for college. I did well in high school, receiving mainly A and B grades, but I am a little uneasy that I will need some more remedial math and writing work once I get to college.

Mt. SAC was my first choice, predominantly because of its good reputation, but also because of the cost of tuition and graduates tend to get good jobs. I am focusing on a degree in Health Professional, Business or Engineering. I would like to get an Associate’s degree, but a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree would be more desirable. These might help me in the future as I consider being well off financially my most essential, or at least a very important, objective. However, helping others in difficulty, raising a family and becoming an authority in my field are all important to me.

I make time for both school and a social life, over the last year I spent time studying with other students but I have other interests such as volunteering and attending religious services. I have also spent time in the last year socializing with other races (I believe there is a very good chance I will be doing this in college as well) and using the internet for research. Politically, I am middle-of-the-road, but I think that same sex couples should have the right to legally marry, global warming should be a federal priority and that the disadvantaged need preferential treatment in college admissions.

Last year, during the week I spent my time in very diverse ways. I managed to spend at least 3 hours or more socializing with my friends, using social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and watching TV. Although I spend many hours socializing and watching TV I still found time to study. I do not think watching television will affect what I do in college, since I think the chances are very good that I will make at least a “B” average. The fact that I might have to get a job to help pay for the cost of college might affect my ability to watch television, though.

Lastly, I want you to remember that I am a self-reporting incoming student and that I may not represent the greater Mt. SAC student population.

- Extrapolated 2014 Incoming Mt. SAC student


Take away points Demographics

Majority of incoming 2014 students are Latino/a. This is consistent with Mt. SAC’s average population.

More incoming students are more likely to be over 18 than in past survey years. Just over half of incoming students will be 18 or under.

Finances

Two Fifths of incoming students come from a low income family which is the highest amount in all of the past 8 surveyed years.

Majority of students plan on o Living at home or with family during their first quarter. o Have at least some concern for how they will pay for their tuition. o Plan to work to help pay for college

Academia

The perceived need for remedial writing and English are higher than in past years.

The perceived need for remedial math is also up but this is more typical of past years.

Health professional, Business and Engineering are the most popular majors for 2014

Arts and Humanity, Education and Social Science are less popular than they have been in the past 8 survey years.

The Majority of students plan on continuing their education after Mt. SAC to receive either a Bachelor or Masters (preferred).

Political Views The majority of Mt. SAC students reported middle-of-the-road as their political

standing

o And agree that…

Same sex couples should have the right to legal marital status

Students from disadvantaged backgrounds should be given

preferential treatment by admissions

Addressing global climate change should be federal priority

Undocumented immigrants should have access to public education


Conclusion

A great deal of information can be found when looking at data derived from a self-reported survey taken by incoming students; even more useful information can be gleaned from that data. The most important factor, however, is less about the survey and more about the students and how this information may be used.

The report was presented to SPAS (Student Prep and Success) on May 18th 2015 and to the Deans, Associate Deans, and Directors of Mt. SAC during their Monthly meeting on June 3rd

2015. These guiding Q’s were used to engage them in conversation.

1. How does this information help me to understand the Mt. SAC student population and their needs? 2. How does this information help me to better understand the needs of incoming students? 3. What can I do with this information that will help with student learning outcomes? 4. What are the most important points that I can use to guide and apply to my daily functions that will

allow me to better serve the students at Mt. SAC?

Points Discussed:

Students are commuting from further away which may bring a higher demand for parking. o Try and promote the free bus passes to help commuters and cut down on parking.

More flexible class schedules o More students are reporting the need to work. o Take care of their family (kids, aging family, etc.).

Pleased to hear about Mt. SAC’s reputation o More students are coming to Mt. SAC for the programs offered. o Graduates from Mt. SAC are known for continuing on to a good job or university.

The groups were particularly interested in whether student’s responses on the survey match their results from the placement tests.

Students are asked about their perceived math, English, and writing skills on the CIRP survey; by matching up CIRP results to placement test scores we can see how well students perceived skills match up with their math, English, and writing placement. Along with matching up perceived ability to placement scores, we would also have the opportunity to track students. Students take the CIRP survey before enrolling at Mt. SAC, sometimes as early as May (2-4 months before enrolling at Mt. SAC). By tracking students we can learn which survey respondents attend Mt. SAC in the summer or fall term, what programs students enroll in at Mt. SAC, etc. Currently the information we receive from the CIRP through UCLA does not have identifiable student information. Future Mt. SAC CIRP committee can look into requesting the surveys with a student ID attached.

Changing the Mt. SAC supplemental questions will be addressed in the CIRP Supplemental Questions report.


Documents

Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP ... · Mt. San Antonio College CIRP Survey Results: An Eight-Year Comparison (2002-2005, 2007, 2009, 2011 & 2014) Executive Summary