Cooperative Institutional Research Program

Freshman Survey Institutional Summary for 1996

(Abridged)

Updated January, 2001

	Houghton %	Hi Selective Religious %	Other Religious %
Average high school grade A-, A, or A+	73	57	44
Applied to one or two colleges	53	32	34
Distance from home more than 100 miles	70	60	56

Estimated family income less than $50,000	67	28	40
Politically conservative or far right	72	32	31
Parental Dependents Parents have 4 or more dependents	67	55	54
Met or Exceeded Recommended Years of High School Study Met or exceeded recommended years of arts and/or music	94	80	78
Activities Engaged in During the Past Year Discussed religion Played a musical instrument Communicated via e-mail Spent over 5 hours a week studying Spent more than 1 hr. a wk. praying/meditation Smoked cigarettes Drank beer Drank wine or liquor Voted frequently in student elections Came late to class Spent more than 2 hrs. a wk. exercising/sports Spent more than 2 hrs. a week watching TV Spent more than 1 hour a week partying Spent more than 1 hour a week playing video/computer games	83 75 89 54 75 00 06 15 13 49 59 41 19 21	43 50 76 44 45 07 42 49 25 62 74 51 58 37	43 45 69 36 51 07 35 43 25 63 71 55 59 40
Students Rated Self Above Average or Highest 10% in Academic ability Spirituality Competitiveness Leadership Public speaking ability Popularity Physical health Self-confidence (intellectual) Self-confidence (social)	86 79 25 50 23 09 36 45 34	76 54 56 64 41 38 57 63 50	65 55 56 65 39 39 58 61 53
College Choice This college was student's first choice	87	79	76
Other Colleges Applied to only 1 or 2 colleges	52	23	30
Hours/weeks in the Last Year 1-5 hours in prayer Less than 1 hour partying More than 6 hours studying or doing homework	68 66 56	31 36 51	41 42 40

Probable Career

There were clear differences between men and women. Listed below are the top choices for Houghton men and women.

Houghton
%

Highly Selective
Protestant
%

Protestant
%

Men

physician

business management

engineer

secondary education

clergy

conservationalist or forester

17
10
8
8
6
6

13
10
4
6
1
1

7
10
5
7
3
1

Women

elementary education

physician

secondary education

therapist (phys. occup.)

20
10
9
6

7
13
6
4

Back to Table of Contents: 1996 Freshman Survey Results

Student reason for choice of college, and personal values

	Houghton %	Hi Selective Protestant %	Protestant %
Sources for Educational Expenses Received $1500 or More From Parental or family aid Other college grant Stafford/Guaranteed student loan	63 52 32	77 54 24	66 45 24
Reasons Noted as Very Important in Selecting This College Religious affiliation/orientation Good academic reputation Size of college Offered financial assistance	77 70 63 55	12 73 60 55	31 60 57 54
Objectives Considered to be Essential or Very Important Raise a family Help others in difficulty Influence social values	80 75 50	73 65 42	78 68 46
Student's Estimate: Chances are Very Good that He/She will Get bachelor's degree Be satisfied with college Get job to pay expenses	86 72 57	81 59 44	76 56 42
Political Orientation Conservative	69	23	34
Agrees Strongly or Somewhat Employees can require drug tests Prohibit racist/sexist speech Too much concern for criminals Prohibit homosexual relations Abolish affirmative action in college admissions	91 83 83 73 68	80 60 71 25 55	85 68 74 46 53
Student Born-Again Christian	95	26	54

Back to Table of Contents: 1996 Freshman Survey Results

Coalition for Christian Colleges & Universities

Supplementary Questions

Houghton College

Not at all

Occasionally

Frequently

How regularly did you engage in each of the

following activities during the past year?

Maintained daily, personal devotions

Shared my faith with another person

Developed a friendship with a person of a different race

Studied the Bible or prayed in a small group

9
8
12
9

41
72
46
39

50
20
42
53

Back to Table of Contents: 1996 Freshman Survey Results

Coalition for Christian Colleges & Universities

Supplementary Questions

Houghton College (continued)

	Strongly Agree	Agree	Disagree	Strongly Disagree
I have a personally meaningful relationship with God.	68	28	3	1
My relation with God contributes to my sense of well-being.	75	22	2	1
The way I do things from day to day is often affected by my relationship to God.	59	36	5	0
Even if the people around me were opposed to my Christian convictions, I would still hold fast to them.	58	37	5	1
I feel like I need to be open to consider new insights and truths about my faith.	41	53	5	1
I feel that identifying and using my spiritual gifts is not really important.	2	2	17	76

Back to Table of Contents: 1996 Freshman Survey Results