Report on the College Student Survey

The College Senior Survey (CSS), developed by the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) was completed by 88 Houghton seniors during the spring of 1996. Houghton is one of 37 institutions in the CCCU (Coalition for Christian Colleges and Universities) Collaborative Assessment Project that completed this survey. The total number of usable responses in the CCCU norms for these 37 institutions is 4,593. Because of national norms published by HERI, we can also compare Houghton and CCCU seniors with seniors from all 4-year Protestant colleges and all private, 4-year colleges. This allows us to compare Houghton seniors with those at other CCCU schools as well as two other types of institutions. The groups with which we will compare the 1996 Houghton seniors are:

1. 1994 Houghton CSS (n=107);
2. 1989 Houghton CSS (n=102);
3. 1996 CCCU CSS (n=4,593);
4. 1996 CSS (Protestant, 4-year colleges)
5. 1996 CSS (Private, 4-year colleges)

1. 1994 Houghton CIRP (n=310);
2. 1994 CCCU CIRP (n=10,521); and
3. 1990 Houghton CIRP (n=259).

Table 1 highlights some of the demographic data. Houghton classes are typically 62 to 67% female which is comparable to the ratio at the comparison institutions. This contrasts with the gender ratio for faculty which is 30% female. Well over 90% of Houghton students and faculty are Caucasian-similar to CCCU schools but higher than Protestant and private colleges. Approximately 95% of Houghton students are native English speakers. Private and Protestant colleges have higher percentages of Roman Catholic students as well as students with no religious preference.
 
 
 
 
 

As freshmen, more Houghton females aspire to earn a master's degree and more males to earn a doctoral degree. This difference is even more pronounced by the senior year. This general trend is reflected at the comparison schools. Houghton senior males aspire to earn a doctoral degree at rates of 10 to 15% higher than those at CCCU, Protestant, and private colleges. However, the advanced degree aspirations (either masters or doctorate) of Houghton students show a 25% decline for females and a 14% decline for males from 1989 to 1996.
 
 
 
 
 

As freshmen, Houghton students report better high school grades than those at CCCU, Protestant, or private colleges. However, despite the better high school record, they do not receive higher undergraduate grades which may reflect higher grading standards at Houghton. There is also evidence that Houghton grading standards may have eased between 1994 and 1996 in that 36% of seniors report B+ or higher grades in 1994 vs. 52% in 1996. It is also possible that the 1996 cohort works harder, is more gifted-or exaggerates.

Obviously, fewer CCCU students join sororities or fraternities than at Protestant or private colleges. Male students everywhere are far less likely to have taken women's studies courses. Only one-fourth to one-fifth of all students have taken ethnic or racial studies courses or workshops. About one-third of seniors transferred from another college. (The small percentage of transfers in the 1994 Houghton CSS is explained at the bottom of table 4.)

Generally it appears that about 6 to 12% of traditional age students get married by the senior year. (The 17.6% figure for Houghton senior males in 1994 is an unexplained anomaly.)

A substantially higher percentage of Houghton seniors have worked on-campus and far fewer have worked off-campus than at other schools. This is undoubtedly due to a similar need for Houghton students to work but fewer off-campus jobs are available due to our rural location. Fortunately a significant effort is made to locate on-campus employment for those who need or desire it.

freshmen which accounts for the lower percentage who report transferring.

Unfortunately, the question formerly asked to freshmen (Do you anticipate changing your major?) and seniors (Did you change your major?) was eliminated from the 1996 CSS. I included information from previous years to display a rather powerful finding. Only 15 to 20% of freshmen anticipate changing their major, yet by the senior year 45 to 60% have actually done so. This has implications for advising.
 
 

A substantially higher percentage of Houghton seniors have been a guest in a professor's home, but 20% fewer Houghton students have done independent study or research projects. The wide fluctuation of Houghton senior males taking interdisciplinary courses (1996 vs. 1994 CSS) is unexplained, although something must account for a 50% difference (for males only!) in only two years.

Female students at all colleges are somewhat more likely to report having been lonely or homesick during the past year, and Houghton students in general report this a little more often. Female students are far more likely to report having been "overwhelmed" during the past year, and that figure is slightly higher for Houghton females.

Despite Houghton's rather low percentage of ethnic minorities and our rural location, a slightly higher percentage report having socialized with those of different ethnic groups during the past year than at the comparison colleges. Only 5% of college students across the board report dating someone of a different racial/ethnic group, although the number is slightly higher among students in the private college sample.

Generally less than 10% of college students smoked cigarettes during the past year, and even fewer Houghton or CCCU students did so. A higher percentage of students at Protestant and private colleges than at Houghton or other CCCU schools reported drinking beer, wine, or liquor during the past year. (The number of Houghton students who did so varies between 20 and 40%.)

For whatever reason, about 20% more Houghton senior males than females performed volunteer work during the past year. Male students in general were about twice as likely to have discussed politics in the past year-although only about one-fourth of all students report participating in this activity. Less than 10% of students worked for a political campaign, and that number is even less for Houghton students-perhaps influenced by Houghton's rural location and limited opportunities in this area.

Close to 20% of Houghton seniors surveyed will (would) still be attending college-presumably to complete their undergraduate degree. This figure is over twice that reported at CCCU, Protestant, or private colleges. The percentage of Houghton seniors who plan to attend graduate school in the fall following the year they were surveyed is comparable to those at other colleges-about 15% of females and 25% of males. About 50% of Houghton males and 60% of Houghton females plan to work full-time, a figure that is 10 to 20% less than at the comparison colleges. Why three times as many Houghton senior males than females plan to travel and 10% fewer Houghton senior males than females plan to work part-time remains unexplained.

Houghton and CCCU students spend a comparable amount of time socializing with friends as those at private colleges, but significantly less time partying. The data in Table 9 is reported as "average number of hours per week." Stated differently, 60 to 70% of Houghton students spend "zero" hours partying in contrast to only 20 to 30% of students at private colleges. Three to five percent of Houghton seniors spend 6 or more hours partying per week in contrast to 20 to 25% of students at private colleges.

Despite having higher high school grades and comparable undergraduate grades, Houghton seniors spend more hours per week studying and doing homework than seniors at CCCU, Protestant or private colleges. Forty percent of Houghton seniors spend more than 16 hours a week studying in contrast to only 30% of seniors at private colleges. Male students spend more time watching TV while at college than female students. For example, among Houghton seniors (1996 CSS) 13% of males and 18% of females do not watch TV while at college, and 7% of males vs. 2% of females watch 16 hours a week or more. At all four-year colleges, 18% of senior males vs.10% of senior females watch 11 or more hours of TV per week while at college.

About 50% of seniors everywhere rate themselves stronger in general knowledge after attending college for four years. About 80% of Houghton seniors rate themselves stronger in knowledge in a particular field-a percentage that is 10% higher than at comparison colleges. About 10% of students rate themselves higher in foreign language skills.

Seniors at CCCU schools rate themselves stronger in religious beliefs and convictions than those at Protestant or private colleges. There is a vast discrepancy in percentages for this variable in the two Houghton samples surveyed (CSS 1994 and 1996) and this difference is unexplained.

A greater percentage of Houghton senior males rate themselves above average or top 10% in academic ability than students at any of the three comparison colleges (80 to 85% vs. 70%). These ratings seem exaggerated. After all, how can 85% be above average or in top 10%? Far fewer Houghton senior females rate themselves highly, despite having comparable abilities. If one looks further down the list in Table 11, one also sees that far fewer Houghton females rate themselves highly in intellectual or social self-confidence. This gender discrepancy is not there on a consistent basis in the freshman surveys, but it is highly consistent (1989, 1994, and 1996) in the senior surveys. Our female students also rate themselves lower in every other ability listed except "drive to achieve" and "understanding of others."

Since objective data such as SAT/GRE scores and cumulative GPAs are not gender linked in this manner, this appears to be matter of self-perception and self-confidence. Given the consistency across time (3 senior classes surveyed) and space (several different qualities), it deserves more careful study-especially given that 60 to 65% of our student population is female.

It should also be noted that many of these gender differences appear in the data for CCCU, Protestant, and private colleges.

About two-thirds of seniors at Houghton and comparison colleges rate their coursework in science/math, social sciences, and humanities as satisfactory or very satisfactory. Over 90% of Houghton seniors approve of the courses in their major and a similar percentage consider the quality of instruction they received to be satisfactory or very satisfactory. Contact with faculty, class size are also rated highly, and over 90% consider their overall college experience to have been satisfactory or very satisfactory.

83% of Houghton seniors (1996) indicate that they would reenroll at Houghton if they had it all to do over again. This is up from 78% in 1994. It is also comparable with the percentages at

CCCU schools and slightly higher than Protestant and private colleges.

A significantly higher percentage of Houghton seniors (64% male; 49% female) than freshman (about 50% male; 40% female) want to become an authority in their field. When one compares data on this variable with other colleges one notices a gap in the freshman year (10% fewer Houghton students) that diminishes by the senior year. Fewer female seniors at Houghton want to be an authority in their chosen field, and this gender difference is less pronounced at the comparison colleges. More than three-fourths of Houghton seniors rate the following objectives as essential or important: raising a family, helping others in difficulty, and developing a philosophy of life (males only). One-third or fewer Houghton seniors rate the following objectives as essential or important: obtaining recognition from colleagues, being well off financially, keeping up to date with politics, and promoting racial understanding. More Houghton seniors than seniors at Protestant or private colleges want to help others in difficulty, and fewer consider it essential to be well off financially. The faculty data in the far right column of Table 14 refers to objectives that faculty have for themselves-not for their students.
 
 

Most Houghton seniors rate themselves as politically conservative (60%) or moderate (30%). The movement from freshman to senior year appears to be from conservative to moderate or liberal. Although a majority of students of all college types are conservative or moderate, the Protestant and private colleges have higher percentages of moderate and liberal students. CCCU faculty are more conservative than Protestant or private college faculty but more moderate or liberal than CCCU students. CCCU female faculty are somewhat more politically liberal than CCCU male faculty.

On personal issues such as abortion, homosexual relationships, sexual relations outside of marriage, and marijuana use, Houghton students are far more conservative than students at Protestant and private colleges. Houghton seniors are somewhat more liberal than Houghton freshmen on these issues, although the majority maintain a conservative position. Houghton students are quite comparable to the general CCCU norms. In fact it is in this area where one truly sees the need for the CCCU comparison norms. Although one might think that Protestant college norms would be sufficient, the distinctions truly stand out in this area.

With respect to other social and political attitudes such as environmental legislation, handgun control, death penalty, etc., the expressed attitudes of Houghton students are more similar to students at Protestant and private colleges.

Fewer Houghton seniors consider grading too easy, and this statistic is consistent with an observation noted earlier that Houghton students have higher high school grades but lower undergraduate grades.

In the 1996 CSS survey, the participating CCCU schools added a number of supplemental questions about religious beliefs and practices. Although there are few comparison norms with Protestant and private colleges, we are able to compare Houghton seniors with CCCU seniors as well as with Houghton and CCCU freshman and CCCU faculty on a few of these variables.

Over ninety percent of Houghton students report having a personal relationship with God that affects their day-to-day lives, that they are open to new insights, that prayer is efficacious, and that it is important to be active in a local church. Fifteen to 25% more Houghton seniors than CCCU seniors report that they frequently maintain personal devotions and that it is important to identify one's spiritual gifts. Slightly more Houghton seniors than CCCU seniors frequently share their faith with others. Among the Houghton and CCCU faculty, the percentage who report a personal relationship with God that affects their day-to-day lives is over 90%.

This report was prepared primarily for Houghton faculty and administrators to use in order to identify our strengths and distinctives and to improve the quality of Houghton's educational program. The Houghton administration has allowed this report to be disseminated to other CCCU institutions in a spirit of mutually beneficial data-sharing that we hope will benefit Christian higher education in general. The balance of this summary and concluding questions are adapted from By Baylis report on the CCCU CSS survey.

The CSS was administered in the spring of 1996 to 4,593 graduating seniors on 40 CCCU campuses. The typical Houghton senior is female (66%), and Caucasian (93%), and devoutly Christian (90+ %). The typical Houghton senior is hardworking, but in ways that may be different from the Protestant or private college students. Houghton seniors spend more time per week than their counterparts participating in religious services, dining with a different ethnic group, attending a recital or concert, and studying and doing homework. They spend less time per week partying, exercising, watching tv, or commuting. Houghton seniors are less likely to have smoked, or used alcoholic beverages than seniors at Protestant or private colleges.

Houghton senior males rate themselves higher than entering Houghton students in academic ability, leadership ability, public-speaking ability, and intellectual and social self-confidence. Houghton senior females rate themselves lower than senior males in many of these areas and this appears to be more a matter of perception and self-confidence than any real difference in abilities.

Over 90% of Houghton seniors are pleased with the quality of academic instruction and their overall college experience, and 83% would reenroll at Houghton if they had it all to do over again. Based upon senior ratings, library and computer facilities, faculty ethnic diversity, and job placement are areas that appear less satisfactory, and we may want to continue to monitor these areas closely.

Houghton seniors are somewhat more politically liberal than entering students but remain rather conservative. Houghton seniors hold more conservative positions than seniors at Protestant and private colleges on issues related to abortion, premarital sex, homosexual relations, and alcohol and drug use. In other socio-political areas such as environmental issues, handgun control, national debt, national defense, etc. the attitudes of Houghton seniors are more comparable to seniors at Protestant and private colleges.

Questions for consideration.

1. Degree aspirations. Although the degree aspirations of Houghton senior males are comparable to those at comparison colleges, Houghton females evidence a 25% decline between 1989 and 1996. Are these simply cohort differences, or is the decline in aspiration real and likely to continue? What might be the cause of such a decline?

1. High school and undergraduate grades. What are we to make of the observation that Houghton freshmen report higher high school grades, yet Houghton seniors report lower undergraduate grades than do students at comparison colleges? Houghton seniors also report spending more time studying and doing homework, and fewer Houghton students claim that grading is too easy. Does this mean that Houghton students work harder for lower grades than they would receive elsewhere? Furthermore, what are we to make of the observation that Houghton seniors earned significantly higher grades in 1996 than they did in 1994?

1. Work. A significantly higher percentage of Houghton seniors had on-campus jobs and far fewer had off-campus jobs as compared to students elsewhere. Are they any implications that we should consider here?

1. Diversity. Far fewer Houghton (or CCCU) seniors enrolled in women's or ethnic studies courses than did students at private colleges. Do these statistics suggest a problem? Do private, non-sectarian schools do a better job of educating students in these areas?

1. Changing majors. Only 15% of Houghton freshmen believe they will change their major, but 50% of seniors actually do so at some point in their college experience. What implications are there for how we advise entering students?

1. Gender and stress. Houghton senior females report relatively high levels of loneliness or homesickness and of being overwhelmed? This is in comparison not only to Houghton males but to students (male or female) at comparison colleges. Why is this the case? What can we do to address it?

1. Gender and self-perception. Despite have comparable levels of ability and achievement during college, the self-ratings of Houghton senior females are significantly lower in most areas as compared with their male counterparts. Do senior males have exaggerated impressions of their ability and degree of improvement during college? Do senior females develop problems with self-confidence during the college years. When one considers the gender discrepancies in Tables 10 & 11 together with the fact that 65% of our students are female, this seems like an important area for further exploration.

1. Satisfaction with college experiences. In Table 12 we see evidence of how satisfied seniors are with various aspects of their college experience. Can we use these data to promote what it is that we do well? Can these statistics help us to identify areas for improvement?

1. Important objectives. Table 14 suggests that CCCU seniors in general--and Houghton students in particular-have a distinct pattern of objectives that they rate as essential or very important. For example, they are more apt to consider it essential or very important to raise a family, help others in difficulty, influence social values, and to develop a philosophy of life. They regard it as less essential to obtain recognition, be well off financially, keep up to date with politics, or promote racial understanding. Are there ways in which we should use this information to influence the values and objectives of our students? Does this information tell us about qualities in our students that we should highlight and build upon?

1. Attitudes. In Table 16 we see many ways in which the social and political attitudes of Houghton and other CCCU students are quite distinctive from those held by students at Protestant and private colleges. What are we to make of these differences? What do they tell us about our students?

1. Religious beliefs and practices. Houghton and other CCCU seniors demonstrate higher levels of religious belief, conviction, practice, and growth than do students at Protestant or private colleges. According to Table 17, higher percentages of Houghton seniors than CCCU seniors report that they frequently maintain personal devotions, that it is important to be active in a local church, and that it is important to identify one's spiritual gifts. How can we use this information to enhance our understanding of the kind of student who comes to study at Houghton, to highlight and improve upon weaknesses, and to identify and build upon our strengths and distinctives?