This Year’s Freshmen at 4-Year Colleges: Highlights of a Survey
| Large numbers of freshmen are worried about being able to afford college. Here are their survey responses last fall compared with those of freshmen in the fall of 2004, before this recession began. |
| 2009 | 2004 | |
|---|---|---|
| Father is unemployed | 4.5%* | 2.5% |
| Mother is unemployed | 7.9% | 5% |
| Has major or some concern about paying for college | 66.7% | 65.5% |
| Expects to cover some expenses through loans | 53.4% | 49.5% |
| A very important factor in choosing to attend this college was that its graduates get good jobs | 56.5%* | 49.1% |
| Being very well off financially is an essential or very important goal | 78.1%* | 73.6% |
| * Record high | ||
| The election of a new president is typically followed by a drop in the percentage of freshmen identifying themselves with his party, the survey’s authors say. |
| 2009 | 2008 | |
|---|---|---|
| Far left | 2.8% | 3.2% |
| Liberal | 29.0% | 31.0% |
| Middle of the road | 44.4% | 43.3% |
| Conservative | 21.8% | 20.7% |
| Far right | 2.0% | 1.8% |
| During the past year, did you frequently: | |
|---|---|
| Take notes during class | 66.5% |
| Support your opinions with a logical argument | 57.8% |
| Work with other students on class assignments | 54.6% |
| Ask questions in class | 53.9% |
| Accept mistakes as part of the learning process | 51.8% |
| Seek solutions to problems and explain them to others | 51.2% |
| Seek feedback on your academic work | 47.3% |
| Revise your papers to improve your writing | 46.6% |
| Seek alternative solutions to a problem | 44.3% |
| Take a risk because you feel you have more to gain | 39.3% |
| Evaluate the quality or reliability of information you received | 36.9% |
| Explore topics on your own, even though it was not required for a class | 30.9% |
| Look up scientific research articles and resources | 21.9% |
| Agree strongly or somewhat: |
|---|
| 2009 | 2004 | |
|---|---|---|
| Colleges should prohibit racist/sexist speech on campus | 68.4% | 58.6% |
| Same-sex couples should have the right to legal marital status | 64.9% | 56.7% |
| Only volunteers should serve in the armed forces | 62.8% | n/a |
| Dissent is a critical component of the political process | 61.5% | n/a |
| Abortion should be legal | 58.0% | 53.9% |
| There is too much concern in the courts for the rights of criminals | 55.3% | 58.1% |
| Marijuana should be legalized | 45.6% | 37.2% |
| Colleges have the right to ban extreme speakers from campus | 40.7% | 43.7% |
| Students from disadvantaged social backgrounds should be given preferential treatment in college admissions | 37.4% | n/a |
| Realistically, an individual can do little to bring about changes in our society | 27.6% | 26.8% |
| Racial discrimination is no longer a major problem in America | 23.2% | 22.7% |
| 2009 | 2004 | |
|---|---|---|
| Being very well off financially | 78.1% | 73.6% |
| Raising a family | 74.7% | 75.1% |
| Helping others who are in difficulty | 69.1% | 62.4% |
| Becoming an authority in my field | 58.5% | 58.3% |
| Improving my understanding of other countries/cultures | 49.4% | 42.7% |
| Developing a meaningful philosophy of life | 48.0% | 42.1% |
| Influencing social values | 42.1% | 38.3% |
| Becoming successful in a business of my own | 41.9% | 41.0% |
| Keeping up to date with political affairs | 36.0% | 34.3% |
| Becoming a community leader | 35.8% | 30.7% |
| Helping to promote racial understanding | 33.1% | 29.7% |
| Participating in a community-action program | 29.8% | 21.5% |
| Becoming involved in programs to clean up the environment | 26.9% | 17.5% |
| Making a theoretical contribution to science | 21.6% | 17.8% |
| Influencing the political structure | 20.8% | 19.7% |
| Creating artistic work (painting, sculpture, decorating, etc.) | 16.2% | 15.6% |
| Becoming accomplished in one of the performing arts (acting, dancing, etc.) | 16.1% | 15.1% |
| Writing original works (poems, novels, short stories, etc.) | 16.0% | 15.1% |
| Age on Dec. 31, 2009 | |
|---|---|
| 17 or younger | 1.7% |
| 18 | 68.0% |
| 19 | 28.7% |
| 20 or older | 1.6% |
| English is native language | |
| Yes | 91.6% |
| No | 8.4% |
| Racial and ethnic background | |
| White/Caucasian | 73.1% |
| African-American/Black | 11.0% |
| Asian-American/Asian | 8.9% |
| Mexican-American/Chicano | 5.5% |
| Other Latino | 4.2% |
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 2.5% |
| Puerto Rican | 1.5% |
| Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander | 1.0% |
| Other | 3.4% |
| Religious preference | |
| Roman Catholic | 26.9% |
| Baptist | 10.9% |
| Church of Christ | 4.8% |
| Methodist | 4.6% |
| Lutheran | 3.8% |
| Presbyterian | 2.9% |
| Jewish | 2.6% |
| Episcopalian | 1.3% |
| Buddhist | 1.1% |
| Muslim | 1.0% |
| United Church of Christ/Congregational | 0.8% |
| Hindu | 0.7% |
| Eastern Orthodox | 0.6% |
| Latter-day Saints (Mormon) | 0.3% |
| Seventh-day Adventist | 0.3% |
| Quaker | 0.2% |
| Other Christian | 12.7% |
| Other religion | 2.7% |
| None | 21.9% |
| Parents’ education (highest level) |
|---|
| Father | Mother | |
|---|---|---|
| Grammar school or less | 4.1% | 3.7% |
| Some high school | 5.2% | 3.8% |
| High-school graduate | 19.3% | 17.4% |
| Postsecondary school other than college | 3.2% | 3.5% |
| Some college | 14.5% | 16.8% |
| College degree | 28.4% | 33.4% |
| Some graduate school | 2.1% | 2.7% |
| Graduate degree | 23.0% | 18.7% |
| Estimated parental income | ||
| Less than $10,000 | 4.0% | |
| $10,000 to $14,999 | 3.0% | |
| $15,000 to $19,999 | 2.7% | |
| $20,000 to $24,999 | 3.7% | |
| $25,000 to $29,999 | 3.4% | |
| $30,000 to $39,999 | 6.1% | |
| $40,000 to $49,999 | 7.2% | |
| $50,000 to $59,999 | 8.2% | |
| $60,000 to $74,999 | 10.8% | |
| $75,000 to $99,999 | 14.0% | |
| $100,000 to $149,999 | 17.6% | |
| $150,000 to $199,999 | 7.8% | |
| $200,000 to $249,999 | 4.4% | |
| $250,000 or more | 7.2% | |
| Status of parents | ||
| Both alive and living with each other | 70.2% | |
| Both alive, divorced or living apart | 26.1% | |
| One or both deceased | 3.8% | |
| Number of other colleges applied to for admission this year | |
|---|---|
| None | 14.1% |
| 1 | 10.5% |
| 2 | 13.3% |
| 3 | 15.7% |
| 4 | 13.3% |
| 5 | 9.9% |
| 6 | 7.1% |
| 7 to 10 | 12.6% |
| 11 or more | 3.3% |
| Accepted by first-choice college | |
| Yes | 79.2% |
| No | 20.8% |
| College attended is student’s: | |
| First choice | 60.7% |
| Second choice | 25.9% |
| Third choice | 8.7% |
| Less than third choice | 4.7% |
| Top reasons noted as very important in selecting college attended | |
| Graduates get good jobs | 56.5% |
| The cost of attending | 41.6% |
| A visit to the campus | 41.4% |
| Wanted to go to a school about the size of t | 39.8% |
| Graduates gain admission to top graduate/p | 34.6% |
| Wanted to live near home | 20.1% |
| Information from a Web site | 19.2% |
| Rankings in national magazines | 18.5% |
| Admitted through an early-action or early-d | 12.9% |
| Could not afford first choice | 12.2% |
| Advice from high-school counselor | 10.3% |
| Not offered aid by first choice | 8.9% |
| Recruited by the athletics department | 8.9% |
| The religious affiliation/orientation of the c | 7.8% |
| Advice from private college counselor | 3.6% |
| Ability to take online courses | 2.7% |
| Miles from college to permanent home | |
| 5 or fewer | 4.8% |
| 6 to 10 | 6.0% |
| 11 to 50 | 24.4% |
| 51 to 100 | 17.8% |
| 101 to 500 | 33.0% |
| More than 500 | 14.1% |
| Housing plans during fall term | |
| College residence hall | 79.5% |
| With family or other relatives | 14.2% |
| Other private home, apartment, or room | 2.8% |
| Other campus student housing | 2.7% |
| Fraternity or sorority house | 0.5% |
| Other | 0.3% |
| Professional | 14.4% |
| Business | 14.4% |
| Arts and humanities | 13.3 |
| Social science | 11.7% |
| Biological science | 9.7% |
| Engineering | 9.7% |
| Education | 8.1% |
| Physical science | 3.4% |
| Technical fields | 1.1% |
| Other fields | 7.5% |
| Undecided | 6.8% |
| Note: The statistics are based on survey responses of 219,864 first-year, first-time students attending 297 four-year colleges and universities full time in the fall of 2009. The figures were statistically adjusted to represent a national population of approximately 1.4 million such students. Because of rounding or multiple responses, figures may add up to more than 100 percent. ‘N/a’ means the question was not asked that year. | |
| Source: The American Freshman: National Norms for Fall 2009, published by the U. of California at Los Angeles Higher Education Research Institute | |
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