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Student Engagement

Separate surveys of community and four-year college students seek to help colleges find meaningful ways to measure how effectively the institutions are contributing to learning.

Two annual surveys of student engagement—the Community College Survey of Student Engagement at two-year colleges and the National Survey of Student Engagement at four-year institutions—spotlight some surprising trends in student behavior and demographics. Survey sponsors hope the findings—some of them encouraging, some disappointing—will help colleges find better ways to improve student learning.

According to the latest Community College Survey of Student Engagement, changing enrollment patterns and attainment rates shatter the stereotype that typical community college students study for two years and move on to a four-year institution with an associate’s degree in hand. Millions of students spend four years or more assembling their education, often at several colleges, and many do not earn an associate’s degree at any institution.

In addition, the survey finds, 60 percent of community college students work more than 20 hours per week, one reason why attaining an associate’s degree within two years of high school graduation is so elusive. These work hours might also account for community college students’ inability to connect with their school—84 percent report never participating in extracurricular activities.

The study also found that many adults are turning to community colleges, but not just to get a degree. Nearly 1 in 6 report already having a bachelor’s degree, suggesting they’re picking up credits to stay competitive in the global market. For more, visit www.ccsse.org/.

The 2004 report from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), Student Engagement: Pathways to Collegiate Success, finds that about 9 of 10 students rate their college experience as good or excellent and that the number of seniors who perceive their campus administration to be helpful, considerate, and flexible has increased by 15 percent.

On the down side, only one-tenth of students rely on newspapers or magazines as their primary source of news, while more than half of the students say television is their primary source for news. Two-fifths of first-year students and a quarter of seniors report never discussing readings or ideas from their classes with faculty members outside of class. And only 11 percent of full-time students spend more than 25 hours per week preparing for class, the number of hours faculty say is needed to do well.

The NSSE survey can be found at www.iub.edu/~nsse/html/report-2004.shtml.