North
Carolina State University
2004-2005 Graduating Senior Survey:
Highlights
- NC State conducted its annual
survey of graduating seniors during the fall 2004 and spring 2005 semesters.
Students from eight
of the nine undergraduate academic units who graduated in December 2004 or May
2005 (AY04-05) are included1. Slightly more
than sixty percent (61.4%) of seniors who graduated in AY04-05 completed the
web survey. The margin of error for the survey is +0.8 percentage points
at the 95% confidence interval.
- Close to three-fourths of all
respondents (73.9%) said they "fully accomplished" their goal or objective
in attending NC State and more than three-fourths (77.4%) said they would
choose NC State again if they could start over. A vast majority of respondents
(89.6%) said they would recommend NC State to a friend.
- Over 90 percent of respondents
rated the intellectual environment on campus as "strong" (65.6%)
or "very strong" (26.2%). Large majorities of respondents gave positive
ratings to the overall education they received at NC State, the overall quality
of instruction, and the quality of instruction in their major. A majority
of respondents gave faculty in their major positive ratings in all areas asked
about, with highest ratings for setting high expectations for learning
and encouraging devoting time and energy to coursework.
- Respondents generally gave positive
ratings to various academic services outside the classroom. Technology
services and library services received the highest overall ratings,
while research support services received somewhat lower overall ratings.
Although ratings for non-academic services were generally lower than those
for academic services, at least two-thirds of respondents gave positive ratings
to all but one of the non-academic services asked about.
- More than half of white respondents
(51.6%) said they "strongly agree" that NC State is committed to helping
minorities succeed, compared to 23.2 percent of African Americans and
28.7 percent of non-African American minorities. Slightly more than one-third
of white respondents (35.3%) said they "strongly agree" that NC State has
visible leadership from the Chancellor and other administrators to foster
diversity on campus, compared to 15.2 percent of African Americans and
20.2 percent of non-African American minorities.
- More than
half of respondents (54.4%) said it took them longer than four years to graduate.
These students most commonly cited having "changed majors" or "hours spent
working" as reasons for their delayed graduation.
- Slightly more than half of respondents
(51.0%) were employed off-campus during their graduation year, working an
average of about 21 hours per week. Fewer students reported working on campus
(13.5%), and those that did worked fewer hours (14 hours on average). A similar
number (13.4%) worked both on and off campus, for an average of 29 hours per
week. Close to two-thirds of employed respondents (64.3%) indicated that they
worked to pay their living expenses. About one-third of respondents who worked
on campus, and one-fourth of those who worked off campus were working in jobs
directly related to their major.
- More than 40 percent of respondents
(42.4%) had a co-op, internship, practicum or field experience while at NC
State. More than 70 percent of those with such experience (72.1%) said that
the experience made an "excellent" contribution to their personal
and professional growth and close to one-third (31.4%) said they received
a job offer from their employer.
- About one-fifth of respondents
(19.4%) participated in research with an NC State faculty member and a majority
of those respondents (55.2%) said it was an "excellent" experience in terms
of personal and professional growth.
- Close to one-fourth of respondents
said they planned to go to graduate or professional school after graduation.
Only 10 percent reported accepting a new job to start after graduation. However,
this figure is 22 percent among those who completed the survey less than 2
months prior to graduation, as compared to only 6 percent among those who
completed the survey 4 or more months prior to graduation.
Endnotes:
1. Due to a very low response
rate (5%), survey results for the College of Design are not representative of
the graduating senior population and are therefore excluded from all 2004-2005
Graduating Senior Survey reports. (back)
For more information on the 2004-2005 Graduating Senior Survey
contact:
Dr. Nancy Whelchel, Assistant Director for Survey Research
University Planning and Analysis
Box 7002
NCSU
Phone: (919) 515-4184
Email: Nancy_Whelchel@ncsu.edu
Posted: October, 2005
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