by Lisa Barley and Carol Himelhoch, Cleary University
March 2004
OVERVIEW
Highlights of the CIRP Freshman Survey:
Uses of the CIRP Freshman Survey:
Liberal Arts and the CIRP Freshman Survey:
Jill Cellars Rogers
Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts
at Wabash College
Introduction
The Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) Freshman Survey is a comprehensive institutional assessment tool that measures entering freshman characteristics and provides useful student profile data. Established in 1966 by the American Council on Education, the CIRP Freshman Survey is now administered at the Higher Educational Research Institute. Composed of forty questions, The CIRP Freshman Survey collects population characteristics (e.g., age, race, gender, income); student expectations of the college experience; high school experiences; student degree goals and plans; perceptions of family finances; and student attitudes, values, lifestyles and reasons for attending college. The CIRP Freshman Survey data may be used for tracking changes in students when combined with other data collected throughout a student’s college career. This review discusses data collection strategies, identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the instrument, and suggests key constituencies who might find it useful. Overall, this review concludes that developing a profile of entering students enhances an institution’s ability to provide resources in areas of perceived student need, hence helping to better shape students’ college experiences in all points of contact with the college or university.
Key Characteristics of the Instrument
The data collected by the CIRP Freshman Survey can be used to compare current entering freshmen to previous first-year classes. On its own, the Freshman Survey simply describes entering students. The results measure population characteristics (e.g., age, race, income, religion), students’ expectations of their college experiences, secondary school experiences, degree goals and future plans, as well as perceptions of college finances, attitudes, values, lifestyles, and reasons for attending college. [2] However, when combined with another instrument, it provides a baseline of information for comparison purposes.
The CIRP Freshman Survey looks at characteristics of incoming first-year college students, including demographics (e.g., age, race, and family income), expectations of college, high school experiences, future professional and social goals, attitudes, values, lifestyles, and motivation for attending college. In general, the CIRP Freshman Survey "describes" a particular incoming college class and provides a snapshot of first-year students at an institution. (See questions from the 2005 CIRP Freshman Survey.)
Who Might Find It Worthwhile?
The CIRP Freshman Survey is useful to a number of constituencies. The instrument provides valuable student profiles that are beneficial on a number of levels. Academic affairs personnel might use profile data for program review, assessment, accreditation, and the development of early intervention programs. Faculty could use data about academic abilities, self-confidence, and intellectual background for course and curricula development. The instrument could aid department chairs in working with faculty on designing courses that fit student characteristics and expectations. Faculty can discover why students chose their college in survey responses such as "my parents wanted me to go," "I could not find a job," and "to make me a more cultured person." The survey results could inform enrollment services in their admission and recruitment efforts (e.g., characteristics relative to marketing a college or university such as distance of the campus from home, grade point average in high school, and college entrance exam scores).
Institutional researchers would likely find the data helpful for retention, assessment, and longitudinal studies of class profiles, and to evaluate their students against others at peer institutions (e.g., is there a relationship between retention rates and why students choose to attend college?).
How might the data be used to measure the impact of a liberal arts education?
The CIRP Freshman Survey can identify the extent to which entering students have participated or plan to participate in some of the practices that contribute to a liberal arts education. For example, the survey can identify whether students will go to college full time (question #5), have a history of and expectations for interaction with faculty (questions #34, 39), set high goals for themselves (questions #18, #31, #38), and plan to enroll in classes emphasizing the study of liberal arts as opposed to vocational or technical ideas (question #37). These practices play a role in positive learning outcomes of a liberal arts education such as reading comprehension, writing skills, and learning for self-understanding. Therefore, by examining a subset of the "liberal arts qualities" (like those listed above) of an entering class, institutions can better understand the experiences and expectations of their first-year students, and consider whether or not these characteristics are consistent with liberal arts educational practices.
Along with examining practices associated with liberal arts education, the CIRP also looks at student history, attitudes, and experiences that might reflect larger and more overarching liberal arts outcomes. For instance, question #34 asks how often a student engaged in a host of activities and behaviors over the past year, including visiting an art gallery, feeling depressed, performing volunteer work, etc. That a student visited art galleries regularly might suggest a strong inclination to inquire; a history of depression speaks to a student’s well-being; and the amount a student volunteered could indicate something about his or her leadership and moral character.
Alternatively, the CIRP Freshman Survey can be given to students alongside other instruments to examine relationships between learning outcomes and student characteristics. For example, one could use the CIRP in conjunction with the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI), which looks at their disposition toward critical thinking, to examine the relationship between the number of hours per week he or she read for pleasure in high school and a student’s critical thinking disposition.
Likewise, the CIRP Freshman Survey data could be combined with data from another survey that explores student characteristics. Typically, the second instrument would be given after an educational experience is complete. Comparing the data between the CIRP Freshman Survey and the second survey could provide a sense of how students have changed over time. One instrument commonly used in conjunction with this survey is the College Student Survey (CSS), which can be administered at the end of a student’s senior year of college. Looking at how students’ political views have changed from the beginning to the end of the college experience, for instance, could provide interesting information about how the institution’s curricular and co-curricular practices affect students’ political opinions. Furthermore, a change in a student’s views could also suggest growth in liberal arts outcomes like effective problem solving, intercultural maturity, or moral character.
Data Collection Methods
Data are collected as freshmen full-time students enter college. The survey is typically administered by professionals in a supervised setting during orientation. Respondents are allotted one hour to complete the survey although many complete it in thirty to forty minutes. Completed surveys are sent back to the Higher Education Research Institute in Los Angeles, CA for processing and initial analysis. The instrument is four pages with forty questions and numerous subquestions. Institutions are able to add up to twenty-one questions, which can be designed to fit their needs. The cost is $400 plus a $1.50 fee per returned survey for the first 1,000 surveys, and $1.00 thereafter. [1] Institutions purchase their own data file, which is available electronically or on paper. Data files are necessary to complete some of the longitudinal analyses described in this article. However, there is an option to receive the summarized results only, which may appeal to smaller institutions with fewer institutional research resources.
Shortcomings
Questions are closed-ended, which means that respondents are unable to comment or provide additional information that is not part of the original question. Because the instrument covers many topics, it is difficult to ask about any one area in-depth. For example, one question about promoting racial understanding may not be sufficient; diversity is such a complex concept that several questions about this topic would be more effective and thorough.
The way students interpret the survey’s wording may have changed since the original administering of the survey in 1966. Therefore, without revision, some questions may no longer be as relevant as they were initially. In addition, questions developed through qualitative research examining deeper explanations of racial and gender issues related to higher learning constructs would strengthen the instrument.
Some schools have trouble getting students to participate or take the survey seriously, a problem that is common to many assessments. The one-hour length may fatigue respondents. Since data is collected once, it cannot measure change over time. One solution is to administer the CSS in conjunction with the CIRP in order to measure changes in students over the course of their college experience.
Conclusion
In summary, the CIRP Freshman Survey is a valuable instrument for collecting information about incoming student characteristics and demographics. Alone, the Freshman Survey simply provides a snapshot of incoming students; however, when combined with other instruments, like the CSS, it allows an institution to look at how its student body has changed during the college experience. Researchers can also use the CIRP along with other outcomes instruments to study relationships between student demographics or characteristics and each particular outcome. In this way, the CIRP can provide useful data for assessing outcomes associated with a liberal arts education.
References
Annotated Bibliography
Astin, A. W. (1993). An empirical typology of college students. Journal of College Student Development, 34, 36–46. The article suggests that using CIRP Freshman Survey data to create student typologies for placement and individualization for treatment would allow colleges and universities to create useful devices for record keeping and resource allocation. Administrators, faculty chairs, and university financial aid offices may find this article particularly helpful.
Glynn, J. G., Sauer, P. L., & Miller, T. E. (2003). Signaling student retention with prematriculation data. NASPA Journal, 41(1), 41–63. This article used a survey that included portions of the CIRP Freshman Survey instrument to provide information to enhance early identification of freshmen at risk of attrition. This article would be helpful to college and university advisors and early intervention personnel.
Kezar, A., & Moriarty, D. (2000). Expanding our understanding of leadership development: A case study exploring gender and ethnic identity. NASPA Journal, 41(1), 55–69. This article uses the CIRP 1987 Freshman Survey and 1991 follow-up to suggest that different strategies are necessary for the development of leadership among a diverse group of students. Student life and development personnel may find this article interesting.