College Knowledge:
From Information to Expectation
NACAC Conference, October 6th, 2006, Pittsburgh
Beginning College
Survey of Student
Engagement
Julie M. Williams
Ty M. Cruce
John V. Moore
Indiana University
Overview
 Background and Literature
 Questions of Interest
 Data Sources and Sample
 Findings
 Implications for Practice
Gaps in College Information
 Students enter the college search/choice process with a
wide range of expectations, information and support for
their college dreams.
 The quality and quantity of information available, is
often contingent in part on demographics and
socioeconomics (student, school & community)
 Families misperceive costs of college & can be
confused/frustrated by the FA process.
 Students are unsure of application requirements and important
application and ACT/SAT deadlines.
 Students and families may start the process too late.
Why Information is Important
 Information is Powerful
 The quality of information, family/school resources, & social
networks individual students have access to and can apply
toward their educational goals plays an important role in
attainment (e.g. Bourdieu, Coleman, Hossler, McDonough)
 Information Forms Expectations
 In addition to being necessary to navigate the search process,
information also helps shape students’ expectations for college
experience.
Why Do Expectations Matter?
 Expectations affect the actual experiences of
college students by:
1) Serving as a filter through which students evaluate and select
various types of educational opportunities.
2) Predisposing students to seek specific learning activities.
 Student expectations and subsequent
experience are not always congruent.

Ex: First-generation or low-income students may have less
tacit knowledge of what college is like.

May influence students’ overall performance in college and
satisfaction with their experience.
Questions of Interest
 How do the primary information sources that shape
entering students’ expectations differ by the students’
backgrounds (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, parents’
education)?
 How does the match between student and faculty
expectations about time spent studying differ by the
students’ backgrounds (including their primary sources
of information)?
Data Sources
Beginning College Survey
of Student Engagement
Faculty Survey of
Student Engagement
Annual survey of firstyear students at
baccalaureate degreegranting institutions
Annual survey of upperand lower-division faculty
2005-2006 pilot
administration at 70
institutions
Administered during the
spring semester
Administered prior to
start of classes, usually at
orientation or welcome
week
2006 administration at
131 institutions
What Does BCSSE Examine?
 Experiences
(Time on Task, Courses, Grades)
 College Expectations
(Degree Plans, Time on Task, Grades)
 Importance of Activities
(College Emphases, Activities)
 Baseline Self-Assessment
(Knowledge, skills & personal
development)
 Demographics
(HS Size, HS Type, 1st Generation)
What Does FSSE Examine?
 Faculty perceptions of how often their students
engage in different activities
 The importance faculty place on various areas of
learning and development
 Nature and frequency of student-faculty
interactions
 How faculty organize class time
Survey Instrument Histories
 Both surveys were designed as companions to the
National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)
 Annual survey of first-year students and seniors at
four-year institutions that measures extent to which
students engage in educational practices associated
with high levels of learning and development.
 Documents dimensions of quality in undergraduate
education and provides information and assistance to
colleges, universities, and other organizations to
improve student learning.
 Approximately 600 institutions plan to participate in
NSSE 2007 in the spring.
Study Sample
 Student Sample
 26,620 entering first-year students
 59% female, 41% male
 77% white, 23% of color
 64% have at least one parent with a bachelor’s degree
 Institutional Sample
 60 baccalaureate degree-granting institutions
 Includes 1 Canadian University
 60% private, 40% public
 Undergraduate student body <400 to >35,000
 Range on Barron’s from non-competitive to most competitive
Findings
Part One:
Primary Source of Expectations
Primary Source of Expectations
 BCSSE asks of entering college students:
 To what extent have the following influenced your
expectations about your experience at this college?










Family members
Friends/students in high school
Friends/students already attending this college
High school guidance counselors
High school teachers/administrators
College recruiters/admissions counselors
College website/materials
Campus visits
College orientation
External publications (e.g., guidebooks)
Family/Friends
High School
College
Responses range from ‘Not at all’ to ‘A lot’
Primary Source of Expectations
 Using cluster analysis, we identified four student types
 Those students who primarily relied on:
 Family and Friends
 High School
 College
 All Sources Equally
42%
10%
22%
26%
Question of Interest #1
 How do the primary information sources that shape entering
students’ expectations differ by the students’ backgrounds?
 Examples:
 Are males more likely than females to rely on family/friends as
a primary source of information?
 Are private high school students more likely than public high
school students to rely on the college as a primary source of
information?
Have some ideas?
Its time to test your knowledge…
Primary Source of Expectations
Imagine two hypothetical college-bound students…
Who are similar in all of the following ways but one:
Gender
High School Grades
Race
High School Leadership
Parents’ Education
High School Type
Degree Aspirations
College Selectivity
Test Your Knowledge: #1
 Females are less likely
than males to rely on
high school as a
primary source of
information.
True
False
Primary Source of Expectations
By Gender
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
43
43
23
25
22
11
9
Female
Family & Friends
Male
High School
College
All
23
Test Your Knowledge: #2
 Asian American
students are less likely
than students of other
races to rely on
family/friends as a
primary source of
information.
True
False
Primary Source of Expectations
By Race
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
47
43
39
33
29
27
26
27
24 23
22
15
11
12
10
African American
Asian American
Family & Friends
High School
10
Hispanic
College
White
All
Test Your Knowledge: #3
 First-generation
students are more
likely than other
students to rely on
high school as a
primary source of
information.
True
False
Primary Source of Expectations
By Parents’ Education
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
45
39
23
25
23
23
13
8
Neither Parent with Bachelor's
Family & Friends
At Least One Parent with Bachelor's
High School
College
All
Test Your Knowledge: #4
 Students with higher
degree aspirations are
more likely than
students with lower
aspirations to rely on
college as a primary
source of information.
True
False
Primary Source of Expectations
By Degree Aspirations
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
43
43
42
23 24
10
23
25
23 24
10
10
Bachelor's Level Degree
Expectations
Family & Friends
Master's Level Degree
Expectations
High School
College
Doctoral Level Degree
Expectations
All
Test Your Knowledge: #5
 Students with lower
high school GPAs are
less likely than
students with higher
GPAs to rely equally
on all sources of
information.
True
False
Primary Source of Expectations
By High School GPA
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
43
41
28
23
21
10
10
High School GPA of 3.0
Family & Friends
24
High School GPA of 4.0
High School
College
All
Test Your Knowledge: #6
 Students who are less
involved in leadership
activities are more
likely than students
who are more involved
to rely on
family/friends as a
primary source of
information.
True
False
Primary Source of Expectations
By High School Leadership
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
47
37
23
21
20
10
9
High School Leadership Index (Lower)
Family & Friends
33
High School
High School Leadership Index
(Higher)
College
All
Test Your Knowledge: #7
 Students who attend
private high schools
are more likely than
their public school
peers to rely on high
school as a primary
source of information.
True
False
Primary Source of Expectations
By High School Type
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
43
41
32
22
28
26
27
22
20 21
11
10
Public High School
Family & Friends
Private High School
High School
College
Religious High School
All
Test Your Knowledge: #8
 Students who attend
more selective
colleges are more
likely than students
who attend less
selective colleges to
rely on college as a
primary source of
information.
True
False
Primary Source of Expectations
By Selectivity of College Attended
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
47
37
29
27
24
17
10
10
Barron's Less Selective
Family & Friends
Barron's Highly Selective
High School
College
All
Primary Source of Expectations
 “Test Your Knowledge” Scores
 7-8 Good Job!
 5-6 Not Bad!
 1-4 This has been educational, No?
Summary of Findings
 Most students rely on family/friends as a primary
source of information to shape their college
expectations
 Differences in the primary source of information on
which students rely seem most pronounced by:
 Race
 Parents’ education
 High school leadership
 High school type
 Selectivity of the college attended
Primary Source of Expectations
 Question for Consideration:
 (When) Does the source of information matter?
 Answer:
 When examining the accuracy of student expectations
 Example:
 Comparing student expectations with faculty
expectations about the time per week that students
spend studying
Findings
Part Two:
Matching Faculty Expectations
Time Spent Studying
 BCSSE asks of entering college students:
 During the coming school year, about how many hours do you
think you will spend in a typical 7-day week preparing for your
class (studying, reading, writing, doing homework or lab work,
analyzing data, rehearsing, and other academic activities)?
 FSSE asks of lower division faculty and instructors:
 In a typical 7-day week, about how many hours do you expect
your students to spend preparing for your class (studying,
reading, writing, doing homework or lab work, analyzing data,
rehearsing, and other academic activities)
 Student responses were compared to adjusted average lower
division faculty responses by college Carnegie Classification
Question of Interest #2
 How does the match between student and faculty
expectations about time spent studying differ by the
students’ backgrounds?
 Examples:
 Are students who primarily rely on family/friends more likely
than other students to match faculty expectations?
 Are students who attend more selective colleges less likely than
other students to match faculty expectations?
Have some ideas?
Its time again to test your knowledge…
Matching Faculty Expectations
Imagine two hypothetical college-bound students…
Who are similar in all of the following ways but one:
Primary Source of Information
High School Grades
Gender
High School Leadership
Race
High School Type
Parents’ Education
College Selectivity
Degree Aspirations
Test Your Knowledge: #9
 Students who
primarily rely on which
source of information
have the greatest
likelihood of matching
faculty expectations?
Family/Friends
High School
College
All Sources
Matching Faculty Expectations
By Information Source
70
60
50
50
53
55
High School
College
58
40
30
20
10
0
Family/Friends
All
Test Your Knowledge: #10
 Females are less likely
than males to match
faculty expectations.
True
False
Matching Faculty Expectations
By Gender
70
60
55
51
50
40
30
20
10
0
Female
Male
Test Your Knowledge: #11
 Asian Americans are
more likely than
students of any other
race to match faculty
expectations.
True
False
Matching Faculty Expectations
By Race
70
60
55
59
52
53
Hispanic/Latino
White
50
40
30
20
10
0
African American
Asian American
Test Your Knowledge: #12
 First-generation
students are less likely
than other students to
match faculty
expectations.
True
False
Matching Faculty Expectations
By Parents’ Education
70
60
52
54
Neither Parent with Bachelor's
At Least One Parent with Bachelor's
50
40
30
20
10
0
Test Your Knowledge: #13
 Students with higher
degree aspirations
have the same
likelihood as students
with lower aspirations
of matching faculty
expectations.
True
False
Matching Faculty Expectations
By Degree Aspirations
70
60
50
49
54
59
40
30
20
10
0
Bachelor's Level Degree
Expectations
Master's Level Degree
Expectations
Doctoral Level Degree
Expectations
Test Your Knowledge: #14
 Students with higher
high school GPAs are
more likely than
students with lower
GPAs to match faculty
expectations.
True
False
Primary Source of Expectations
By High School GPA
70
60
52
55
50
40
30
20
10
0
High School GPA 3.0
High School GPA 4.0
Test Your Knowledge: #15
 Students who are
more active in
leadership activities in
high school are less
likely than students
who are less active to
match faculty
expectations.
True
False
Matching Faculty Expectations
By High School Leadership
70
60
50
58
49
40
30
20
10
0
High School Leadership Index (Lower)
High School Leadership Index
(Higher)
Test Your Knowledge: #16
 True/False
Students who attend
public high schools are
less likely than
students who attend
private schools to
match faculty
expectations.
True
False
Matching Faculty Expectations
By High School Type
70
60
54
52
52
Public High School
Private High School
Religious High School
50
40
30
20
10
0
Test Your Knowledge: #17
 Students who attend
more selective
colleges are more
likely than students
who attend less
selective colleges to
match faculty
expectations.
True
False
Matching Faculty Expectations
By Selectivity of College Attended
70
60
50
58
49
40
30
20
10
0
Barron's Less
Selective College
Barron's Highly Selective College
Matching Faculty Expectations
 “Test Your Knowledge” Scores
 7-9 Nice Work!
 5-6 Not Bad!
 1-4 This has been educational, no?
Summary of Key Findings
 Family/friends were by far the most often cited
source of college expectations, yet students who
relied primarily on this source were least likely to
match faculty expectations.
 Students who relied on all sources equally had
the greatest likelihood of matching faculty
expectations.
Summary of Key Findings
 Regardless of information sources that were
used, differences in entering students’ ability to
match their expectations with the expectations of
their faculty differed substantially by:
 Race
 Degree aspirations
 High school leadership
 Selectivity of the college attended
Implications
What does all of this mean for
practice?
NACAC- Statement of
Principles of Good Practice
 Core Values - Include
 Education-Committed to educating students, their families,
the public, fellow education professionals, and ourselves
about the transition to and within postsecondary education.
 Fairness and Equity-Have a responsibility to treat one another
and students in a fundamentally fair and equitable manner.
 Social Responsibility-have a duty to serve student
responsibly, by safeguarding their rights and their access to
and within postsecondary education.
Implications for Practice
 #1: Heavy Role of Family/Friends
 Focus on availability of quality and comprehensive
information for all
 Do information sessions include “ what to expect”
conversations? Academics? Extra-curriculars?
 Is information provided at different levels of specificity?
 Do we help all families (FG, low income, various races)
develop accurate expectations of college?
 Do we help students ask questions during campus visits
that lead to accurate expectations?
Implications for Practice
 #2: More Info Sources = Better Information
 Review information sources available to students
 Timely
 Accurate from reliable sources
 Easy to understand
 In what format are resources offered?
 Materials in office only
 Website
 Mailings to homes
 Local paper
 How can students get information about college from you
without meeting in person in your office or on campus?
Implications for Practice
 #3: Who Can Help Us in These Efforts?
 “What to expect in college” classroom sessions enlisting
teachers and former students
 Network with colleagues
 Ask/offer to help develop new college info sessions
and ideas for getting to know student needs
 Have current college students review admission materials
and websites to see if messages portray actual campus
experience accurately.
 College/High School Partnerships
 External sources of data on entering students (CIRP,
BCSSE, SAT/ACT profiles)
Take-Home Message
 We can better understand our students and
more effectively help them transition to and be
successful in college
 We can shape student expectations, which
increases student persistence and college
success
 Collaborating with others and using student
data and other info sources can help us to assist
all students more effectively by confirming or
challenging our perceptions
Participating Institutions
Bethel University
Morningside College
University of Maine at Farmington
Brigham Young University-Hawaii
Mount Saint Mary's University
University of Missouri-Kansas City
Brigham Young University
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Case Western Reserve University
Northwest Christian College
Clayton College and State University
Denison University
Paul Smiths College of Arts and Science
University of San Francisco
University of South Dakota
University of South Florida St. Petersburg
University of St Francis
Pennsylvania State University-Berks
University of Toronto
Edgewood College
Queen's University
University of Windsor
Elon University
Radford University
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
Fort Lewis College
Rider University
Goucher College
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Hanover College
Saint Ambrose University
Harvey Mudd College
Saint Xavier University
Henderson State University
Siena College
Heritage University
Southern Connecticut State University
Holy Family University
Southwestern Assemblies of God University
Illinois Wesleyan University
Southwestern College
Indiana University-Bloomington
Syracuse University
Indiana University-East
The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
Indiana University-South Bend
The University of Tennessee-Martin
John Carroll University
Thiel College
Loyola University Chicago
Trinity Western University
Lynchburg College
University of British Columbia
Mcneese State University
University of Guelph
Drake University
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
University of Wisconsin-Stout
Ursinus College
Utah State University
Virginia Commonwealth University
Viterbo University
Voorhees College
Wabash College
Washington & Jefferson College
Washington State University
Western Illinois University
Western Kentucky University
Western New Mexico University
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Contact Information
 Email:
Julie Williams
williaj4@indiana.edu
Ty Cruce
tcruce@indiana.edu
John Moore
jmooreii@indiana.edu
Presentation materials from this session
are available on the NSSE website:
www.nsse.iub.edu
NSSE efforts have been supported by The Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, The Pew
Forum on Undergraduate Learning, The Lumina
Foundation, and the Center for Inquiry into the Liberal
Arts at Wabash College.