University
of Massachusetts
SAREO
Student Assessment,
Research, and Evaluation Office
|
||
|
University
of Massachusetts |
||
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ii
List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .iii
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Overview of Report Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Section 1. Freshmen Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Section 2. Academic Preparation and Expectations . . . . . . . . . . . 6
High School Achievement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Self Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Academic Expectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Section 3. Decision to Attend College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Reasons for Attending College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Reasons for Selecting the University of Massachusetts . . . . . . 9
Number of Applications and Acceptances . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Section 4. Financing College Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Section 5. Probable Major and Intended Career . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Probable Major . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Career Preference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Degree Expectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Section 6. Freshmen Lifestyle and Expectations . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Activities and Interests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Expected Satisfaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Section 7. Life Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Trends of Life Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Section 8. Social and Political Attitudes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Trends in Social and Political Attitudes . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Overview of ACE/CIRP Survey Questionnaire
Table 2: Family Characteristics of 1995 Freshmen
Table 3: Individual Characteristics of 1995 Freshmen
Table 4: High School Grades of 1995 Freshmen
Table 5: Self-Rating of 1995 Freshmen
Table 6: Academic Expectations of 1995 Freshmen
Table 7: Reasons for Attending College in 1995
Table 8: The Decision to Attend a Particular College in 1995
Table 9: Changes in Financial Resources
Table 10: Probable Major of 1995 Freshmen
Table 11: 1995 Freshmen Activities
Table 12: Non-Academic Expectations of 1995 Freshmen
Table 13: Top Ten Life Objectives of 1995 Freshmen
Table 14: Political Orientation of 1995 Freshmen
Table 15: Stances on Social and Political Issues
Table 16: Changes in Stances on Social and Political Issues
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Changes in Reasons for Attending College
Figure 2: Changes in Academic Reputation as a Reason to Attend Umass
Figure 3: Educational Resources
Figure 4: Grants and Scholarships
Figure 5: Loans
Figure 6: Probable Majors
Figure 7: Changes in Career Preferences
Figure 8: Students' Degree Expectations
Figure 9: Changes in Degree Expectations
Figure 10: Changes in Smoking and Drinking Habits
Figure 11: Expected Satisfaction with college
Figure 12: Academic Expectations of 1995 Freshmen
Figure 13: Being well off financially
Figure 14: Developing a philosophy of life
Figure 15: Promoting racial understanding
Figure 16: Keeping up to date with politics
Figure 17: Political Orientation
Figure 18: Changes in support for legalizing marijuana & abilishing
death penalty
Figure 19: The death penalty should be abolished
Figure 20: It is important to have laws prohibiting homosexual
relationships
Figure 21: The activities of married women are best confined to the
home and family
Normative data on the characteristics of freshmen entering American colleges and universities are useful for persons engaged in policy analysis, institutional planning and administration, educational research, guidance and counseling, as well as for the general community of students and parents. The annual survey of entering freshmen conducted by the UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute and partially sponsored by the American Council on Education (ACE) provides such information. This survey is part of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP), the nation's largest and longest national, longitudinal empirical study of the American higher education system. National results from this study are reported in The American Freshman: National Norms for Fall 1995.
The CIRP survey provides information about incoming students' backgrounds, academic and career expectations, personal goals, and opinions on a wide range of political and social issues. The 1995 national study is based on responses from 240,082 freshmen entering 473 two-year and four-year institutions. The normative scores are stratified according to type of institution and admissions profile in order to facilitate comparison.
The University of Massachusetts at Amherst (UMass) has participated in the CIRP survey since its inception in 1966 (UMass did not participate in 1976 and 1978). Since 1975, the Student Affairs Research, Information and Systems Office (SARIS) has produced a report on the responses of UMass students and students in comparison schools. In 1995, 3,532 of the 3,843 entering UMass freshmen who participated in the New Students Program also participated in the CIRP survey by completing the 30 minute questionnaire during the summer. The high response rate (91.9%) ensures that the scores for the University accurately represent the entire entering freshman class.
The report summarizes the 1995 responses of entering UMass students and students in comparison schools. This year the comparison schools were medium-select public universities. Medium-select is defined as an institution having an average composite SAT score (V & Q) of between 1000 and 1100 for the entering class. Until 1995, UMass Amherst data were compared to high-select public universities, where the average SAT scores for entering students are over 1100.
The 1995 CIRP survey contains items covering a broad range of subjects. This report organizes these items into eight sections: (1) freshmen profile, (2) academic preparation and expectations, (3) decision to attend college, (4) financing college education, (5) probable major and intended career, (6) lifestyle and expectations, (7) life objectives, and (8) social and political attitudes. Table 1 provides a detailed list of the items discussed in each section. A complete copy of the 1995 CIRP questionnaire is found in Appendix B.
The results for the 1995 University of Massachusetts entering class are included in every section. These results are compared with the 1995 normative scores of "medium-select" institutions, and comparisons are made between the responses of women and men where appropriate. Several analyses are provided highlighting differences between males and females. In several sections, the responses of the 1995 incoming freshmen are compared with the responses of UMass freshmen from previous years. These comparisons are made in cases where interesting or informative trends are evident.
The Appendices at the end of this report consist of the following: a list of the comparison schools (Appendix A), the 1995 CIRP questionnaire (Appendix B), comparative data tables of results from 1986 to 1995 for UMass and the comparison schools on selected items (Appendix C) and an Item-by-Item summary of the 1995 CIRP results for UMass and the comparison group of "medium-select" institutions (Appendix D).
Item Number
Freshman Profile:
age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
racial background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
religious preference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
sex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
U.S. citizen status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
year graduated from high school . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
estimated parental income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
parents' education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
parents' occupation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
parents' religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
parents' marital status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Academic Preparation:
average grade in high school . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
self evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Decision to Attend College:
reasons for attending college . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
reasons for attending this particular college . . . . . . . .34
overall choice of this college . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
number of college applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Financing College Education:
expected sources of income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Probable Major and Intended Career:
probable major . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
degree expectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
career preference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Freshman Lifestyle and Expectations:
interests and activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
living arrangements while at school . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
miles college is away from home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
expectations about college . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Student Values and Attitudes:
life objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
political view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
current issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Sex and Gender Issues:
opinions about abortion laws, acceptance of casual sex,
role of married women,and a man's right to sex . . .30
likelihood of marriage while in college . . . . . . . . . . .37
Table 2 presents the family characteristics of University of Massachusetts freshmen. Most parents live together, although the percentage of parents divorced or separated is slightly greater at the University of Massachusetts than at comparison schools. The vast majority (90.2%) of the freshmen estimate their combined family income to be greater than $19,999, with the median estimate between $50,000 and $59,999. Almost half of freshmen (49.5%) come from families with incomes of $60,000 or more. The father typically is employed as a businessman, engineer or skilled worker, while the top three positions for the mother are educaton, businesswoman, and nurse. Most parents have at least some college education, with fathers being much more likely to have received a graduate degree as mothers (24.8% and 16.5% respectively).
Almost half (47.2%) of the freshmen list their fathers' religion as Roman Catholic, and almost half (48.4%) say their mothers adhere to this religion. University of Massachusetts freshmen differ from the comparison group on religious background, with only about one-third (32.7% and 34.1% for fathers and mothers, respectively) of the comparison group freshmen from Roman Catholic families.
UMass % Comparison Group %
Parents' Marital Status:
Living with each other 69.9 75.6
Divorced or separated 25.4 21.2
One or both deceased 4.7 3.2
Parents' Occupation (top three)
Father:
Businessman 31.9 30.2
Engineer 8.8 8.8
Skilled Worker 8.2 7.3
Mother:
Education (elementary & secondary) 15.8 16.7
Businesswoman 14.0 13.7
Nurse 10.3 9.4
Parental Income:
Less than $6,000 2.1 1.5
$6,000 to $9,999 1.9 1.3
$10,000 to $14,999 2.7 2.3
$15,000 to $19,999 3.1 3.0
$20,000 to $24,999 4.0 4.3
$25,000 to $29,999 4.5 5.4
$30,000 to $39,999 9.6 10.4
$40,000 to $49,999 10.6 12.0
$50,000 to $59,999 11.9 13.2
$60,000 to $74,999 15.0 15.5
$75,000 to $99,999 15.1 13.2
$100,000 to $149,999 12.1 10.4
$150,999 to $199,999 4.2 3.6
$200,000 or more 3.1 3.9
UMass % Comparison Group %
Father Mother Father Mother
Parents' Education:
Grammar school or less 3.5 3.0 1.9 1.6
Some high school 3.8 3.0 2.8 2.1
High school graduate 16.9 21.7 19.4 24.0
Post-secondary other
than college 4.4 6.7 5.5 7.4
Some college 12.4 14.7 15.3 17.8
College degree 31.1 30.6 31.0 30.4
Some graduate school 3.1 3.7 3.0 3.3
Graduate degree 24.8 16.5 21.1 13.4
Parents' Religion
Protestant 21.9 24.5 51.7 54.0
Roman Catholic 47.2 48.4 32.7 34.1
Jewish 11.5 11.4 2.8 2.6
Other 3.1 3.2 2.0 2.2
None 12.6 9.1 8.9 5.4
Students at The University of Massachusetts in 1995 are similar in background to students in the comparison group in most respects (Table 3). Entering students typically are 18 years of age and are predominantly white. Compared to other public "medium-select" schools, there is a larger percentage of White/Caucasians and a smaller percentage of Asian-Americans at the University of Massachusetts. Almost all freshmen at the University and at the comparison schools are United States citizens. A noticeable difference between the two groups of freshmen is that the University has proportionately more Jews and Catholics and fewer Protestants than the comparison group.
UMass Comparison
% Group %
Sex:
Male 49.2 48.1
Female 50.8 51.9
Age:
16 or younger 0.0 0.0
17 2.4 1.8
18 79.1 70.2
19 16.1 26.4
20 1.6 0.9
21 or older 0.7 0.6
Year Graduated High School:
1995 97.7 98.0
1994 1.7 1.2
1993 0.3 0.3
1992 or earlier 0.3 0.5
High School Equivalent 0.1 0.1
U.S. Citizen: (yes) 94.4 97.8
Racial Background:
White/Caucasian 84.6 88.5
African-American/Black 4.0 5.4
Native American 1.3 1.5
Asian-American/Asian 6.8 4.2
Mexican-American/Chicano 0.4 0.9
Puerto Rican 2.3 0.5
Other Latino 2.4 1.1
Other 3.3 1.2
Religious Preference:
Protestant 18.0 48.0
Catholic 41.6 30.6
Jewish 9.9 2.2
Other 4.2 2.7
None 23.8 15.0
Academic characteristics of entering freshmen are summarized in Table 4. Freshmen at the University of Massachusetts report lower average high school grades than freshmen at comparison schools. Differences exist between men and women, with women reporting higher grades in high school than men.
Average Grade in High School
UMass % and (Comparison Group %)
Men Women Total
A- or better 11.0 (34.8) 18.6 (43.7) 14.9 (39.5)
B- to B+ 74.5 (58.6) 75.1 (53.6) 74.9 (56.0)
C or C+ 14.4 ( 6.5) 6.3 ( 2.8) 10.2 ( 4.6)
D 0.1 ( 0.1) 0.0 ( 0.0) 0.0 ( 0.1)
Table 5 provides results on how freshmen rate themselves as compared to the average person their age. The results indicate the percentage of students who rate themselves "above average."
Rating Themselves Above Average Compared to Peers:
UMass % and (Comparison Group %)
Men Women Total
Understanding of others 66.9 (64.0) 79.2 (77.0) 73.2 (70.8)
Cooperativeness 69.1 (70.0) 74.3 (76.7) 71.7 (73.5)
Drive to achieve 57.7 (70.3) 62.6 (73.4) 60.2 (71.9)
Academic ability 67.1 (78.3) 60.3 (72.4) 63.7 (75.2)
Creativity 60.8 (59.8) 51.2 (49.8) 55.9 (54.6)
Physical health 62.7 (67.1) 46.7 (50.2) 54.5 (58.3)
Emotional health 56.7 (65.2) 47.0 (55.5) 51.8 (60.2)
Leadership ability 58.4 (62.5) 51.5 (59.5) 54.9 (61.0)
Competitiveness 63.0 (72.0) 39.1 (50.8) 50.9 (61.0)
Intellectual self-confidence 58.5 (68.9) 41.6 (55.9) 49.9 (62.2)
Social self-confidence 48.5 (52.6) 41.8 (49.3) 45.1 (50.9)
Writing ability 39.1 (43.3) 41.6 (49.2) 40.4 (46.4)
Popularity 46.4 (46.6) 32.6 (38.0) 39.4 (42.2)
Physical appearance 46.6 (48.0) 35.0 (38.5) 40.7 (43.1)
Stubborness 38.2 (40.6) 44.0 (47.7) 41.1 (44.3)
Mathematical ability 51.6 (61.6) 34.1 (41.9) 42.7 (51.4)
Public speaking abiltiy 29.6 (35.2) 29.0 (35.8) 29.3 (35.5)
Artistic ability 28.5 (29.5) 28.6 (27.2) 28.6 (28.3)
Cynicism 24.8 (27.4) 17.7 (16.6) 21.3 (21.8)
The CIRP survey asked entering freshmen about their academic expectations. Table 6 summarizes their responses. Most freshmen at the University of Massachusetts are confident that they will get a Bachelor's degree, but a much smaller proportion expects to earn at least a "B" average. Almost half of the women (45.9%) and 39.3 percent of the men predict that they will be satisfied with college. Only 13.6 percent of the freshmen say the chances are very good that they will graduate with honors, while 7.1 percent think they have a very good chance of being elected to an honor society. Almost one-fifth estimate the chances are very good that they will change their major field or career choice. Very few students expect to fail one or more courses or to drop out of college. Only 4.7 percent say there is a very good chance that they will need extra time to get a degree.
Chances are Very Good that they will:
UMass % and (Comparison Group %)
Men Women Total
Get a Bachelor's Degree 74.1 (74.6) 78.9 (78.1) 76.6 (76.4)
Be satisfied with college 39.3 (44.1) 45.9 (52.0) 42.7 (48.2)
Make at least a B average 46.8 (51.3) 49.0 (52.6) 47.9 (51.9)
Change major field 16.7 (13.8) 18.0 (17.1) 17.4 (15.5)
Change career choice 15.3 (12.9) 18.6 (16.8) 17.0 (14.9)
Graduate with honors 13.6 (17.3) 13.5 (17.9) 13.6 (17.6)
Be elected to an honor society 6.4 (8.4) 7.7 (10.4) 7.1 (9.4)
Need extra time to get degree 5.1 (8.4) 4.3 (9.2) 4.7 (8.8)
Transfer to another college 5.5 (4.6) 5.6 (5.7) 5.5 (5.2)
Fail one or more courses 1.4 (1.0) 0.6 (0.6) 1.0 (0.8)
Drop out temporarily 0.6 (0.6) 0.8 (0.6) 0.7 (0.6)
Drop out permanently 0.5 (0.4) 0.5 (0.3) 0.5 (0.4)
Students entering the University of Massachusetts cite a variety of reasons for attending college (Table 7). The majority say they decided to go to college to "learn more about things," "get a better job," "make more money," and "gain a general education." While men are more likely than women to agree that attending college is important to "make more money," women are more likely to agree that "learning more about things," "gaining a general education," "improving reading and study skills," and "becoming a more cultured person," are very important reasons in their decision to attend college.
Reasons Cited as Very Important in Deciding to Go to College:
UMass % and (Comparison Group %)
Men Women Total
Learn more about things 73.7 (72.6) 82.9 (81.0) 78.4 (77.0)
Get a better job 71.6 (76.6) 70.8 (77.6) 71.2 (77.1)
Make more money 69.8 (75.5) 61.5 (70.2) 65.6 (72.8)
Gain a general education 59.3 (55.7) 71.1 (69.8) 65.3 (63.0)
Become a more cultured person 37.9 (32.9) 52.0 (49.5) 45.1 (41.5)
Improve reading/study skills 35.6 (33.0) 42.8 (43.5) 39.3 (38.5)
Parents wanted me to go 27.2 (27.5) 26.0 (31.4) 26.6 (29.5)
Get away from home 23.8 (21.3) 29.4 (25.4) 26.6 (23.5)
Role model/mentor encouraged me 8.1 (11.1) 8.4 (12.2) 8.2 (11.7)
Could not find a job 3.3 (4.4) 5.0 (5.6) 4.2 (5.0)
Nothing better to do 3.5 (3.8) 2.4 (2.2) 2.9 (3.0)
Trends over the past decade reveal an increase in the proportion of students citing "parents wanted me to go" and "to get away from home" as reasons for attending college (Figure 1).
Entering freshmen are most likely to cite "has a good academic reputation" as a very important reason for selecting the University of Massachusetts (Table 8). Compared to the medium-select universitites, academic reputation is a less significant factor influencing students' decision to attend the University (Figure 2). Other factors including low tuition and social reputation are mentioned frequently by University of Massachusetts' students as very important reasons for selecting this institution. Several differences between men and women are noted in Table 8.
Reasons Cited as Very Important In Selecting Umass:
UMass % and (Comparison Group %)
Men Women Total
Has a good academic reputation 39.7 (52.9) 51.0 (62.4) 45.5 (57.8)
Has low tuition 38.0 (22.8) 45.7 (27.9) 41.9 (25.5)
Graduates get good jobs 34.8 (43.9) 45.5 (49.8) 40.3 (46.9)
Has a good social reputation 38.1 (28.7) 41.5 (32.0) 39.8 (30.4)
Offered financial assistance 22.1 (19.5) 32.2 (26.1) 27.3 (22.9)
Size of college 20.3 (19.2) 28.9 (27.6) 24.7 (23.5)
Graduates go to top grad schools 17.6 (19.6) 29.5 (29.9) 23.7 (24.9)
Offers special programs 16.5 (14.6) 24.8 (23.6) 20.7 (19.3)
Wanted to live near home 8.0 (9.3) 11.4 (14.0) 9.7 (11.7)
Friend suggested attending 6.4 (8.1) 6.5 (8.1) 6.4 (8.1)
Rankings in national magazines 5.6 (8.8) 6.7 (9.7) 6.1 (9.2)
Advice of guidance counselor 5.5 (4.4) 5.3 (4.8) 5.4 (4.6)
Relatives wanted me to come 4.2 (4.7) 4.8 (6.1) 4.5 (5.4)
Recruited by athletic department 5.3 (3.6) 2.3 (2.5) 3.8 (3.0)
Not accepted anywhere else 3.3 (1.9) 2.5 (1.2) 2.9 (1.5)
Advice of teacher 2.7 (2.3) 1.9 (2.6) 2.3 (2.5)
Recruited by college rep 1.7 (2.1) 1.3 (1.8) 1.5 (2.0)
Pvt. college counselor advised me 1.2 (0.9) 1.3 (0.9) 1.3 (0.9)
Religious affil/orientation 0.8 (0.8) 1.1 (1.1) 1.0 (0.9)
Almost 91 percent of the freshmen applied to at least one other college. Almost one-third (32.2%) of the incoming freshmen applied to five or more colleges. Sixty percent of the entering freshmen say that the University of Massachusetts was their first choice and 27.2 percent listed it as their second choice.
Student financial resources include family contributions, grants, scholarships, and educational loans. The percentage of students receiving aid from each of these sources is shown in Figures 3 through 5.
Most students receive at least some financial support from their parents, and 69.3 percent use income from summer work to supplement other resources (Figure 3). Nearly two-fifths of the freshmen intend to work part-time on-campus to help pay for college expenses. Students at the University of Massachusetts are more likely to plan to work while in college and to rely upon their savings from summer work than students at comparison schools.
Fifteen percent of University of Massachusetts freshmen rely on state scholarships or grants for financial assistance (Figure 4). Students at the University of Massachusetts are more likely to receive assistance from work-study than students at comparison schools.
Twenty-six percent of the entering freshmen at the University of Massachusetts received a Federal Guaranteed Student Loan (FGSL), which is down ten percent from last year.
Changes in financial resources of students since 1986 shows increasing use of all grants and scholarships except State grants, private grants, and FGSL loans (Table 9).
% Receiving Some Aid
UMass % and (Comparison Group %)
% Change
1986 1995 for UMass
Family Resources:
Parental Aid 86.3 (86.1) 87.1 (83.5) + 0.8
Grants and Scholarships:
PELL 9.1 (11.6) 14.1 (15.8) + 5.0
SEOG 4.6 (4.1) 6.7 (4.8) + 2.1
State grant 18.8 (18.2) 15.1 (17.6) - 3.7
Private grant 11.9 (10.4) 11.4 (10.1) - 0.5
Loans:
FGSL 26.2 (19.8) 25.8 (25.5) - 0.4
Other
college loans 6.2 (4.1) 16.0 (12.2) + 9.8
Other loans 4.8 (3.6) 8.6 (7.9) + 3.8
Table 10 lists the proportions of entering freshmen intending to major in various fields. Students from both the University of Massachusetts and comparison schools indicate strongest interest in business, arts and humanities, social science, professional, biological science, and engineering majors. However, compared to other public medium-select schools, a larger proportion of students at the University of Massachusetts intend to major in business, social science and arts & humanities. As Figure 6 shows, the most significant gender differences among UMass freshmen are that 12.5 percent of the men compared to 2.5 percent of the women indicate engineering as their probable major, and 16.8 percent of the women compared to 7.5 percent of the men intend to major in the social sciences.
UMass % and (Comparison Group %)
Men Women Total
Business 19.8 (14.5) 12.1 (12.2) 15.7 (13.3)
Social Science 7.5 (4.5) 16.8 (10.6) 12.3 (7.7)
Arts & Humanities 12.2 (8.4) 14.5 (11.8) 13.2 (10.2)
Professional 7.5 (12.8) 15.8 (24.5) 11.7 (19.0)
Biological Science 10.4 (7.2) 11.3 (9.2) 10.8 (8.2)
Engineering 12.5 (25.9) 2.5 (5.6) 7.3 (15.3)
Education 2.5 (2.5) 7.2 (7.9) 4.8 (5.3)
Communications 4.2 (0.9) 3.5 (1.6) 3.8 (1.3)
Physical Science 3.5 (3.3) 2.2 (2.2) 2.8 (2.7)
Computer Science 4.6 (3.8) 0.6 (0.7) 2.5 (2.2)
Data Processing 1.1 (1.5) 0.1 (0.2) 0.6 (0.8)
Other Technical 0.5 (0.4) 0.0 (0.3) 0.2 (0.3)
Other fields 4.5 (6.9) 2.6 (3.9) 3.6 (5.5)
Undecided 9.4 (7.0) 11.0 (9.2) 10.2 (8.2)
Freshmen at the University of Massachusetts are diverse in their career interests, but cite occupations in business (either buyer, salesman, owner, accountant or business executive) and engineering more often than other careers. Other occupations frequently mentioned include lawyer or judge (4.4%), physician (5.6%), educator (6.4%), journalist (3.6%), and scientific researcher (2.7%). About 19 percent said "undecided."
The most significant changes in career preferences over time have been in business, engineering, education and computer science occupations (Figure 7). Interest in business careers has been declining since 1986 until this year when it rose over three percentage points to 15.7% approximately the same position as in 1990. The percentage of students interested in careers in engineering declined from 1984 to 1989 and has since remained almost unchanged until last year when it declined to 7.2 percent, this year it is 7.3 percent. Interest in computer science and education has remained fairly steady in recent years.
Figure 8 compares the percentages of UMass freshmen planning postgraduate education to the comparison group. Three-quarters of the students at the University of Massachusetts say they plan to obtain a graduate degree. Students planning graduate work are more likely to say they will pursue a Master's or Doctoral degree and less likely to say they anticipate obtaining a medical, law or other degree. Freshmen in the comparison schools are slightly more likely than University of Massachusetts freshmen to say they will pursue medical or Doctorate degrees.
Figure 9 shows that the percentage of students planning post graduate education has remained relatively stable over the past decade.
The CIRP survey asks entering freshmen to estimate the number of hours per week they participated in a variety of social and academic activities during the previous year. Activities in which students frequently participated are listed in Table 11. The vast majority said they spent at least six hours per week socializing.
Activities Students Participated in at Least Six Hours Per Week:
UMass % and (Comparison Group %)
Men Women Total
Socializing with friends 86.3 (81.7) 83.5 (81.4) 84.9 (81.6)
Working (for pay) 67.1 (64.8) 74.3 (67.6) 70.8 (66.3)
Exercising or sports 60.5 (62.0) 46.5 (47.9) 53.3 (54.6)
Partying 43.0 (34.7) 37.2 (32.0) 40.1 (33.5)
Studying or doing homework 31.7 (31.3) 43.6 (45.3) 37.8 (38.6)
Watching TV 32.5 (33.2) 21.8 (21.4) 27.1 (27.1)
Student clubs or groups 9.4 (10.3) 13.9 (18.5) 11.7 (14.6)
Reading for pleasure 8.8 ( 9.7) 11.5 (11.2) 10.2 (10.5)
Household/child care duties 4.5 ( 4.8) 10.4 (10.3) 7.5 ( 7.7)
Volunteer work 5.0 ( 5.1) 8.6 ( 7.9) 6.9 ( 6.6)
Talking with teachers 3.7 ( 3.0) 3.3 ( 4.5) 3.5 ( 3.8)
outside of class
Playing video games 5.4 ( 6.6) 0.5 ( 0.5) 2.0 ( 3.3)
As noted in Table 11, a larger proportion of women than men at the University of Massachusetts spent time studying, participating in clubs or groups, and working for pay. A greater proportion of men than women indicate spending time exercising and watching television.
Over the past ten years the percentage of students saying they drank beer has decreased substantially while the proportion of students who smoke cigarettes has remained close to 10 percent (Figure 10). In 1986, 79 percent said they drank beer and 10.9 percent said they smoked cigarettes. In 1995, just 66.5 percent said they drank beer and 15.2 percent said they smoked during the previous year.
Students have varying expectations about their college life, as indicated in Table 12. Almost one-half of freshmen at the University of Massachusetts think their chances are very good that they will get a job to pay for college expenses. A significantly greater proportion of women than men anticipate working to pay for college and participating in volunteer work or community service. Freshmen also express some interest in competitive sports, with about ten percent estimating the chances as very good that they will play varsity athletics. A smaller proportion of University of Massachusetts freshmen intend to join a fraternity or sorority than at comparison schools. ( Only about 5 percent of the student body, actually become members of Greek organizations.) Only a tiny proportion of students expect to marry while in college.
Chances are Very Good that they will:
UMass % and (Comparison Group %)
Men Women Total
Get job to pay college expenses 38.3 (37.3) 49.6 (46.0) 44.1 (41.8)
Volunteer work, community service 9.6 (9.6) 24.8 (23.4) 17.4 (16.7)
Join fraternity or sorority 10.4 (15.4) 14.5 (22.7) 12.5 (19.2)
Play varsity athletics 13.8 (12.3) 9.8 ( 8.4) 11.7 (10.3)
Participate in student protests 6.6 ( 3.8) 10.1 ( 6.1) 8.4 ( 5.0)
Marry while in college 1.9 ( 3.5) 2.1 ( 6.0) 2.0 ( 4.8)
Be elected to student office 1.2 ( 2.6) 2.5 ( 2.9) 1.8 ( 2.7)
Work full time while in college 1.3 ( 2.2) 2.6 ( 3.1) 2.0 ( 2.7)
Figure 11 shows that 42.7 percent of the entering freshmen at the University of Massachusetts say their chances are very good that they will be satisfied with college, compared to 48.2 percent of the freshmen at comparison schools. Women in both groups tend to be more optimistic about their college experience than men. Forty-six percent of the women at the University of Massachusetts say their chances of being satisfied are very good compared to 39 percent of the men. Few students say they probably will transfer to another college (5.5%). As shown in Figure 12, students' expectations of transferring and of being satisfied with college have changed little over the past decade.
Table 13 lists life objectives considered important to University of Massachusetts freshmen. Majorities of entering freshmen say "being very well off financially," " raising a family," and "becoming an authority in my field" are important life objectives for them. Significantly greater proportions of women than men place importance in "value" objectives such as "helping others in difficulty," "promoting racial understanding," and "influencing social values."
Top Ten Objectives Considered to be Essential or Very Important:
UMass % and (Comparison Group %)
Men Women Total
Being very well off financially 74.9 (76.7) 72.4 (71.1) 73.6 (73.8)
Raising a family 71.1 (69.4) 68.3 (70.7) 69.7 (70.1)
Becoming an authority in my field 67.2 (66.5) 64.2 (67.1) 65.7 (66.8)
Help others in difficulty 49.5 (44.6) 68.9 (66.1) 59.4 (55.7)
Obtaining recognition from colleagues 54.7 (56.3) 57.6 (59.3) 56.2 (57.8)
Developing a philosophy of life 48.9 (40.0) 50.9 (42.8) 49.9 (41.4)
Helping promote racial understanding 33.9 (24.5) 43.2 (33.9) 38.6 (29.4)
Influencing social values 32.8 (28.9) 43.6 (41.4) 38.3 (35.4)
Keeping up to date with politics 33.8 (32.8) 31.9 (29.2) 32.8 (30.9)
Being successful in own business 43.8 (42.6) 32.6 (32.5) 38.1 (37.4)
Important changes in UMass students' life objectives over the past decade are as follows: the proportion of students citing "be successful in my own business" as a very important life objective declined from 47.6% in 1986 to 38.1% in 1995; the proportion of students citing "helping to promote racial understanding" as a very important objective increased from 32.5% in 1986 to 47.9% in 1992 and decreased to 38.6% in 1995; and the proportion of students citing "influence social values" as a very important objective increased from 30.8% in 1986 to 44.4% in 1994 and decreased to 38.3% in 1995.
As illustrated in Figure 13, the proportion of students' rating "being very well off financially" as very important has fluctuated dramatically over the past twenty-five years, both at UMass and at comparison schools . From 1962 to 1972, the proportion of UMass students rating this as a very important life objective dropped, hitting an all-time low of 30.3%. In 1973, this proportion increased sharply to 47.5%, decreased slightly the following year, and remained on an upward trend until 1984, reaching an all-time high of 74.7%. Over the past decade, the proportion of freshmen rating "being very well off financially" as very important has remained realtively stable.
As illustrated in Figure 14, the proportion of students rating "developing a meaningful philosophy of life" as a very important life objective has dropped considerably over the past twenty-five years, both at UMass and at comparison schools. Between 1968 and 1987, there was a nearly continuous downward trend at UMass, from a high-point of 87.3% to a low-point of 41.4%. In 1988, the proportion increased sharply, only to decrease the following year. The proportion of UMass students rating "developing a meaningful philosophy of life" as a very important life objective has increased only slightly over the past five yars. The trend over time at UMass essentially mirrors that at the comparison schools.
As illustrated in Figure 15, the proportion of students rating "promoting racial understanding" as an essential or very important life objective has fluctuated since 1977, but has remained on an upward trajectory overall until this year when it declined six percentage points to 39 percent. At UMass, this proportion reached an all-time high in of 47.9% in 1992. Once again, the trend over time at UMass essentially mirrors that of the comparison group.
The proportion of students rating "keeping up with politics" as an essential or very important life objective has fluctuated substantially since 1966, but has diminished overall, both at UMass and at comparison schools. At UMass, the proportion reached an all-time high of 62.8% in 1970 and this year it has reached an all time low of 33%.
Table 14 shows political orientations of freshmen at the University of Massachusetts and at comparison schools. Over half of the students describe their political orientation as "middle-of-the-road," while more than three times as many students consider themselves "liberal or far left" than "conservative or far right." The comparison group represents a more equal distribution of students between the conservative and liberal orientations. The disparity in the proportions of liberals and conservatives is greater among women than among men; 39.5 percent of women freshmen consider themselves liberal or far left while only 8.1 percent say their political orientation is "conservative or far right" (see Figure 17).
UMass % and (Comparison Group %)
Men Women Total
Liberal or far left 29.7 (21.7) 39.5 (29.4) 34.7 (25.6)
Middle of the Road 52.5 (48.0) 52.4 (53.6) 52.4 (50.9)
Conservative or far right 17.8 (30.2) 8.1 (17.1) 12.9 (23.5)
Students' agreement with a variety of statements pertaining to social and political issues is listed in Table 15. As indicated, the responses of women and men differ significantly on all but five items. Generally, larger proportions of women than men have "liberal" views on social issues. Some of the largest disparities in opinion between women and men occur on sex-related issues. Less than one-half of women, but nearly three-quarters of men agree that sex is O.K. if people like each other. Also, while nearly one-quarter of men agree homosexual relations should be prohibited, 7.2 percent of women take this stance.
Agrees Strongly or Somewhat:
UMass % and (Comparison Group %)
Men Women Total
Woman "leading him on" does not
entitle man to sex 89.8 (87.4) 96.5 (96.2) 93.2 (92.0)
Government should control handguns 84.5 (69.5) 94.9 (90.6) 89.8 (80.4)
Better education & more job oppor.
would substantially reduce crime 88.9 (87.2) 89.6 (88.9) 89.3 (88.1)
Government not controlling pollution 85.1 (78.9) 89.7 (88.0) 87.4 (83.7)
National health care plan needed 78.7 (61.4) 85.3 (72.5) 82.0 (67.2)
Abortion should be legal 75.5 (61.5) 81.4 (65.3) 78.5 (63.5)
Wealthy should pay more taxes 70.3 (66.2) 70.8 (69.7) 70.6 (68.0)
Too much concern for rights of
criminals 72.7 (77.2) 71.0 (74.8) 71.8 (76.0)
Employers can require drug tests 60.1 (75.1) 64.5 (78.9) 62.3 (77.0)
Prohibit racist/sexist speech 58.9 (53.7) 68.3 (62.2) 63.7 (58.1)
Sex is okay if people like each other 71.7 (57.5) 45.5 (34.6) 58.4 (45.7)
Marijuana should be legalized 55.4 (36.5) 49.4 (34.1) 52.3 (35.2)
Affirm. action in college admissions
should be abolished 56.5 (61.7) 46.3 (46.7) 51.3 (54.0)
People should not obey laws which
violate their personal values 45.8 (39.0) 38.4 (30.9) 42.0 (34.8)
Children of undocumented
immigrants should be
denied access to pub edu 41.3 (47.1) 26.1 (30.1) 33.6 (38.3)
Individual can do little to
change society 36.6 (34.9) 26.2 (26.3) 31.3 (30.4)
Raise taxes to reduce deficit 29.9 (33.6) 25.1 (29.3) 27.5 (31.4)
Abolish death penalty 21.6 (15.4) 29.2 (20.9) 25.5 (18.3)
Married women best at home 23.0 (25.7) 14.1 (14.5) 18.5 (19.9)
Prohibit homosexual relations 23.4 (37.6) 7.2 (15.3) 15.1 (26.1)
Racial discrimination no longer
problem 16.5 (22.9) 11.2 (13.5) 13.8 (18.1)
Note: The phrases above are abbreviations of the actual survey items. See Appendix B.
Table 16 illustrates that larger porportions of the 1995 freshmen class take a"liberal" stance on particular social issues than the 1986 freshmen class. One exception to this generalization is that a smaller proportion of 1995 freshmen than 1986 freshmen support abolishing the death penalty.
1986 1995 % Change
Men Women Total Men Women Total Men Women Total
Prohibit homosexual relations 47.9 23.5 35.2 23.4 7.2 15.1 -24.5 -16.3 -20.1
Abolish death penalty 25.8 38.7 32.5 21.6 29.2 25.5 -4.2 -9.5 -7.0
Legalize abortion 72.1 78.0 75.2 75.5 81.4 78.5 +3.4 +3.4 +3.3
National health plan needed 62.4 69.5 66.1 78.7 85.3 82.0 +16.3 +15.8 +15.9
Wealthy should pay more taxes 73.2 71.2 72.2 70.3 70.8 70.6 -2.9 -0.4 -1.6
Marijuana should be legalized 37.7 27.2 32.3 55.4 49.4 52.3 +17.7 +22.2 +20.0
Figure 18 shows that student support for legalizing marijuana declined from 1986 to 1989, but has since increased substantially. Although support for abolishing the death penalty has fluctuated somewhat in the past decade, the overall trend has been downward. Thus, in 1995, a greater proportion of freshmen appear to be supportive of the death penalty than at any time in the past decade.
As Figure 19 illustrates, the proportion of students expressing support for abolishing the dealth penalty has diminshed since 1970, both at UMass and the comparison schools. Throughout most of the past twenty-five years, the porportion of UMass students expressing support for abolishing the dealth penalty has been greater than that at the comparison schools.
As illustrated in Figure 20, the proportion of freshmen who agree that homosexual realtions should be prohibited by law remained relatively stable from 1977 to 1987, but diminished considerably from 1988 onward. Support for prohibitive laws has reached an all-time low of 15% at UMass in 1995.
The proportion of UMass freshmen agreeing that "the activities of married women are best confined to the home and family" dropped from 46.2% in 1967 to a near-low of 16.8% in 1975. Since 1975, the proportion has risen slightly to hover around twenty-percent, aside from dropping to 16.5% and 15.9% in 1985 and 1986, respectively. UMass freshmen were consistently more liberal on this issue than freshmen at comparison schools until 1979.
Appendix A: List of Comparison Schools
Appendix B: 1995 ACE/CIRP Instrument
Appendix C: Selected Comparative Data Tables, 1986 - 1995
Appendix D: Item-by-Item Summary of the 1995 ACE/CIRP Data
The following schools represent public universities in the "medium select" group (average SAT score of between 1000 and 1100). These schools make up the "comparison group" in which UMass has chosen to be represented. In the Item-by-Item Summary in Appendix D, the normative data collected for these schools appear under the heading "Pub Univ-Med select."
Comparison schools used in the calculation of the 1995 normative or comparison data discussed throughout the report. These are the schools which were judged to have representative samples.
Florida State University
Iowa State University
Northern Illinois University
South Dakota State University
University of Minnesota
University of Missouri
University of North Dakota
University of Pittsburgh
University of Vermont
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
