UND 2003 CIRP New Freshmen Survey

The number of new freshmen enrolled at the University of North Dakota in the Fall Semester of 2003 totaled 2,194. While participating in “Getting Started” during the summer of 2003, 1,497 students (68.2%) completed the 40-item Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) New Freshmen survey along with the additional 16-item supplemental questions.

Of the 1,497 respondents, 747 male students (49.9%) and 750 female students (50.1%) were represented. The majority of the respondents to the 2003 CIRP New Freshman Survey were eighteen years old (56.9%), white (97.1%), graduated from high school in 2003 (97.7%), speak English as their native language (99.5%), and a U.S. citizen or permanent resident (99.8%) Close to half (49.0%) of UND new freshmen reported A+, A, or A- as their average grade in high school. This decreased slightly from last year (50.8%) although the national percentage increased over the past year.

The majority (86.4%) of UND new freshmen plan to live in a college dormitory. A large percentage of UND new freshmen report having some concern about their ability to finance their college education (62.6%). Compared to their national counterparts (10.1%), 4.5% of UND new freshmen plan to study within the fields of Arts and Humanities. UND new freshmen chose the following areas less often than their national counterparts: Biological Sciences (3.3% UND, 9.2% National), Business (13.2% UND, 14.7% National), Engineering (11.4% UND, 13.8% National), Social Science (6.2% UND, 9.7% National), Technical (1.0% UND, 1.5% National). UND new freshmen chose the following fields more often or at the same rate as their national colleagues: Education (5.2% UND, 5.1% National), Physical Science (3.6% UND, 3.0% National), Professional (24.3% UND, 17.3% National), Other fields (11.5% UND, 7.2% National), and Undecided (15.7% UND, 8.0% National).

The top three objectives considered to be essential or very important for UND new freshmen were being very well off financially (78.2% UND, 75.9% National), raising a family (76.3% UND, 74.5% National), and helping others who are in difficulty (57.0% UND, 62.5% National).

The top five reasons noted as very important in the 2003 UND new freshmen deciding to go to college were to be able to get a better job (80.5% UND, 71.6% National), to get training for a specific career (79.7% UND, 70.0% National), to be able to make more money (75.3% UND, 71.6% National), to learn more about things that interest me (73.7% UND, 77.1% National), and to gain a general education and appreciation of ideas (57.2% UND, 64.9% National).

The top three reasons influencing student’s decision to attend this particular college were this college has a very good academic reputation (54.1% UND, 56.7% National), this college has a good reputation for its social activities (27.4% UND, 30.5% National), and a visit to the campus (26.2% UND, 31.9% National).

Thirty-seven percent of the UND new freshmen would want employment in North Dakota after graduation, 17% would not, and 46% reported being unsure.