As the United States debates what it expects of college graduates and how to measure the achievement of these expectations, the goals of students frequently are overlooked.
Goals are what individuals hope to achieve and accomplish.
Currently most colleges collect information about the broad goals students hold for attending college as they enter, and the information is used for administrative planning or developing strategies to recruit and retain students. Some institutions also collect perceptions from graduating seniors and alumni about the extent to which they achieved their academic, personal, social, and vocational goals in college. Few institutions measure how student goals change from entrance to graduation or as a result of specific programs of study. Scholars have developed typologies related to student characteristics, which have been criticized for perpetuating stereotypes. New developments in social science can help guide development of a comprehensive course-specific goals inventory capable of illuminating the multidimensional goal patterns students bring to college and the classroom.