In reviewing this information, please note that you can review national data on the characteristics of American college freshman across institutional type by using the links in the menu to the right of this essay. The information is also available through the Office of the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs along with a copy of the survey instrument. We hope you find this report useful in better understanding today's college freshmen. If you have specific questions, or would like additional information on American college freshmen, please call Dr. Diana Hackney, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, at x8600 or Norman Barber, Director of Multicultural Support and Assessment at x8602. For the first time in the history of the CIRP Freshman Survey, students were asked about their use of computers and the Internet.
Findings suggest that entering freshmen appear to be quite computer literate .
But despite the overall high levels of computer and Internet use among entering freshmen, the survey did not question students on computer ownership or the extent to which computers were accessible to them in and out of class. In the survey, freshmen were asked questions about the extent of their own educational development. Throughout the educational process, students develop transferable skills and behaviors which often encourage academic disengagement and have a negative impact on their academic success. If allowed to go unchecked, these skills and behaviors could seriously impede their persistence in working for their baccalaureate degree. Cognitive and Affective Characteristics Entering freshmen were asked to rate themselves on a number of cognitive and affective characteristics in comparison to the average person their age.