College Satisfaction and Academic Success. Final Report Presented to PAREA, Spring 2011
Author: Jorgensen, Shirley
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Feedback (Response),Grades (Scholastic),Student Attitudes,Academic Achievement,Disabilities,Measures (Individuals),Instructional Effectiveness,College Students,Academic Persistence,Correlation,Gender Differences,Prediction,Intervention,Surveys,Questionnaires,Item Analysis,Achievement Gap

We evaluated students' satisfaction with aspects of college life and its relation to grades and retention. We compared scores of males and females as well of students with and without disabilities. We also explored the relationship between personal and college related obstacles and facilitators, on the one hand, and satisfaction and academic success on the other. The goals of our research were: (1) to determine whether males and females with and without disabilities differ in what they consider important aspects of college life and how satisfied they are with these aspects; (2) to investigate whether satisfaction with diverse aspects of college life is linked to the perceived ease or difficulty experienced with one's studies; (3) to determine whether satisfaction and perceptions of difficulty are able to reliably predict grades and whether students will complete their studies; and (4) based on the findings, to recommend interventions that will ameliorate attrition and poor academic grades for males and females with and without disabilities? Included in the study were 6065 students enrolled in two and in three year college diploma programs. Three hundred and ninety-four had a disability and 5671 had no disabilities. Of the 394 students with disabilities, 192 had registered with the college's disability service provider. We examined feedback provided by students on two survey instruments: the Noel-Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory and the College/Cegep Experience Questionnaire (CEQ). Results provide answers to the following questions: (1) Do males and females differ in what they believe are important aspects of the college experience? (2) Do students with and without disabilities differ in what they believe are important aspects of the college experience? (3) Are females (both those with and without disabilities) more satisfied with their college experiences than their male counterparts? (4) Do students with disabilities express the same level of satisfaction with their college experience as those without disabilities? (5) Are students with disabilities who register for disability related services from the college more satisfied than either students with disabilities who do not register or students without disabilities? (6) Is low student satisfaction with the college experience related to lower retention rates for all sub-groups in the study? (7) Is low satisfaction with Instructional Effectiveness the strongest predictor of academic performance? (8) Do students who have higher overall satisfaction scores on the SSI experience their college studies as easier? Recommendations are made to promote the academic success of college students. Appended are: (1) SSI Survey Items Included in Study; (2) SSI Scales; (3) CEQ Items Included in the Study; (4) Differences in Item Satisfaction by Sex - Males and Females without Disabilities in DEC Programs; (5) Differences in Item Satisfaction by Sex - Males and Females with Disabilities in DEC Programs; (6) Community Colleges Differences in Female and Male Satisfaction; (7) Canadian Two - Year Colleges - Differences in Female and Male Satisfaction; (8) Females with and without Disabilities - Difference in Mean Satisfaction by SSI Scale; (9) Males With and Without Disabilities - Difference in Mean Satisfaction by SSI Scale; (10) Correlation of Performance Gaps With Retention by Sex and Disability; and (11) Outcomes of ANOVA for Instructional Effectiveness and Gap Size by Sex and Disability. (Contains 48 tables and 55 figures.)