Why Your Institution Should Administer the CIRP Freshman Survey

The Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) is a cornerstone in the landscape of American higher education research. Established in 1966 by Dr. Alexander Astin at the American Council on Education, CIRP stands as the nation’s largest and oldest empirical study in this field. CIRP surveys have been administered by the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) since 1973. In 2023, ACE and UCLA Ed&IS announced a partnership to strengthen and lead HERI. ACE and UCLA Ed&IS are collaborating on data sharing, research design and development, and supporting higher education institutions’ leadership and the students they serve. To date, more than 15 million students across over 1,900 institutions have participated in the survey, providing invaluable insights into the evolving dynamics of higher education. For institutions considering whether to administer the CIRP Freshman Survey, here are compelling reasons to participate.

Understanding Your Incoming Students

The CIRP Freshman Survey offers a comprehensive snapshot of your incoming first-year students before they even set foot on campus. By capturing extensive information on:

• High School Behaviors: Gain insights into the academic and extracurricular activities students engaged in during high school.
• Academic Preparedness: Assess the readiness of students for college-level coursework.
• Admissions Decisions: Understand why students chose your institution and their other potential choices.
• College Expectations: Learn about students’ hopes and aspirations for their college experience.
• Interactions with Peers and Faculty: Get a sense of students’ social skills and expectations for building relationships.
• Values and Goals: Discover what students value most and their long-term goals.
• Demographic Characteristics: Compile a detailed demographic profile to understand the diversity of your incoming class.
• Financial Concerns: Identify students’ concerns about financing their education, which can inform financial aid strategies.

Benchmarking and Comparative Analysis

By participating in the CIRP Freshman Survey, your institution receives a detailed profile of your entering freshman class along with national normative data for students at similar types of institutions. This comparative data is crucial for several reasons:

• Strategic Planning: Use the data to inform your institution’s strategic initiatives, from recruitment to retention strategies.
• Program Development: Tailor student services and programs to better meet the needs of your incoming class.
• Resource Allocation: Allocate resources more effectively by understanding the specific needs and characteristics of your students.

Enhancing Institutional Effectiveness

The CIRP survey data serves as a foundation for enhancing institutional effectiveness through evidence-based decision-making. This can help your institution in:

• Improving Student Experience: By understanding students’ expectations and backgrounds, you can create a more supportive and engaging environment.
• Accreditation and Reporting: Use CIRP data to support accreditation processes and provide evidence for institutional effectiveness reports.
• Identifying Trends: Track changes over time in student demographics, behaviors, and expectations, enabling your institution to adapt to shifting trends.

The CIRP survey data can also be combined with institutional records to address several additional issues, such as retention, enrollment patterns, program review, etc.

Ensuring Representativeness and Accuracy

CIRP’s development of national norms involves meticulous criteria to ensure representativeness. Institutions are selected based on the respondent population’s representativeness, and weights are applied to reflect the population of entering first-time, full-time first-year students across various selectivity strata. This robust methodology ensures that the data you receive is both accurate and comparable across similar institutions.

Since the pandemic in 2020, institutional administration of the CIRP Freshman Survey has fallen to rates that do not allow for national weighting.  Choosing the CIRP Freshman will not only add to the ability of your institution to make evidence-based decisions, but it will also allow for HERI to return to publishing national trends.

Conclusion

Administering the CIRP Freshman Survey is not just a valuable exercise in data collection; it is a strategic investment in your institution’s future. By understanding your incoming students in depth, benchmarking against national norms, and leveraging this data for continuous improvement, your institution can enhance the student experience, improve institutional effectiveness, and stay ahead in the ever-evolving landscape of higher education. Join the over 1,900 institutions that have benefited from this invaluable resource and take the first step towards a more informed and effective approach to higher education.