Executive Summary

First-year students entering Wake Forest University in 2020 scored highest on Importance of Campus Environment and Expected Discussions with Diverse Others while comparing favorably to peers at 71 administering institutions on most other scale scores in the Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE). Among all Wake respondents, nearly three-quarters (71%) said that WFU was their first choice and 97% indicated they expect to graduate from WFU. Many students anticipated spending considerably more time per week preparing for their WFU classes than their high school classes, but less time per week participating in co-curricular activities.

The BCSSE is administered nationally by the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research and provides information about incoming college students’ background characteristics, high school experiences, attitudes, behaviors, and expectations for college. This is the first year WFU participated in the BCSSE, joining 71 institutions. (List of participating institutions)

The BCSSE was distributed electronically by the Office of Institutional Research during orientation in August 2020 to all of the incoming first-year students (N = 1452). A total of 731 students submitted responses, representing a 50% response rate (estimated margin of error +/- 2.6%). The respondents were fairly representative of the class when comparing distributions across gender, race/ethnicity, and First-Generation status.

For each item below, a 95% confidence interval for the difference between groups (e.g. gender) is calculated. If the difference between groups is found to be statistically significant, this analysis reports effect sizes in order to allow one to compare the magnitude of the difference. Each item that is found to have a difference between groups and indicates a large/medium/small effect size is highlighted in the following colors. To correct nonresponse bias, all analyses were performed with post-stratification weights. This report provides a summary of each section (e.g. BCSEE Scales Comparison) followed by the comparison within the first-year class by gender, race/ethnicity, and First-Generation status. (See here for more on survey analysis methodology.)

Size Criteria
Large Effect >= 0.80
Medium Effect >= 0.50
Small Effect >= 0.20

BCSSE Scales Summary

Due to the large number of individual questions asked and the complexity of assessing specific areas of potential concern, BCSSE developed nine scale scores which group information gathered from numerous items into a more reliable, cumulative measure. BCSSE scale scores range from 0 to 60 and the mean scale score was then calculated for each student. (Link for Scales Description).

Wake Forest first year students scored highest on Importance of Campus Environment Scale (mean 48.5) and Expected Discussions with Diverse Others (mean 46.0). In the following four scales, WFU scored above the national average with at least a small effect:

  • High School Engagement in Quantitative Reasoning: WFU (35.3) vs All (31.7)
  • High School Engagement in Learning Strategies: WFU (42.9) vs All (39.4)
  • Expected Engagement with Faculty: WFU (35.4) vs All (32.0)
  • Importance of Campus Environment Scale: WFU (48.5) vs All (46.0)

First-year students at WFU in 2020 scored differently by gender with a medium effect in the following scales:

  • Females (45.6) typically indicated greater levels of High School Engagement in Learning Strategies than males (39.2).
  • On average, females (50.2) rated Importance of Campus Environment higher than males (46.0).

White students and Under-represented Minority (URM) students scored equally on almost all scales, except for two (small effect size):

  • URM students scored higher (37.1) than White students (34.6) on Expected Engagement with Faculty.
  • However, White students reported higher scores (44.4) than URM students (41.5) on Perceived Academic Preparation.

First-Generation students and Non-First-Generation students scored equally on almost all scales, except for two (small effect size):

  • Non-First-Generation students scored higher (44.8) than First-Generation (42.3) students on Expected Academic Perseverance Scale.
  • Non-First-Generation students scored higher (43.7) than First-Generation (40.8) Perceived Academic Preparation Scale.

For the full lists of the scale score comparisons please see the section BCSSE Scales Comparison.

Individual Items Summary

Although less reliable than scales, individual questions may provide a closer look at specific issues and notable differences across groups. BCSSE consists of two types of items. First, the Respondent Profile presented students with items about their backgrounds and goals. Then, the Frequency Comparison questions asked the regularity with which students engaged in certain activities in high school and how much time they expect to engage in those same activities during their first year at WFU.

Respondent Profile

Among all Wake respondents,

  • Nearly three-quarters (71%) said that WFU was their first choice.
  • 97% indicated they expect to graduate from WFU.
  • Nearly two in five (40%) first-year students indicated already having at least one “close friend” attending Wake.
  • About two-thirds (67%) expect they’ll earn at least “A-”s during the coming year.
  • A little more than half (58%) reported that they know their intended major – among them, 41% said they would plan to major in STEM and health professions while 28% and 25% chose Business and Social Sciences, respectively.
  • More than half (59%) indicated having graduated from a public high school.
  • One in ten (11%) students reported that they are First-Generation students, while two in ten (23%) said their parents or those who raised them have Doctoral or professional degrees (JD, MD, etc).
  • About one in four (23%) indicated they’ll be using loans to pay for their education and about four in ten students (42%) are using grants or scholarships.

Females and males responded similarly to profile items except for their expected major.

  • Almost two in five (39%) male students indicated planning a Business major, while a little less than one in five (19%) female students chose a Business as their intended major.

The respondent profiles by race differed most notably on the following items:

  • More URM students (55%) anticipated using grants or scholarships to pay for their education when compared to White students (35%).
  • Of those indicating a known major, more White students planned a Business major (White 34% vs URM 19%), while URM students more often chose Social Sciences (White 20% vs URM 31%).

There were differences in the respondent profile between First-Generation students and Non-First-Generation students in the following items:

  • A little more than two-thirds of First-Generation students reported using grants or scholarships to pay for their education (72%), while less than two in five Non-First-Generation students (38%) are using them.
  • More First-Generation students (44%) indicated they will use loans to pay for their education compared to Non-First-Generation students (21%).

For more information, please refer to Individual Items > Respondent Profile section.

Frequency Comparison

Some overall highlights from these individual items include:

  • During their last year of high school, respondents spent on average 13.9 hours per week preparing for class, 12.4 hours participating in co-curricular activities. In comparison, during their first year at Wake, they expected to spend 19.1 hours preparing for class, 11.0 hours participating in co-curricular activities.
  • Three-quarters of respondents said that they expect to seek help with coursework very often or often from other students (79%) and faculty members (75%), while half (54%) anticipated relying on Wake’s learning support services.
  • The majority of students indicated that they anticipate having discussions very often or often with people from the different races/ethnicities (89%), economic backgrounds (86%), religions (87%), and political views (86%).
  • The average incoming student reported during high school completing nearly six Advanced Placement classes and one college course for credit.

The incoming first-year students responded to the items almost equally by gender. One exception noted is that a little more than three in five females (62%) anticipated to seek help with coursework often and very often from learning support services (tutoring, writing center, success coaching, etc.) during the coming year at Wake compared to 42% of male respondents.

White and URM students replied similarly on most items, including items involving diversity of interaction. Roughly 85%-90% of respondents in both groups anticipated during the coming year at Wake often or very often having discussions with individuals from races/ethnicities, economic backgrounds, religions, and political views different than their own. One item of group distinction was regarding anticipated frequency of talking about career plans with a WFU faculty member, where 73% of URM students reported often or very often compared to 60% of White students.

First-Generation and Non-First-Generation students differed only occasionally on specific items. For example, 76% of First-Generation students anticipated during the coming school year they would often or very often to seek help with coursework from faculty members compared to 64% of Non-First-Generation students. Additionally, the average number of college or university courses for credit completed during their high school year was greater for First-Generation students (2.3) than Non-First-Generation students (1.2).

For more information, please refer to Individual Items > Frequency Comparison section.

BCSSE Scales Comparison

WFU vs All Institutions

  • \(n^*\) : Post-stratification Sample Size
  • All Institutions: 71 Institutions (Including WFU)
Wake Forest
All Institutions
Effect Size
Scales n* mean sd n mean sd d
High School Engagement in Quantitative Reasoning 686 35.3 13.6 42,063 31.7 14.3 0.26
High School Engagement in Learning Strategies 685 42.9 12.1 42,128 39.4 12.6 0.28
Expected Engagement in Collaborative Learning 658 38.5 11.3 40,996 36.3 11.6 0.19
Expected Engagement with Faculty 656 35.4 12.2 40,934 32.0 13.0 0.27
Expected Discussions with Diverse Others 655 46.0 11.5 40,860 45.8 13.2
Expected Academic Perseverance Scale 651 44.5 8.1 40,774 43.1 9.3 0.16
Expected Academic Difficulty Scale 649 30.3 9.5 40,730 29.1 10.3 0.12
Perceived Academic Preparation Scale 648 43.4 8.2 40,611 43.9 9.4
Importance of Campus Environment Scale 646 48.5 8.1 40,584 46.0 9.6 0.28

By Gender

  • \(n^*\) : Post-stratification Sample Size
Female
Male
Effect Size
Scales n* mean sd n* mean sd d
High School Engagement in Quantitative Reasoning 396 34.4 13.5 289 36.7 13.8 -0.17
High School Engagement in Learning Strategies 394 45.6 11.3 292 39.2 12.2 0.55
Expected Engagement in Collaborative Learning 383 39.2 11.4 275 37.5 11.2
Expected Engagement with Faculty 383 36.0 12.1 273 34.7 12.2
Expected Discussions with Diverse Others 381 46.3 11.4 274 45.7 11.5
Expected Academic Perseverance Scale 377 44.9 8.2 273 44.0 8.1
Expected Academic Difficulty Scale 377 31.1 9.8 272 29.0 9.1 0.22
Perceived Academic Preparation Scale 376 42.7 8.1 272 44.4 8.1 -0.22
Importance of Campus Environment Scale 375 50.2 7.9 271 46.0 7.8 0.53

By Race

  • \(n^*\) : Post-stratification Sample Size
  • URM : Under Represented Minorities (Black or African American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, Two or more races, Nonresident alien)
White
URM
Effect Size
Scales n* mean sd n* mean sd d
High School Engagement in Quantitative Reasoning 460 35.4 13.5 225 35.2 13.9
High School Engagement in Learning Strategies 460 43.2 12.0 226 42.2 12.2
Expected Engagement in Collaborative Learning 438 38.5 11.6 220 38.4 10.8
Expected Engagement with Faculty 436 34.6 12.1 220 37.1 12.1 -0.2
Expected Discussions with Diverse Others 435 45.7 11.3 220 46.7 11.7
Expected Academic Perseverance Scale 433 44.5 8.0 218 44.6 8.4
Expected Academic Difficulty Scale 431 29.9 9.3 219 31.0 10.0
Perceived Academic Preparation Scale 430 44.4 7.7 219 41.5 8.8 0.35
Importance of Campus Environment Scale 429 48.9 7.8 217 47.7 8.7

By First Generation

  • \(n^*\) : Post-stratification Sample Size
  • First Generation: Neither parents/gauaridans holds a Bachelor’s Degree
First Generation
Non First Generation
Effect Size
Scales n* mean sd n* mean sd d
High School Engagement in Quantitative Reasoning 68 36.3 14.9 576 35.1 13.5
High School Engagement in Learning Strategies 68 40.6 13.4 575 43.0 11.9
Expected Engagement in Collaborative Learning 68 39.8 11.5 576 38.3 11.3
Expected Engagement with Faculty 67 36.5 12.3 576 35.3 12.1
Expected Discussions with Diverse Others 68 48.6 12.0 576 45.7 11.4
Expected Academic Perseverance Scale 68 42.3 10.0 574 44.8 7.9 -0.28
Expected Academic Difficulty Scale 68 31.6 9.6 574 30.1 9.6
Perceived Academic Preparation Scale 68 40.8 10.0 575 43.7 7.9 -0.32
Importance of Campus Environment Scale 68 46.9 9.5 576 48.7 7.9

Individual Items Comparison

Respondent Profile Comparison

All Respondents

  • \(n^*\) : Post-stratification Sample Size

all all all all all all all all all all all all all all all

By Gender

  • \(n^*\) : Post-stratification Sample Size

gender gender gender gender gender gender gender gender gender gender gender gender gender gender gender

By Race

  • \(n^*\) : Post-stratification Sample Size
  • URM : Under Represented Minorities (Black or African American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, Two or more races, Nonresident alien)

race race race race