Introduction
Survey Population
Transfer Students
Assessment of UNT Services
Goal Assessment
Conclusions
SPRING 2000 FORMER STUDENT SURVEY
In the spring 2000 the Office of Institutional Research and Planning mailed out the "Former Student Survey" to 1080 former students of the University of North Texas. The purpose of this study is to help planners and administrators of the University of North Texas assess and understand the elements of student attrition. The study was based on the procedures documented in Conducting Student Attrition Studies published by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (1979). The survey instrument was modified to include individual programming efforts provided at UNT. This effort was to develop a richer understanding of attrition at UNT.
Concerns associated with attrition are reduced funding from those students who stop out, and the possibility of legislation requiring prorated refunds for students who leave school. This study intends to provide information that allows a better understanding of why these students leave. This may allow for corrective actions that encourages students to remain, or provides documentation which allows planning for stop-out predictions.
| Survey Population | Survey % | UNT % | ||
| Gender: | Female Male |
126 |
69% |
55% |
| Entering Status: | Freshmen Transfer |
102 |
56% |
52% |
| Hour Status: | Full-time Part-time |
132 |
72% |
65% |
| Ethnic Background of
Respondents: American Indian or Alaskan Native Asian, Pacific Islander, of Filipino Black Non-Hispanic Hispanic or Latino White or Caucasian Unknown |
|
|
|
|
| Age of Respondents Under 18 12 to 22 23 to 25 26 to 30 31 to 40 41 to 50 51 to 60 |
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The UNT former student survey population was given several options to choose for their reason of leaving UNT. The most popular of choices were because they had chosen to transfer to another college. There were 91 or 50% of the students surveyed chose this as their number one reason for leaving. These 91 students stated that they had already begun studies at a different institution. Texas A&M and UT Austin were the schools that were transferred to most by UNT former students.
List of Transfer Colleges
| College | % of Population | College | % of Population |
| LeTourneau | 1% | New York University | 1% |
| Texas A&M | 10% | Southern Arkansas University | 1% |
| Trinity University | 1% | SMU | 1% |
| Amarillo College | 3% | Stephan F. Austin | 1% |
| North Lake College | 4% | South West State University | 3% |
| Austin College | 1% | Tarelton State University | 1% |
| Baylor | 3% | Tarrant County College | 6% |
| Blinn | 1% | TCU | 1% |
| Brookhaven | 3% | Trinity University | 1% |
| Cedar Valley College | 1% | Texas Tech | 1% |
| Dallas Baptist University | 4% | UC Berkley | 1% |
| Eastfield College | 1% | University of Houston | 1% |
| Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University | 1% | Mary Hardin Baylor | 1% |
| Frank Phillips Community College | 1% | University of North Carolina | 1% |
| TWU | 4% | University of New Mexico | 1% |
| Collin County | 1% | UT | 6% |
| Georgia Southern University | 1% | University of Tulsa | 3% |
| Hardin-Simmons University | 1% | University of Central Florida | 1% |
| Houston Baptist University | 1% | University of Pennsylvania | 1% |
| Louisiana State University | 1% | UTA | 5% |
| Middle Tennessee State | 1% | UT San Antonio | 1% |
| Midwestern State University | 3% | UTD | 1% |
| MIT | 1% | UT Elpaso | 1% |
Thirty-four or (19%) of the former students planned to return to UNT when the time is appropriate.
The other three major reasons chose for leaving UNT are:
1. Moved out of area
2. Could not work and go to school at the same time
3. Other responsibilities became too great
These three reasons were chosen by less than 22% of the survey respondents.
The two reasons that were the least likely chosen for leaving are significant, as well. There were seven students or (4%) of the 183 respondents who stated that they left because the were unable to receive a scholarship from UNT, and six or (3%) of the respondents stated that they had left because the course work was too difficult.
The five most common majors among former students who transferred from UNT:
| Major | % of 91 Transferred Students |
|
13% |
There were four choices possible in describing the services provided at UNT: (1) A student could not have known about the service being provided; (2) A student could have known about the service but never utilized the service; (3) A student could have used the service and was satisfied with the service they had received; (4) or they could have used the service and was dissatisfied with the service they had received.
The four services that were utilized most by the former students during their attendance at UNT were;
Each of these services also had high satisfaction ratings.
The least utilized services at UNT were:
| Office | UNT Utilization % | Black and Hispanic Student Utilization % |
|
11% 6% 6% 5% 4% 2% |
0% 10% 0% 5% 0% 0% |
The five services with the highest dissatisfaction rating were:
The former students were asked to rate their satisfaction levels with how UNT helped them achieve their goals. The lowest possible score was 1 and the highest possible score was a 5. Over 52% of the survey respondents rated UNT with a 4 or 5 in satisfaction level and only 7% gave UNT a low rating of 1.
The three most important goals while attending UNT for these former students were:
Fifty-five percent, of the 79% who said this was their most important goal, said they had achieved this goal during or because of their enrollment at UNT.
Thirty percent, of the 78% who said this was one of their most important goals, said they had achieved this goal during or because of their enrollment at UNT
Thirty-two percent, of the 62% who said this was one of their most important goals, said they had achieved this foal during or because of their enrollment at UNT.
The three least important goals while attending UNT for these former students were:
The 3 goals that were achieved during or because of their attendance at UNT was:
These survey results would indicate that these former students came here for the purpose of obtaining knowledge in an academic field or to work toward a degree, and half of the respondents have transferred to another institution to follow up with these goals. These students appear to be pleased with the opportunity that they were offered and most met some portion of the goals they had planned while attending UNT. For the most part, most of these students chose UNT as their first college of choice, and 20% plan to return to UNT at some time in the future.
The concern is for the 30% of the students that have left because of other reasons. It does appear that a large percentage of these students left because of hardships within their immediate family. A list of specific reason for leaving has been attached. One must ask if there were interventions that could have been offered to these students. Many of our service were known about but not utilized by these students. Further research by each service should be considered to determine if these services could assist in helping hardship cases before a student chooses to remove himself or herself from the university.