The ESS, an American College Testing (ACT) instrument, was selected because of its reliability. ACT provides user norms so we are able to compare the ETSU responses with national norms. In the first adminis-tration in 1988, we became aware of the fundamental similarity between ETSU Students and national norms. This helped to dispel some misconceptions about our students, such as more of our students commute and work than elsewhere.
 
Top Reasons Students Chose ETSU
The results of the 1996 Entering Student Survey were consistent with previous administrations in that the majority of students chose ETSU because of location and availability of a particular program of study. The top six reasons students reported as Very Important in choosing ETSU were:

Location of the college	58%
Availability of a particular program of study	57%*
Cost of attending college	42%
Availability of financial aid or scholarship	42%**
Variety of courses offered	38%
Academic reputation of the college	38%

  *A 5% increase from 1990.
**A 10% decrease from 1990.

Why Continue Education After High School?
The five major reasons ETSU students cited for deciding to continue their education after high school were:

To meet educational requirements for my chosen occupation	85%
To qualify for a high-level occupation	79%
To become a better educated person	77%
To increase my earning power	74%
To develop my mind and intellectual abilities	64%

Note: "To become a better-educated person" moved ahead of "to increase my earning power"
in the priority order in 1996. The top two reasons remain career oriented.
 
Increasing GPA's
There was a 6% increase between 1990 and 1996 in the reported high school 3.5-4.0 GPA range. This may be attributed in part to the fact that ETSU initiated an Honor's Program and an orientation for high school students with high ACT scores. In addition, ETSU is now attracting many students interested in Pre-physical Therapy and the Pre-Med Med programs.

Prior to College
ETSU attracts a slightly lower percentage of high school graduates than ACT user norms. ETSU also attracts approximately 10% more students from two-year institutions and 5% more students from 4 year institutions than the ACT user norms. A larger percentage of ETSU students report coming from smaller high schools than the national norm.
 
Late Deciders
Students enrolling at ETSU continue to be late deciders with 77% report-ing deciding to attend college during their senior year of high school or later. (Compared to national norms of 43%.)

Need Special Assistance
High needs for special assistance were reported in the following areas:

Improving mathematics skills	54%
Developing better study skills and habits	53%*
Improving public speaking skills	52%
Improving test-taking skills	49%
Selecting an appropriate career	35%

*A 5% decrease from 1990.

Note: While both remained high, "improving math skills" moved
ahead of "developing better study skills and habits" in 1996.
 
Planning to Work
More entering students report planning to work while in school, a 7% increase from 1990. This is consistent with national norms.
 
Extracurricular Interests
ETSU students reported the most interest in the following extracurricular activities:

Campus or community service organizations	46%
Departmental clubs	45%
Intramural athletics	42%
Fraternity or sorority	40%
Special interest groups	39%
Religious organizations	36%*

*Interest in religious organizations increased by 8% between 1990 and 1996.

The high interest in service is con-sistent with the Higher Education Re-search Institute study, The American Freshman: National Norms for Fall 1996 which reported "volunteerism up among college freshman", a steady increase since 1989.

Profile of the "Typical" ETSU Student
White, unmarried, female, living in-state. Will receive some type of financial aid. Prefers morning classes, and plans to study 18 or fewer hours per week.
Age 22 and Younger
Reports attending high school with college preparatory program just prior to ETSU. Lists parents/relatives as major source of funding. Indicates the top three planned out-of-class act-ivities as studying (38%), socializing (15%), and recreation/ sports (13%). Travels less than 2 miles to campus.
 
Age 23 and Older
Reports purpose in attending ETSU is to obtain B.S. degree. Has children (37.6% with one or more requiring day care). Indicates top two out-of-class activities are studying (36%) and time with family (36%). Travels 10-50 miles to campus.
 
Summary
 
Preparation & Reasoning

• Students choose ETSU for location and availability of a particular program of study.
• Occupational issues remain in the forefront of why our students continue education after high school.
• There is an increase in the number of students with higher GPAs from high school.
• ETSU enrolls more transfers than national norms.
• Our students are from smaller high schools than the national norms.
• More ETSU students decide to attend college in their senior year of high school or later than national norms.

• More students report planning to work while in school than had in the past.
• The majority of our students report needing help with math skills, study skills/habits, and public speaking.
• The most interest in extracurricular activities is in campus or community service organizations and departmental clubs. However, there has been an 8% increase in interest in religious organizations.

• Our entering students look much the same year after year, and further-more, they are similar in character to entering students in colleges and universities across the nation.
• Late deciders (of which ETSU has a much higher percentage than the national norm) are likely to need more guidance and academic support once they arrive on campus because their commitment to and knowledge of the learning process may not be as firm as earlier deciders.
• Location as the major reason for choosing ETSU has two possible implications: (1) Convenience and availability of classes, day care, parking, adminis-trative services, etc. is very significant. (2) Many students will choose not to be on campus for evening and weekend activities and events regard-less of their merit.
• The majority (57%) of students also indicate the availability of a particular program of study as a very important reason for choosing ETSU. Since many students subsequently change their mind about their major, it is important that faculty and staff consist-ently take time with students so they feel they have been given good ad-vice and support at ETSU, and will choose to remain.
• Our students have many "irons in the fire", i.e. work, children, family, etc. College may be only one of several priorities and not the priority. This means faculty should be abso-lutely clear about the commitment required to fulfill course requirements.
• Our students are pragmatic and career oriented in their approach to higher education. This means that whenever appropriate, students should be encouraged to make mean-ingful connections between classroom content and real-life experiences.