Graduating Student Survey 2008
The Survey
The Graduating Student Survey (GSS) is a tool used by Columbia College Chicago to better understand its student body by surveying the makeup, future plans, and overall experiences of graduating students during their time at college. It measures students' attitudes and levels of satisfaction regarding the college's services, facilities, quality of instruction, and breadth of curriculum, as well as their views about how these areas have affected their personal and educational growth. The GSS also collects information on students' future professional and educational plans.
The trend report compares results from the 2003 and 2008 Graduating Student Surveys, comparing the results side by side to observe how students' views have changed over the past 5 years, not any gains the college has made during that time, and identify emerging challenges. In most categories, graduating students indicated improved satisfaction.
Graduating Student Survey 2003-2008 Executive Summary
Highlights:
- The significant gain in student satisfaction with the Student Financial Services Office and student registration. In both categories overall ratings changed from "somewhat dissatisfied" to "somewhat satisfied".
- There have been significant improvements in student satisfaction in the category of campus climate. This includes the sense of community, helpfulness of campus staff, commitment to academic excellence, and safety and security.
- Students are increasingly reliant on student loans to finance their education. The percentage of students who have debt greater than $50,000 has increased from 4% to 27%. Self-reported median cumulative debt has increased from $17,500 to $31,532.
- Academic Advising is the one area in which student satisfaction fell across all categories.
