Author Description

This report presents national normative data on the major trends and characteristics of 1.6 million students attending American colleges and universities as first-time, full-time freshmen. The normative data are reported separately for men and for women and for 35 different institutional groupings. Among the findings are the following: (1) student interests in business continues to decline for the fourth straight year; (2) students are being affected by the current economic recession; (3) student interest in doctoral degrees reached an all-time high (12.5 percent), and interest in medical degrees, at 6.9 percent, reached its highest point since 1976; (3) students who frequently smoke cigarettes increased for the fourth straight year to 11.3 percent, after a decline of nearly 50 percent between 1966 and 1987; (4) the percentage of students who consider themselves "liberal" or "far left" increased for the second straight year (to 25.7 percent from 23.6 percent in 1989); (5) the percentage of freshmen with A or A+ high school grade point averages reached an all-time high (23.5 percent versus 12.5 percent in 1989); and (6) trends suggest that students are using alcohol and, until recently, cigarettes, much less than in the past. Appendices include the research methodology, the 1991 student information form, a list of institutions participating in the freshman survey, and the precision of the normative data and their comparisons. Appendixes make up half of the document; they present the research methodology, the 1991 Student Information Form, the coding scheme for collapsed items, a list of institutions participating in the freshman survey, an explanation of the precision of the normative data and their comparisons, and a sample of the report furnished to campuses participating in the 1991 Cooperative Institutional Research Program. (GLR)