Frequently Asked Questions Why should our college participate? There are a variety of reasons colleges should participate. 1) The broader the representation of colleges, the better picture we will have of community colleges nationally. 2) Your college will receive a detailed report on your students, which can be compared to the national data—and used as a benchmarking tool. 3) Your college will obtain a rich data set and report about your student population that eventually could be used to track trends in your student population.
| What is the content of the survey? |
The content areas are spelled out in more detail on the Survey Content page. The basic content areas include student demographics, student educational background and experiences, employment experiences and expectations, and general college experiences and satisfaction. | Will it cost anything to participate in this survey? |
Yes. Colleges can participate in the annual AACC/ACT collection at a reduced rate detailed in the order form. | What will our college get if we participate? |
All colleges will be provided with a report of the national results. Participating colleges will receive an individualized report with details about their college's student population. Colleges will also receive a color, graphical report, comparing the college to the national norms on responses to key items. In addition, ACT will provide the raw data to the college for further analysis if requested. | What will our college have to do if we participate? |
Participating colleges will be expected to provide on site coordination of the survey, including appointing a site coordinator/team who will aide in the selection of students/classes and facilitate the administration and return of the surveys. For additional information, please visit the Benefits and Responsibilities page. | Will the survey be done annually? |
At present, AACC and ACT plan to conduct the survey on an annual basis. Fall 2007 will be the ninth annual administration of the survey. | How many students will be surveyed at our college? |
The number of students surveyed will be up to the participating college, however AACC and ACT suggest that the college collect a sufficient number of (usually 250-375) surveys to be of value to the college. See the Benefits and Responsibilities page for further details. | What if I only want to survey my credit students? |
We recognize that not all colleges have significant noncredit populations, or that it might be difficult to collect data from this population. However, we feel that this is a very important group of students attending community colleges and a group of students about which there is virtually no solid information. Therefore, we are asking all participating colleges to include noncredit students in this survey. | Who should be contacted if we have questions? |
Questions about the survey and methodology can be directed to Kent Phillippe, Senior Research Associate at AACC (202) 728-0200 ext. 222. 
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