The Sophomore Experiences Survey 2023-24
The Sophomore Experiences Survey is a highly reliable and valid instrument that has been used on over 150 campuses with more than 25,000 sophomores since 2007. From our research, we have learned much more about the critical role of faculty and advising, as well as gained a clearer picture of the racial and ethnic differences that exist both in thriving and in students’ perceptions of the campus climate and institutional integrity. These research findings have significantly influenced how many campuses are structuring their work with sophomores.
Register online through our TQ Surveys Page to administer the Sophomore Experiences Survey on your campus. We suggest a mid-February to early April administration, which allows for reports to be delivered in early June.
Schreiner, L. A. (2018). Thriving in the second year of college: Pathways to success. New Directions for Higher Education, (183), 9. https://doi.org/10.1002/he.20289
More details about The Sophomore Experiences Survey
Background:
Each year since 2007, a team of researchers headed by Dr. Laurie Schreiner, Professor of Higher Education at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, CA, has conducted the Sophomore Experiences Survey in order to collect national information about sophomore success. The results of these surveys formed the basis for several book chapters on sophomore success, as well as the New Directions for Higher Education volume in 2018 entitled Sophomore Success: Making the Most of the Second Year.
Purpose:
This national survey of sophomores gathers information about the sophomore experience, but also assesses second-year students’ level of thriving, defined as intellectual, interpersonal, and psychological engagement and well-being. Items on the survey assess sophomores’ level of meaning and purpose, the degree to which they believe their major is a good fit for them, their levels of involvement on campus (including within sophomore programs), sense of community, satisfaction with a wide variety of campus experiences, and such outcomes as their intent to graduate, their perception that tuition is a worthwhile investment, and their institutional fit. In 2021, we began adding items from the Culturally Engaging Campus Environment instrument (Museus, 2014), in order to more thoroughly explore the connection between cultural engagement and thriving in the second year for students of color.
Cost:
We have a standard pricing structure for all of our surveys which can be found on the TQ Surveys Page.
Sampling Procedure:
Sophomores are defined as those in their second year of college, regardless of credit hours earned. Your sample should be representative of your own sophomore students and should contain at least 30% of your sophomores, to reliably compare your results to the national norms. However, we suggest sending the survey to all second-year students enrolled on your campus. Please let us know how many sophomores were sent the survey so that we can calculate response rates for the study.
Survey Process:
The survey is conducted online via Qualtrics’ encrypted site. The package you choose will dictate how your survey will be conducted. There is an option for us to send you a link, and you send out the survey to your students, and an option for you to provide the emails of students you wish to receive the survey, and we can send it out to them.
Protection of Human Subjects:
All information is kept in a password-protected and encrypted Qualtrics site. No student identifiers will be included in the survey, but if your institution desires to gather student emails for incentives or student IDs to conduct your own follow-up study, please let us know, and we will add that to the informed consent statement at the beginning of the survey. The questions on the survey are benign and pose no more risk to the student than daily life. No individual data will ever be reported; only grouped data will be used. No institutions will be identified in any publications describing the study, although the list of participating institutions will be available to participants and others upon request. No data will be linked to particular institutions in any published report. Azusa Pacific University’s Institutional Review Board has determined that this project is exempt from full board review.
Next Steps:
To participate, complete the registration form online at www.ThrivingInCollege.org/tq-surveys to confirm your institution’s participation.
Timeline:
Institutions may administer the Sophomore Experiences Survey whenever they choose; national norms are created each June. However, we recommend administering the survey in mid-spring for the best snapshot of how the sophomore year has been perceived by students. Some institutions administer the survey in the fall as a pretest for program evaluation purposes or to make programming adjustments, but most administer it in the spring.
Contact Information:
For information about survey logistics: Kristin Menson (kmenson17@apu.edu) or Dr. Laurie Schreiner (lschreiner@apu.edu)
For information on sophomores, thriving, or theoretical/psychometric information on the instrument:
Dr. Laurie Schreiner, Professor of Higher Education, Azusa Pacific University. lschreiner@apu.edu, 626-815-5322
Sample Items:
Engaged Learning: I feel energized by the ideas I am learning in most of my classes.
Academic Determination: I know how to apply my strengths to achieve academic success.
Diverse Citizenship: I value interacting with people whose viewpoints are different from my own.
Social Connectedness: I feel like my friends really care about me.
Positive Perspective: I look for the best in situations, even when things seem hopeless.
Sense of Community: I feel like I belong here.
Institutional Integrity: Overall, the actions of faculty, staff, and administrators on this campus are consistent with the mission of the institution.
There are also items about participation in campus organizations, events, sophomore programming, advising, and interaction with faculty, as well as satisfaction levels with faculty, advising, and a variety of campus experiences.