A college survey is a structured set of questions that asks students what campus life is really like, from teaching and advising to housing, safety, and cost. Done well, it shows administrators which problems to fix first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The stakes are practical. Among students who started college in fall 2022, 76.5% were still enrolled somewhere the next fall. Only 68.2% returned to the same institution, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center<\/a>. Every student who leaves is someone you could have asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this blog, we break down the main types of college surveys, 40 sample questions, and how to run one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n A college survey is a questionnaire that collects feedback about the experience of attending a college or university. Students answer most often, though faculty, staff, and alumni sometimes join. Leaders use the results to decide what to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A typical college survey measures how people rate:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most college surveys mix closed questions with a few open-ended prompts. Closed questions, such as rating scales and yes\/no items, give you numbers to compare year over year. Open-ended prompts explain why the numbers moved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Colleges run them at set moments. Common timing includes the end of a term, graduation, and the point where a student withdraws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A college survey is the broad category, and neighboring survey types do narrower jobs. Mixing them up leads to the wrong question set. QuestionPro’s student survey guide<\/a> leans toward classroom and teacher questions, many written for school-age students. A student engagement survey<\/a> measures involvement rather than satisfaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat is a college survey?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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How is a college survey different from a student survey or an engagement survey?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n