2017 CIRP Freshmen Survey

Main Content

Published February 2019

2017 Freshmen

From creative endeavors to technology, incoming first-year students are interested in building on their skills. In fact, post-college jobs and making a difference in the world are motivating factors for the freshman class of 2017.

Header image for the freshman class of 2017.

For freshmen, choosing a college is based on a variety of decisions.

Percentage of freshmen that are attending a school over 500 miles away from home:

22.1% – Illinois
18% – Nationally

Percentage of freshmen that only applied to the college they're attending:

3.6% – Illinois
11% – Nationally

Percentage of freshmen that were accepted to their first-choice college:

59.8% – Illinois
76% – Nationally

Percentage of freshmen that believed a campus visit was very important in selecting their college:

41.2% – Illinois
47% – Nationally

Percentage of freshmen that consider being able to get a better job a very important reason to attend college:

88.1% – Illinois
85% – Nationally

Infographic showing that for freshmen, choosing a college is based on a variety of decisions.

Some students are artistic…

Percentage of freshmen that believe their artistic ability is above average:

24.5% – Illinois
29% – Nationally

Percentage of freshmen that think it's important to be successful in the performing arts:

20.5% – Illinois
16% – Nationally

Percentage of freshmen that consider creating art very important:

11.2% – Illinois
17% – Nationally

Percentage of freshmen that plan on majoring in an art-related field:

3.2% – Illinois
8% – Nationally

Percentage of freshmen that have future career plans to be an artist:

3.3% – Illinois
6% – Nationally

Infographic showing that some students are artistic.

…And some are tech-savvy.

Percentage of freshmen who strongly agree that a basic understanding of programming is important for most careers today:

25% – Illinois
21% – Nationally

Percentage of freshmen that have written code in the past year:

36.2% – Illinois
20% – Nationally

Percentage of freshmen that consider their computer programming skills above average:

13.1% – Illinois
7% – Nationally

Percentage of freshmen that took AP Computer Science A:

15.3% – Illinois
7% – Nationally

Percentage of freshmen that took AP Computer Science Principles:

3.6% – Illinois
3% – Nationally

Infographic showing that some students are tech-savvy.

Students' experiences with AP courses varies:

Percentage of incoming students that attended high schools that did not offer AP courses:

10.5% – Illinois
7% – Nationally

Infographic showing how students' experiences with AP courses varies.

Of those who attended high schools that offered AP courses, they took the following:

Percentage of freshmen that did not take any:

4.8% – Illinois
19% – Nationally

Percentage of freshmen that took AP Probability and Statistics:

28.4% – Illinois
23% – Nationally

Percentage of freshmen that took AP Calculus:

60.1% – Illinois
40% – Nationally

Percentage of freshmen that took AP Biology:

24.9% – Illinois
28% – Nationally

Percentage of freshmen that took AP Chemistry:

27.7% – Illinois
20% – Nationally

Percentage of freshmen that took AP Physics:

40.6% – Illinois
23% – Nationally

Percentage of freshmen that took AP Environmental Science:

10.1% – Illinois
16% – Nationally

Infographic showing of those who attended high schools that offered AP courses, which courses they took.

Survey Source: CIRP Freshman Survey 2017

Information about students entering college helps enrollment planning, retention efforts, and provides a baseline for understanding college effectiveness. Register for the CIRP Freshman Survey at www.cirpsurveys.org. The 2017 CIRP Freshman Survey findings are available at www.heri.ucla.edu/publications-tfs.

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