Student Satisfaction and University Family Engagement: Student Experiences on Campus

This is the fourth in a series comparing student perceptions with the perceptions of university families. The first article focused on satisfaction with financial aid and tuition value while the second reviewed satisfaction with the admissions process. The third article focused on the academic experience. This one takes a closer look at the student experience while enrolled.

These results are based on nearly 140,000 students from the RNL Student Satisfaction Inventory across three academic years, and over 20,000 families who completed the CampusESP/RNL University Family Engagement study. Both populations were asked a series of questions regarding their satisfaction level with a variety of items about the student experience.

A few demographics about the families:

• 65% reported household incomes of $100,000 or greater.
• 80% of parents responding were born between 1965-1980.
• Two-thirds of their students attend institutions with 10,000 or higher total enrollment.
• Slightly more than half of their students live on campus, 8% live at home.
• 20% are families of first-generation college students.

Experiences with student life

Student life is important aspect of the student experience on residential campuses. Here are the student and family satisfaction levels with aspects of student life.

On-campus living experience (Very Satisfied or Satisfied)

Students have especially low satisfaction scores when it comes to their experience in residence halls. Family perceptions from the outside are very different and much higher in satisfaction. College leaders need to be aware of these variances and look for ways to meet student expectations for living on campus.

Ability to get involved on campus (Very Satisfied or Satisfied)

This is another area where families have higher satisfaction than students when it comes to the ability to get involved on campus. There may be opportunities for campuses to communicate with parents to encourage student involvement.

Campus staff are caring and helpful / quality of communications with staff (Very Satisfied or Satisfied)

Feeling cared for by campus staff is a key aspect of an institution’s campus climate. Four-year private institutions reflect slightly higher satisfaction on this item for both students and families. Campus leaders have an opportunity to set the tone for the level of care and concern that is expected and recognized at colleges.

Mental health and counseling support

There is a growing awareness among colleges, families and students for the need to provide support in the areas of mental health.

University families responded to this item:

Quality of mental health/emotional support resource and help

Families

• Public Institutions 51%
• Private Institutions 57%

Currently enrolled students, across class levels responded to these two items:

Counseling staff care about students and individuals

Students

• Public Institutions 61%
• Private Institutions 62%

The staff in the health services area are competent

Students

• Public Institutions 64%
• Private Institutions 61%

For families, this area is among the lowest in satisfaction levels and there is also room for improvement for students with satisfaction with counseling and health services. There may be a lag between the identified need and the campus responses in place. This is a priority area for colleges to address going forward.

Career services

Connecting the students’ education to a future career is a critical aspect when it comes to perceptions of college being a worthwhile investment.

There are adequate career services (Very Satisfied or Satisfied)

Career services are the gateway between the college experience and the students’ future life experiences. As shared in a recent article on career services, there is more that colleges can do earlier for students, starting in their first and second years, to provide career support and guidance. Colleges could also better inform families of what is available to students.

Conclusion

The experience that campuses are providing outside of the classroom can positively impact students’ overall perceptions and are reflected in how families feel about their students’ enrollment at a particular college. Providing students with a variety of opportunities to get involved, keeping them safe and comfortable on campus, showing care and concern, providing mental health/counseling services and offering guidance for future career opportunities can support student success and retention. It is important to understand your own students’ satisfaction levels. Contact me if you would like to learn more about conducting a satisfaction assessment at your campus.