Survey on Senior High School Students’ Interests and
Motivations for Higher Education
Prepared by studentPOLL of the Art & Science Group,
Inc., in cooperation with the American Council on Education.
Major Findings
The majority of incoming freshmen have some international
experience prior to entering college.
- More than 77 percent of respondents indicated that they had some
type of direct international experience prior to attending college,
whether they hosted an international student in their home, traveled
abroad, or had immediate family members move to another country.
- Nearly all the respondents (98 percent) indicated that they have
studied a foreign language.
The majority of freshmen plan on studying international topics and
having international experiences while in college.
- More than half of the respondents (57 percent) indicated that they
plan on studying a foreign language.
- Half of incoming freshmen said that they expect to take courses
focusing on another country’s history or culture.
- Nearly half (48 percent) of respondents indicated that they expected
to study abroad during their college or university years.
Incoming students believe it is important that colleges and
universities offer international experiences and opportunities.
- More than 80 percent of students said it was very or somewhat
important that colleges and universities offer opportunities to interact
with students from other countries.
- Nearly three out of four students said that they believe it is
important that their college offer courses on international topics.
- More than 70 percent of respondents said it is important that their
college offer study abroad programs.
Those who did not indicate an intention to study abroad cited a
variety of reasons:
- More than one in three said they did not want to leave the United
States.
- Just over 10 percent said they were concerned about cost.
- About 13 percent said that study abroad would distract or take too
much time away from their career goals.
Students are interested in international education to gain
exposure to another culture and language skills.
- Nearly nine in ten students said they were interested in gaining
exposure to another culture.
- Nearly two-thirds of respondents said they were interested in
learning another language.
- Just over 60 percent said they were interested in international
education to acquire career-related experiences.
Note: This was a random survey of 500 high school seniors who
intended to enroll at four-year colleges or universities in the fall of
2000. They are now freshmen at various colleges and universities
nationwide. Interviews were conducted by telephone and included students
who had combined scores of 800/15 or higher on the SAT/ACT. The margin
of error is +/- 4.5.
Additional Resources
This page last updated on 03/07/2008
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