The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) has released its latest report: Independent Colleges and Student Engagement: Descriptive Analysis by Institutional Type, which reaffirms what has been previously documented: Traditional, residential private colleges and universities provide a more effective learning environment for today’s students than other institutions.
Whittier College is an institutional member of CIC, an association of more than 600 colleges and universities that share the attributes of dedication to teaching, purposefulness about moral and civic values, small classes, close partnerships between the campus and its surrounding community, and governing structures that are not part of state government.
Some of the findings of the report include:
Academically Challenging Experiences: Private college students are more likely to experience courses that emphasize higher-order learning and reflective and integrative learning experiences as well as courses that require more effort studying, writing, and reading. Student-Faculty Interactions: First-year and senior students at private colleges are more likely to interact with faculty members about their academic performance, co- and extra-curricular activities, and career plans after graduation.
Effective Teaching Practices: Students at small, independent colleges report greater satisfaction with course organization, lectures, and feedback on assignments.
High-Impact Practices: Private college students experienced more educational practices that result in greater gains in student learning and higher levels of persistence, including service learning, research conducted with a faculty member, internships and field experiences, study abroad, and culminating senior experiences.
Supportive Learning Environment: Students enrolled at private colleges are more likely to report that their institutions provided support that helped them succeed and that they attended events that addressed important social, economic, or political issues.
Emphasis on Values and Ethics: Both first-year students and seniors who enrolled at private colleges are more likely to perceive that they made greater strides in developing or clarifying a personal code of values and ethics.
This report, prepared for the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), draws on the most current NSSE data, from 2013 and 2014, that include more than 540,000 first-year and senior students enrolled at more than 900 four-year colleges and universities. Findings are presented with comparisons across four institutional types: (1) baccalaureate and master’s level private institutions (CIC’s predominant membership profile), (2) baccalaureate and master’s level public institutions, (3) doctoral private institutions, and (4) doctoral public institutions. Included in the analysis are measures from the updated NSSE that includes ten new Engagement Indicators, six High-Impact Practices, the Perceived Gains scale, and a Satisfaction scale.
Read the full report.
