Higher Education Research Institute (HERI)

The College Senior Survey (CSS) connects academic, civic, and diversity outcomes with a comprehensive set of college experiences to measure the impact of college. Although the CSS can be used as a stand-alone instrument, when used in conjunction with the CIRP Freshman Survey (TFS), the Diverse Learning Environments Survey (DLE), or the Your First College Year Survey (YFCY), the CSS generates valuable longitudinal data on students� cognitive and affective growth during college.

About the College Senior Survey

The College Senior Survey is designed as an exit survey for graduating seniors. The CSS focuses on a broad range of college outcomes and post-college goals and plans including:

academic achievement and engagement
student-faculty interaction
cognitive and affective development
student goals and values
satisfaction with the college experience
degree aspirations and career plans
post-college plans

The CSS also includes space for up to 20 institution-specific questions.

Schools participating in the CSS receive an institutional profile, which includes your institutional results broken out by sex, full and part-time status, comparisons with other similar institutions, significance testing, effect sizes, CIRP Constructs and Theme reports, and a data file of your student responses. Schools using the CSS as a post-test to the TFS, YFCY, or DLE will also receive a Longitudinal Profile, which can be used to assess growth and change over time.

See the online College Senior Survey in action

View Full Screen Sample Report Page

ADMINISTERING THE SURVEY

Administered anytime between November 15, 2012 and June 28, 2013.

The CSS is conducted from November�June to facilitate surveying both December and June graduates, and is offered as both a paper and a web survey. Our web portal (www.cirpsurveys.org) provides greater flexibility and ease of use when managing your survey administration.

The Paper Survey

can be administered in the classroom, a group setting, or as a mail-out survey. The most successful administration of the CSS is in large group settings, such as a graduation rehearsal. You select the delivery date and the number of questionnaires needed. Your paper survey data is available in just 3 weeks after your paper questionnaires arrive for scanning.

The Web Survey

can be administered either with your campus managing the email notification process, or for ease of use, you can elect to have HERI manage the email notifications to students. A web survey can be more convenient for both you and your students. Our new web portal allows you maximum flexibility in setting email notification and reminder dates, customized "welcome" and "thank you" pages, customized email notifications, and input of additional questions. Throughout the administration, you can obtain updates on your response rate. Your survey data is available the day after a student completes the questionnaire.

The Paper & Web Survey Combination

enables your institution to enhance your response rate by using both methodologies for maximum exposure. Students may complete either version.

Web Survey Features

HERI can send customizable email notifications (including reminders) to your students
Customizable "Welcome" and "Thank you" Screens
Upload your own additional questions

The Survey Instrument

2013 CSS Survey Instrument

Important Forms and Documentation

Administration Guidelines Necessary information for schools concerning the administration of the College Senior Survey
Survey Administration Checklist A one-page summary of administration responsibilities
Survey Information Sheet Copy of the informed consent given to survey respondents
UCLA IRB Approval Notice Copy of the current UCLA IRB approval
Student Identifiers Information about using student identifiers
Paying with Purchase Orders Important information about paying via Purchase Order
Survey Shipping Form Use this form when you are sending forms back to the processing center
HERI's Email Distribution Service Important information about how to prevent survey invitation and reminders from HERI being filtered out as bulk or junk mail.

Fees / Withdrawal Policy

STANDARD COSTS
Participation Fee		$825
Processing Fee		$3.25 per survey processed


OPTIONAL COSTS
Customized Welcome and Thank You Pages		FREE
Integrated additional questions		$350
Email distribution to students		$375
On-line Data Analysis		$150

Billing Policy
Upon registration, institutions are sent one bill for the participation fee. After each institution completes their survey administration and returns the data for processing, the per-survey processing fees are calculated and a second bill is sent to each institution for their respective processing charges. Institutions are also billed separately for any Data Service Orders they may place, and these bills are sent out after the completion and fulfillment of each Data Service Order.

Withdrawal Policy
You may cancel without penalty up to the time that the unique web log-in codes have been sent to your institution, or distributed per your institution's direction. If the web log-in codes have already been sent to your institution or distributed via HERI's email distribution service to your intended survey participants, you will be charged a withdrawal fee of $100. In addition, if HERI has provided any customized services at your request (e.g., incorporated on-line additional questions, etc), you will also be responsible for the full cost of these services.