Using class lists as the sampling frame, the AES was distributed to a random sample 7500 of the University of Nevada, Reno's undergraduate and graduate students enrolled for credit in the Spring of 1997. A proportionate sample strategy was employed to ensure that the sample reflected the university population by class status and ethnicity. The final sample was comprise of 20% graduate students and 80% undergraduate students. The graduate student sample was 68% White and 32% Nonwhite. The undergraduate sample was 71% White and 29% Nonwhite. To encourage participation, potential respondents were given a 20% discount coupon for purchases at the Associated Students of the University of Nevada, Reno bookstore (ASUN).
In May 1997, packets containing an explanatory cover letter, the ASUN coupon, and the AES were mailed to the sample. In addition, 27 students enrolled in summer sessions of two undergraduate level psychology courses were given the opportunity to participate in the survey for extra credit. There were 67 surveys returned as undeliverable due to address changes, leaving 7433 delivered surveys. Including the mailed surveys and the extra credit surveys, a total of 7527 surveys were delivered. Overall, 1,763 surveys were returned, a response rate of 24%. Based only on the graduate student sample, 442 of 1517 surveys were returned, a response rate of 29%. For the undergraduate sample, 1321 of 5983 surveys were returned, 1272 of which yielded usable data, resulting in a response rate of 21%.
| AES | Spring 97 Enrollment | AES | Spring 97 Enrollment | ||||||
| College | N | Percent | N | Percent | College | N | Percent | N | Percent |
| Arts and Science | 396 | 31.1 | 2255 | 28.7 | Agriculture | 89 | 7.0 | 473 | 6.0 |
| Human and Comm. Services | 232 | 18.2 | 1538 | 19.5 | Journalism | 54 | 4.2 | 316 | 4.0 |
| Business Administration | 165 | 13.0 | 1079 | 13.7 | Mining | 36 | 2.8 | 185 | 2.3 |
| Education | 165 | 13.0 | 960 | 12.2 | Medicine | 20 | 1.6 | 94 | 1.1 |
| Engineering | 103 | 8.1 | 778 | 9.8 | |||||
| Undergraduate Students (All numbers %) | Graduate (All numbers %) | |||
| Nontransfer Students | Transfer Students | Masters Students | Doctoral Students | |
| Ethnicity/Race | ||||
| White | 75.3 | 77.7 | 76.8 | 75.4 |
| Asian American | 8.3 | 4.8 | 5.0 | 5.2 |
| Hispanic | 5.5 | 4.6 | 5.0 | 2.2 |
| Native American | 1.6 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 0.7 |
| African American | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.3 | --- |
| International | 3.6 | 3.9 | 7.6 | 14.2 |
| Unknown | 4.7 | 6.1 | 4.3 | 2.2 |
| Age | ||||
| 18-24 | 84.3 | 40.5 | 14.6 | 4.5 |
| 25-35 | 10.9 | 35.4 | 46.4 | 45.5 |
| Over 35 | 4.7 | 24.1 | 39.1 | 50.0 |
| Gender | ||||
| Female | 63.9 | 65.2 | 62.9 | 47.0 |
| Male | 36.1 | 34.8 | 37.1 | 53.0 |
| Undergraduate Students (All numbers %) | ||
| Nontransfer Students | Transfer Students | |
| Reasons for Attending College | ||
| Obtain Better Paying Job | 75.5 | 63.8 |
| Obtain/Increase Knowledge in Specific Field | 63.5 | 53.0 |
| Parents Wanted Me to Go to College | 39.7 | 21.4 |
| Complete Previous Degree | 4.2 | 20.5 |
| Need Degree to Find Better Job | 17.7 | 15.1 |
| Nothing Better to Do | 12.2 | 6.8 |
| Increase Salary in Current Job | 2.2 | 4.1 |
Concurrent Enrollment at Other Institutions
Thirty-two percent of the nontransfer students reported being enrolled at another institution concurrent with their enrollment at UNR. Forty-four percent of transfer students reported concurrent enrollment.
| Undergraduate (All numbers %) | ||
| Nontransfer Students | Transfer Students | |
| Reasons for Concurrent Enrollment* | ||
| Courses at UNR were more expensive | 56.4 | 70.1 |
| Courses were not available | 21.8 | 17.8 |
| Courses were more difficult at UNR | 19.6 | 13.3 |
| Courses at UNR were full | 14.7 | 10.4 |
| *Equal more than 100% due to multiple responses | ||
Fulfillment of University Requirements
Repondents reported taking an average of four to five course per semester. The average number of credits taken ranged from twelve to thirteen.
| Nontransfer Students (All numbers %) | Transfer Studnents (All numbers %) | ||||||||
| UNR | Another University | Community College | Adv. Placement Test | UNR | Another University | Community College | Adv. Placement Test | ||
| English | 91.1 | 0.9 | 10.5 | 9.0 | 31.8 | 24.2 | 61.7 | 3.9 | |
| Math | 88.5 | 1.4 | 12.4 | 6.4 | 45.7 | 17.5 | 49.6 | 2.2 | |
| Natural Sciences | 92.3 | 2.3 | 10.0 | 3.8 | 50.6 | 24.0 | 48.4 | 0.8 | |
| Fine Arts | 83.2 | 1.5 | 6.6 | 0.3 | 39.4 | 19.7 | 49.3 | 0.6 | |
| Western Traditions | 87.4 | 2.4 | 14.9 | 0.4 | 57.8 | 10.1 | 50.7 | 0.2 | |
| Capstone | 98.4 | 0.3 | 0.7 | --- | 97.3 | 1.2 | 2.7 | --- | |
| Diversity | 96.4 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 82.9 | 9.1 | 12.4 | 0.6 | |
| *Equal more than 100% due to multiple responses | |||||||||
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