Office of Institutional Research, Effectiveness, and Planning (IREP)

BCSSE trend analyses: Nicholls began administering the BCSSE survey to incoming freshmen in 2009. Since the survey has now been given consecutive freshmen cohorts, we are able to examine trends and changes over time regarding items of interest.  Noteworthy trends over time include the following:

First-generation status – The percentage of freshmen first-generation students can be characterized by a leap and two troughs. From 2009-12 the percentage hovers around 62%. Then, 2013-17 is a relative peak with an average of 68% first-generation freshman. Finally, a steady decline can be observed from 2018-21 with an average of 60%. To see the percentage of first-generation freshmen between 2009-2014, click here.

Payment sources – Through 2009 to 2020, payment sources for college are reported most often in order of ‘scholarships & grants’, ‘student loans’, ‘parents or relatives’, and then ‘job or personal savings’. The only anomaly to this is seen in the stark rise in dependence on student loans from 2015 to 2017; with the top of this rise in 2016 with 59% (up from the average of 47%) To see more detail in changes of the payment sources students use for college expenses (scholarships and grants, student loans, parents/family, or self-pay), click here.

Financial difficulties – Overall, from 2009 to 2020, there is a balance with how students report the difficulty of paying for college expenses. The reporting averages are 32% report low, 34% report medium, and 34% report high. However there are peaks in reporting the payment more difficult (high) than not (low) during the span of 2012-14 and the year of 2016, with the most extreme being in 2016 with 41% reporting high. To see more detail on trends in perceived student difficulty in paying for college, click here.