Institutional Research Surveys

Fordham's Office of Institutional Research (OIR) assists programs, departments, and units with local surveys upon request. Surveys are an optimal tool for collecting information when interested in self-reported knowledge, attitudes and perceptions, or behaviors and practices. The OIR adopts good practices in survey research, such as reliable and valid survey instrument construction; confidentiality; survey administration that seeks to minimize bias, optimize the quality of useful data, and reduce survey fatigue; and the provision of understandable and useful information. If you would like assistance with any aspect of survey construction, administration, or research, please email [email protected] and we would be happy to assist.

Before creating your own survey, consider whether data from one of the surveys routinely administered at Fordham would serve your purposes. Every year, the Division of Student Affairs administers the following surveys:

Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) Surveys

The Freshman Survey
The CIRP Freshman Survey is administered to incoming first-year students before they start classes at our institution. The survey collects extensive information that allows for a snapshot of what our incoming students are like before they experience college.

Your First College Year
Your First College Year is a survey designed to provide comprehensive information on the academic and personal development of first-year college students, such as persistence, adjustment, and other first-year outcomes. Further, YFCY was designed as a follow-up survey to the annual CIRP Freshman Survey and allows for longitudinal research on the first year of college.

College Senior Survey
The College Senior Survey (CSS) collects valuable information about academic, civic, and diversity outcomes as well as 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) or the Your First College Year Survey (YFCY), the CSS generates valuable longitudinal data on students' cognitive and affective growth during college.

National Survey of Student Engagement

Fordham periodically participates in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). NSSE collects information about first-year and senior students' participation in programs and activities that institutions provide for their learning and personal development. The results provide an estimate of how undergraduates spend their time and what they gain from attending college.