Korean Educational Development Institute(KEDI)

Higher Education Freshmen Survey Research Design

This study aims to design the “Survey of First-Year College Students” in order to monitor and analyze the characteristics and experiences of college freshman in Korea in their beginning stage. To improve the quality of higher education, it is necessary to establish evidence-based policies based on objective data. It is also important to accumulate such data so we can constantly monitor the policies. In Korea, whereas high-quality data are being collected at all levels of education, no nationwide survey exists for the students at the entry level of higher education. In order to continuously analyze and monitor the major issues in higher education, such as college admission policies, equality of opportunity to access to higher education, the impact of high school education and its connection to college education, and academic continuation and early adjustment after entering college, a nationwide survey for the incoming college students or those who are first-year college students needs to be developed. Therefore, this study reviewed relevant literature including both domestic and international survey research and analyzed major trends of higher education admission-related policies. As a following step, this study developed a questionnaire for the survey of first-year college students and conducted a pilot survey. Based on the results, the study discussed several possible ways of using data from the nationwide survey of first-year college students and suggested future directions.