The Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA has administered a survey for first year college students.
VSU allowed students to participate in this survey from August 3, 2009 to September 25, 2009. Of  the 2,148 surveys that were made available to VSU students, only 16 percent were completed.
“That is sad and pathetic,” David Funk, junior Literature major said. “If the survey is so important, what is wrong with the delivery system to only have so few returned?”
The CIRP Freshman survey is designed to provide comprehensive information on incoming first-year students, examine readiness for college and how students choose colleges and to determine student values and beliefs about diversity and civic engagement.
The survey was conducted for the 2010 fiscal year which ran from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010. The survey asks students to rate their academic preparedness, their expectations of college and their overall interactions with peers and faculty.
The completed surveys show that 70.3 percent of the participants were female and 65.7 percent of those that participated turned 18 years of age by December 31, 2009.
The results also show that 98.8 percent of the participants speak English as their primary language.
Of the 347 completed surveys, more than 80 percent attended a public high school and 25 percent graduated with a B+ average. The SAT consists of Mathematics, Reading, and Writing but according to College Board.com, the critical writing section is not scored because it “ensures that the SAT accurately reflects your skills. Also, the unscored section helps account for minor differences in difficulty across all the different forms of the test.”
The highest possible SAT score is a 2400. Each section is worth at most 800 points, but the average overall score is a 1500. After taking the SAT or ACT, this survey shows that the majority of the students scored a 401-599 on the SAT and 19-24 on the ACT.  VSU requires a 440 in critical reading and a 410 in math on the SAT and an 18 in English and a 17 in math on the ACT.
At VSU almost 70 percent of the students live between 101-500 miles away from their permanent home. Before making a final decision to come to VSU, 51.9 percent of the students that responded to the survey said they applied to one or less other colleges. 58.5 percent of the students also noted that VSU was their primary choice for higher education.
The majority of the students who filled out the CIRP survey needed special tutoring or remedial work.
The subject that had the highest need was Mathematics.
Several high schools in Georgia offer AP level classes, which allow high school seniors to receive college course credit for that particular class, but only 5.5 percent of the students surveyed were not offered these classes from their high schools.
Of the students that responded to the CIRP survey nationwide, 50.3 percent of the students were enrolled in 1-4 AP classes in high school but only 43.6 percent of them took the AP exam.
Less than half of the survey participants said they planned to obtain a Master’s degree, although 60.4 percent said they were working towards a Bachelor’s Degree.
Despite the high cost for higher education, 58.3 percent of the survey participants said they expect to spend less than $2,999 for their first year’s expenses, which includes room and board, tuition and fees, from their own resources.