Display 0466:  Freshmen Report Their Key Life Objectives

From the CIRP Freshman Study*
% of freshmen rating objectives as "very important" or "essential"

1995

1998

1999

2000

 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
SSU USA SSU USA SSU USA SSU USA SSU USA SSU USA SSU USA SSU USA SSU USA SSU USA SSU USA
Percent of freshmen who rate objectives as "very important" or "essential":
Being very well off financially . 76 89 78 90 77 96 82 90 83 91 81 90 81 90 81 89 82 91 81 92 83
Raising a family . 71 73 73 72 71 80 70 73 71 78 73 74 74 75 76 76 75 78 77 80 77
Becoming an authority in my field . 66 76 64 72 60 75 62 70 62 73 61 75 60 72 61 73 60 71 59 81 61
Helping others who are in difficulty . 62 71 64 69 61 74 65 71 65 71 65 74 65 68 64 74 68 77 67 78 70
Becoming successful in a business of my own . 44 67 43 62 42 70 50 66 49 63 45 65 45 66 45 67 47 67 47 77 49
Obtaining recognition from colleagues for contributions . 55 63 54 53 52 60 53 55 52 61 53 62 53 63 54 64 55 63 55 72 58
Developing a meaningful philosophy of life . 43 50 41 49 39 55 40 51 42 52 40 46 38 51 38 54 41 56 44 60 46
Improving my understanding of other countries & cultures -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 48 42 46 40 42 34 52 41 49 42 61 46
Influencing social values . 41 52 40 42 37 48 40 41 40 49 40 48 40 49 40 53 43 54 46 58 46
Having administrative responsibility for work of others . 40 52 41 41 38 46 42 47 42 47 41 51 42 49 42 52 43 53 45 58 45
Helping to promote racial understanding . 36 49 34 47 31 52 36 -- -- 45 34 49 32 46 31 52 36 54 36 57 40
Becoming a community leader . 32 42 34 38 29 45 31 41 31 37 29 47 30 44 30 48 34 49 34 54 35
Participating in a community action program . 24 34 24 30 22 38 25 47 37 34 22 39 22 40 21 44 26 48 27 43 30
Keeping up to date with political affairs . 28 34 27 30 23 30 26 31 28 33 29 36 28 37 28 39 30 40 32 40 31
Becoming involved in programs to clean up the environment . 24 30 19 24 20 27 21 20 19 25 18 34 18 29 18 35 21 35 22 38 27
Influencing the political structure . 18 33 18 20 17 24 20 20 21 28 20 34 20 29 21 33 23 32 24 37 23
Making a theoretical contribution to science . 17 25 15 17 17 17 17 21 17 21 16 26 15 21 17 26 18 24 18 31 20
Writing original works (poems, novels, stories, etc) . 14 14 15 19 14 19 17 19 17 22 17 26 17 17 15 24 18 24 17 29 18
Becoming accomplished in a performing art . 12 14 14 11 13 15 18 16 18 20 20 21 19 15 16 26 19 19 17 26 19
Creating artistic work (painting, sculpture, decorating ) . 13 16 13 11 15 10 18 16 17 18 18 21 17 16 14 20 16 20 17 21 18
Participating in organization like Peace Corps, Ameri Corps, Vista -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 15 11 -- --
Integrating spirituality into my life -- -- -- -- 77 44 76 47 67 45 68 40 71 39 67 40 68 41 -- -- -- --
Working to find a cure to a health problem -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 35 26 -- -- -- -- -- --