BCSSE has common content for all students regarding their expectations and perceptions for the coming year. These common content areas include:

• Perceived Academic Preparation
• Perceived Academic Perseverance
• Expected Academic Difficulty
• Expected Academic Help-Seeking
• Expected Collaborative Learning
• Expected Student-Faculty Interaction
• Expected Hours Studying and Working
• Importance of Campus Support
• Expectation to Graduate from Current Institution

• Amount of Reading and Writing
• Hours Studying and Working
• Learning Strategies
• Quantitative Reasoning
• Self-Reported High School Grades
• Extracurricular Activities
• Course taking including AP, Dual Credit, and IB courses

• Co-Enrollment with Another Institution
• Anticipated Stressors During the Coming Year
• Expected Degree Completion Year
• Expected Hours per Week Providing Care for Dependents and Commuting to Campus
• Military Service

• Reasons for Leaving Previous Institution
• Academic Performance at Previous Institution
• Expected Credits to Transfer
• Learning Strategies

First-year students are recent high school graduates who met one of the following criteria:

• All paper survey respondents regardless of high school graduation year, or
• Web respondents who graduated high school in the current year or within the previous two and did not attend another institution since graduating high school, or
• Web respondents who graduated high school three or more years ago and did attend another institution since graduating high school and expect to transfer 11 or fewer credits.

Transfer students are those respondents who met the following criteria:

• All web respondents who attended a college or university after graduation from high school and expect to transfer 12 or more credits regardless of graduation year.

Older students are those who met the following criteria:

• Web respondents who graduated high school three or more years ago and did not attend another institution since graduating high school, or
• Web respondents who graduated high school three or more years ago and did attend another institution since graduating high school and expect to transfer 11 or fewer credits.