A Closer Look at High-Impact Practices

Table 4 displays the percentage of all U.S. respondents who participated in each HIP by selected student and institution characteristics. In general, results show the following:

Seniors at Baccalaureate Arts and Sciences colleges experienced HIPs at considerably higher rates.
HIP participation showed little variation by sex but did vary somewhat by race/ethnicity, with some students of color less likely to have done research with faculty, study abroad, or an internship or field experience.
HIP participation was much more common among traditional-age students and those enrolled full time, and somewhat less common among first-generation and transfer students.
HIP participation varied by major-field category. For example, seniors in the biological sciences (including related fields such as agriculture and natural resources) and physical sciences (including math and computer science) were more likely to participate in research with faculty, while those in education and social service professions were more likely to participate in service-learning.

Table 4: Percentage of Students Who Participated in High-Impact Practices by Institution and Student Characteristics
Carnegie Classification
	First-year			Senior
	Service- Learning	Learning Community	Research w/ Faculty	Service-Learning	Learning Community	Research w/ Faculty	Internship/ Field Exp.	Study Abroad	Culminating Experience
Doctoral Universities–Very high research activity	48	15	5	55	24	26	52	18	45
Doctoral Universities–High research activity	50	14	4	58	24	24	51	16	44
Doctoral/Professional Universities	53	12	4	59	19	16	39	11	37
Master’s Colleges and Universities–Larger programs	54	11	4	61	19	19	42	8	41
Master’s Colleges and Universities–Medium programs	64	12	5	73	26	25	53	12	52
Master’s Colleges and Universities–Smaller programs	56	8	4	68	24	25	52	10	50
Baccalaureate Colleges: Arts & Sciences Focus	54	9	5	69	30	43	68	36	76
Baccalaureate Colleges: Diverse Fields	62	11	6	74	29	26	54	13	54
Control
Public	52	13	5	59	23	23	49	13	43
Private	56	11	4	62	21	21	46	14	46
Undergraduate enrollment
Fewer than 1,000	66	10	6	75	28	30	61	14	59
1,000 - 2,499	64	11	5	74	29	31	59	20	60
2,500 - 4,999	58	13	5	67	26	26	53	15	53
5,000 - 9,999	54	12	4	62	23	22	48	13	46
10,000 - 19,999	51	14	5	59	23	21	46	11	40
20,000 or more	45	13	5	54	19	20	43	13	39
Sex^a
Female	53	13	5	64	24	23	50	16	44
Male	53	12	5	55	20	22	45	11	44
Race/ethnicity or international
American Indian or Alaska Native	56	9	3	65	22	18	39	9	42
Asian	54	12	6	64	23	24	45	13	40
Black or African American	57	13	6	65	25	18	40	8	39
Hispanic or Latino	55	12	4	63	21	18	41	11	37
Native Hawaiian/Other Pac. Islander	51	14	3	66	22	17	43	14	38
White	50	13	4	58	22	24	51	15	47
Other	64	14	1	58	25	19	51	11	50
Foreign or nonresident	69	13	8	74	22	26	38	20	45
Two or more races/ethnicities	52	13	5	59	23	25	49	16	46
Age
Traditional (First-year < 21, Senior < 25):	54	13	5	64	28	29	59	19	53
Nontraditional (First-year 21+, Senior 25+)	40	6	4	53	13	12	30	4	30
First-generation^b
Not first-generation	51	14	5	59	25	27	55	18	50
First-generation	55	11	4	61	19	17	40	8	39
Enrollment
Less than full-time	44	6	4	52	13	12	31	6	29
Full-time	54	13	5	62	25	25	52	16	48
Residence
Living off campus	50	8	4	59	21	21	46	12	42
Living on campus	54	15	5	67	34	34	62	24	59
Transfer
Started here	53	13	5	64	28	30	59	21	54
Started elsewhere	47	11	5	56	16	15	36	6	34
Major category^c
Arts & humanities	51	12	4	55	21	25	41	21	56
Biological sciences, agriculture, natural resources	52	16	8	56	25	46	50	18	45
Physical sciences, math, computer science	44	12	6	43	20	36	47	13	45
Social sciences	51	12	5	60	20	30	44	19	47
Business	52	11	4	54	18	11	41	14	42
Communications, media, public relations	53	13	5	64	24	22	60	21	60
Education	61	13	4	78	36	15	68	11	46
Engineering	48	16	5	45	24	30	57	13	55
Health professions	57	13	4	78	25	19	50	10	36
Social service professions	59	10	5	67	23	15	46	8	38
Undecided/undeclared	54	8	3	59	10	11	21	3	18
Notes: Percentages weighted by sex, enrollment status, and institution size. Participating students are those who responded "Done or in progress" for all HIPs except service-learning, where students reported at least "Some" of their courses included a community-based project. Sex, enrollment status, and race/ethnicity are institution-reported variables.
a. If provided, “Another” and “Unknown” categories are not displayed due to low Ns.
b. Neither parent holds a bachelor's degree.
c. NSSE's default related-major categories, based on students' first reported major. Excludes majors categorized as "all other."

Are Students Meeting the HIP Challenge?

NSSE recommends that institutions make it possible for all students to participate in at least two HIPs over the course of their undergraduate experience—including one in the first year and another in the context of the major. Figure 12 displays the percentage of students who participated in High-Impact Practices. About 3 in 5 first-year students participated in at least one HIP, and about 5 out of 8 seniors participated in at least two HIPs.

See page 15 for additional information about HIPs.

Participation in HIPs by class

View an accessible version of Figure 12.

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A Closer Look at High-Impact Practices