A LOOK AT PART‐TIME UNDERGRADUATES: ENROLLMENT TRENDS, ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS, AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THOSE TAKING THE SAT

The number of undergraduates studying part‐time in four‐year colleges and universities has been steadily increasing over the past decade. The purpose of this project was to identify basic characteristics of Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) candidates planning to study part time, to examine the trends in part‐time enrollment in colleges requiring the SAT, to investigate the policies of those colleges regarding admissions requirements for part‐time students, and to determine whether those colleges are concerned about the validity of the SAT for part‐time students. This study used three different data sources to investigate these issues in order to provide an integrated picture of SAT usage among part‐time students. This picture may provide a basis upon which the College Board can project future SAT usage among these students and decide whether to encourage colleges to conduct SAT validity studies specifically for part‐time students. From Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS) data we determined that part‐time freshman enrollments in four‐year colleges increased 8.4 percent between 1976 and 1980. The greatest part‐time enrollments were in institutions with average SAT scores (verbal plus mathematics) ranging from 900 to 1000. Colleges with average scores between 800 and 900 had the greatest percentage of freshmen studying part time. The greatest rise in part‐time enrollment was among those colleges with the largest number of part‐time students, i.e., those in the 900–1000 score range. The greatest percentage increase in part‐time freshman enrollment was in the highly selective institutions, i.e., those with average scores over 1200, and in the least selective colleges, i.e., those with scores under 700. From SAT files we compared the profiles of students planning to study part time with those of students planning to study full time. We found that among part‐time students, there were a higher proportion of females and ethnic minorities. Part‐time candidates came from lower SES (socioeconomic status) families, fewer had been in academic programs in high school, and a greater percentage were uncertain about their educational goals. Their self‐estimates of academic abilities as well as their high school grades and SAT scores were lower than those for full‐time students. As a third data source, we conducted a telephone survey of 72 four‐year colleges having SAT score averages above 900. We found that some colleges did not distinguish between full‐time and part‐time students except for tuition fees and that most colleges had the same SAT admission requirements for part‐time as for full‐time matriculated students. Exceptions were generally made for older students. Another exception was when the school for part‐time students was under a different administration than the division for full‐time students. Generally this was the “night school.” Often under these circumstances no one applying to the “night school” was required to submit SAT scores even though some were recent high school graduates earning a degree.