Dartmouth Releases Results of 2006 Senior Survey

Every two years Dartmouth College distributes the Senior Survey, a lengthy questionnaire designed to assess one’s experience at the school, to their graduating class. The results from the survey help administrators identify new ways to improve the undergraduate experience for both current and prospective students.

Until a few days ago, the results were always kept confidential. Only a few snippets of information from the survey ever saw the light of day, and they usually came in the form of bullet points on propaganda-esque pamphlets that claimed most students were satisfied with their experience at Dartmouth. Some cynical skeptical people questioned the validity of these claims.

As it turns out, the administration wasn’t embellishing the facts after all. Thanks to the efforts of former Student Body President Travis Green, the results from the 2006 survey have been released, and “ninety-one percent of the Class of 2006 responded that they were either ‘very satisfied or generally satisfied’ with their undergraduate education.” That’s a whole lot of satisfied Ivy nerds! Wow.

Based on the results, however, not all things are peachy at Dartmouth. Only 5% were very satisfied with the student government, and most students found the diversity on campus lacking. The administration’s responsiveness to students was another area students identified as needing serious work. I find this ironic considering they released the survey results after students requested the information to be made public. They seem pretty responsive to me, but what do I know...

In any case, check out the full results here.