Adult Noncredit Students’ Priorities and Satisfaction

Abstract

Background. Adult Student Priorities Survey (ASPS) from Ruffalo Noel Levitz was utilized to examine the level of importance and the level of satisfaction of continuing education students in allied health care and English as a second language (ESL) programs at Kingborough Community College, Brooklyn, NY. Method. Mean scores for both “importance” and “satisfaction” items were calculated by summing participants’ ratings (1-7 Likert-type scale) and dividing them by the number respondents. Mean scores for each scale were also calculated by summing all respondents’ scale scores and dividing them by the number of respondents. Gaps between importance and satisfaction were calculated by subtracting the score for satisfaction from the score for importance. The mean scores of allied health care students were compared with mean scores of ESL students. Results. The highest gap score was observed for academic services (0.91) followed by service excellence (0.85) as reported by the allied health care group, showing that students reported high importance but low satisfaction. There were no statistically significant differences between the average score of the two groups, indicating that the ratings were similar for the groups. Conclusion. Based on our findings, simple fixes such as extending registration times, having additional college and career advisors on staff, and training existing staff on customer service skills have the potential to increase enrollment and revenue, thereby giving us the resources to offer additional classes and programs in response to student needs.