The Record sent its biannual approval ratings survey to 500 randomly selected students last week. The survey asked students to indicate their approval, disapproval, or neutrality toward various campus institutions, including the faculty, the dean’s office, and Campus Safety Services. It also asked students to indicate their attitudes toward campus issues including grade inflation and legacy admissions.
Responses indicated sustained approval for the faculty, which remained the group with the highest approval since at least fall 2018. The College, the Record, and President Maud S. Mandel all saw their ratings increase from this spring’s approval ratings survey.
Of the survey’s 159 respondents — a response rate of 32 percent — 27 percent were seniors, 21 percent were juniors, 26 percent were sophomores, and 26 percent were first-years. Off-cycle respondents rounded their graduation year down.
Students who identify as white made up 66 percent of respondents, whereas 48 percent of enrolled students identify as white, according to the College’s 2023–24 Common Data Set. Students who identify as Asian or Asian American made up 11 percent of respondents, compared to 14 percent of enrolled students per the Common Data Set; 4 percent identified as Black or African American, compared to 5 percent at the College; 17 percent identified as Hispanic/Latinx, compared to 13 percent at the College; and 16 percent identified as two or more races, compared to 8 percent at the College.
Among respondents, 52 percent identified as men, 41 percent as women, and 6 percent as non-binary. Students who reported receiving financial aid comprised 46 percent of respondents, lower than the 52 percent of students who do so at the College.
The faculty received the highest approval rating, with 89 percent of respondents indicating approval and only 4 percent indicating disapproval.
The College received the greatest positive change in approval, increasing 14 points from last semester to an approval rating of 67 percent.
Thirty percent indicated disapproval of the Honor and Discipline Committee — a 10-point increase in disapproval, the largest of any institution. The committee was an object of increased scrutiny after a Record investigation found that it used an incorrect voting practice for over a year, breaking policies in the honor code and the dean of the College’s website. Whereas 71 percent of respondents indicated neutrality toward the committee last spring, 53 percent did so this semester.
The Facilitators for Allocating Student Taxes (FAST), the student-run body that allocates funding to registered student organizations (RSOs), received the highest rate of disapproval of any institution or office in the survey, at 34 percent — up from 15 percent last spring. FAST — which faced a reduced budget this fall — delayed the allocation and reduced the budgets of some RSOs this semester.
The Record also saw a continued increase in approval, reaching 63 percent this fall — a five-point rise from the spring and a significant recovery from its low of 46 percent last fall, when it drew criticism for its handling of campus dialogue related to the war in Gaza.
The dean’s office, the disapproval of which increased by 15 points last spring following controversy over its response to the resignation of the majority of the Junior Advisor Advisory Board, recorded improvements this semester. Its disapproval dropped to 23 percent from 38 percent, while approval increased five points to 36 percent.
The Record continued its practice of soliciting student opinions on issues relevant to the campus community this semester. A memo from the College showed that 76 percent of all grades from spring 2023 were in the A range, though the majority of respondents — 70 percent — indicated that they were not concerned about grade inflation at the College.
In the wake of recent changes to legacy admissions policies across the country, opinions on legacy admissions at the College remained mixed. Disapproval of the practice decreased by 10 points from the spring, with 39 percent of respondents now indicating disapproval.
The College’s response to student activism saw a spike in neutrality, shifting from 26 percent to 43. Approval and disapproval decreased by 17 and 11 points respectively.
The percentage of respondents who believe that the College has offered sufficient support to students of color this semester remained steady from the spring at 18 percent. The College’s support for students receiving financial aid received 16 percent disapproval, an increase of 4 percent from the spring.
Due to rounding, not all percentages will add to 100 percent.
