Who Are MSU Students?

Back to The First Year Writing Program - for Faculty

Ten years ago, when I arrived, I was told that MSU students are "very nice," committed to their families and communities, and oriented toward work/careers.  I have found this to be true, and to flesh this out a bit, I’d say that first-year writing students are quite willing to try the game plan you introduce, if you introduce it quickly.  They are over-committed with work, family and other obligations, so you need to help them make school work a priority—ideally by requiring regular and accounted for assignments early and often.   They are not familiar with extensive homework, and they are experienced with high grades, so both of those expectations need to be directly addressed, with kindness, but also firmly.

Here are a few facts that I can give you to introduce our students.  The first-year full-time class (as of fall05 or 06 data) is 57 percent female; 97 percent of them are from New Jersey, and for 67 percent, Montclair State University was their first choice for college admissions.  Eleven percent are African-American, 7 percent are Asian. 19 percent are Latino/a, and 61 percent are white.  Just 1.6 students identify as international, yet 17 percent report that their first language is not English. 

Forty-six percent of incoming students identify as Roman Catholic, and the most popular description for political philosophy is "middle-of-the-road."  Thirty-nine percent report that both their parents are college-educated; one-third of first-year students indicate that their combined parental income is less than $50,000 and yet another one-third indicate a combined income between $75000 and $150,000.  Between 50 and 60 percent of students graduate from MSU within six years, suggesting that most of the remaining students do not complete their degrees, though perhaps they do complete them elsewhere (these retention rates are typical for state universities like MSU).  

Thirty percent of incoming first-year students indicated that they received As in high school, and fully 86 percent indicated they received Bs or better.  Yet 84 percent spent 5 or fewer hours doing homework each week.

All of our students, if asked, will tell you about troubles with parking, housing, or registering for classes; for many of them, being a fairly anonymous student at an institution serving 16,000 students is a new experience.  There is little you can do but sympathize, and interestingly, much of the issues around "adjustment" are really being addressed these days, in a required course for all first-year students, "New Student Seminar."  This course, just one-credit in length, is really devoted to helping students adjust to MSU life; it has been developed in response to data that such courses improve student retention.

The majority of first-year students are not only enrolled in "The New Student Experience," but they are also part of a Learning Experience cohort in which a group of students are enrolled in two or three courses, thus giving students a chance to get to know each other better.  As well, this may mean you have a group of 19 that have the same intended major or career most typically. 

All statistical information came from MSU’s Office of Institutional Research: http://www.montclair.edu/pages/InstResearch/index.htm
Isaacs, June 2007