Undergraduate Senior Survey

Every two years, MIT administers a Senior Survey during the spring semester. All undergraduate seniors are invited to answer. The on-line survey asks students to describe their plans after college, to rate their satisfaction with various aspects of their education, to indicate how their abilities changed since enrolling at MIT, and how they financed their education.

Recent Findings (2002-2012 Senior Survey Trends)

• Over 80% of respondents have consistently indicated that they were generally satisfied or very satisfied with the following areas between 2002 and 2012: Overall quality of instruction; Out-of-class availability of faculty; Opportunities to participate in research with a faculty member; Availability of academic support and assistance; Availability of courses you wanted to take outside your major.
• Respondents tended to be least satisfied with academic advising before declaring a major. The percentage of respondents who were generally satisfied or very satisfied ranged from 54% to 65% between 2002 and 2012.
• On average, satisfaction with all of the campus services and facilities asked about on the survey increased between 2002 and 2012.
• Athletic and recreational facilities showed the greatest increase in satisfaction during this period. The percentage of respondents who were generally satisfied or very satisfied increased from 53% in 2002 to 96% in 2012. The year of the biggest increase was in 2004 when the percentage of respondents generally or very satisfied increased to 93% from 53% in the previous year.
  
• The sense of community on campus showed the greatest increase in satisfaction between 2002 and 2012. The percentage of respondents who were generally satisfied or very satisfied increased from 45% in 2002 to 70% in 2012.
• Satisfaction with social life on campus also showed a notable increase from 62% in 2002 to 81% in 2012.
• The percentage of respondents who said that they would probably or definitely encourage a high school senior resembling them to attend MIT increased from 68% in 2002 to 81% in 2012.
• Attending graduate or professional school full-time or part-time in the fall declined from 51% of respondents in 2002 to 39% of respondents in 2012.
• Read more in the 2002-2012 Survey Highlights.

Other Senior Surveys
The MIT Careers Office asks all graduating students to complete a survey at the end of the spring semester to learn about post graduation plans, including where MIT graduates work and pursue graduate study, salaries, and other career-related topics. The School of Engineering administers the EBI Engineering Exit Survey to all engineering seniors every two years to understand satisfaction with quality of instruction, coursework, advising, skill development, major design experience, course comparisons, and plans after graduation.