The #RealCollege™ Survey database offers information on the #RealCollege experience with a particular focus on student basic needs. The surveys cover the following topics:
- Food insecurity
- Housing insecurity
- Homelessness
- COVID-19 experiences
- Emergency aid
- Employment
- Mental health
- Stress, anxiety, and depression
- Disabilities or medical conditions
- LGBTQ+ students
- Parenting students
- Race/ethnicity
- Financial trauma
- Criminal justice system experience
- Foster system experience
- Undocumented students
- International students
- Immigration
- First-generation college students
- Student athletes
- Use of federal or state resources (i.e., SNAP)
- Use of on-campus or community resources
- Transportation needs
Since its inception, the #RealCollege™ Survey has been administered at more than 530 colleges and universities and taken by more than 550,000 students. From 2015 to 2020, the survey was fielded at participating colleges and universities in the fall semester. These responses combine to create a cross-sectional dataset with many opportunities for research.
Below is a summary of participating institutions and student respondents.
Note: The #RealCollege™ Survey was not fielded at four-year colleges in 2015 and 2016.
Please note that institutions’ names and identifiable student information are not available in the database. All members of the Collaborative will be required to access the database using Stata. Applicants who are unfamiliar with Stata should apply. We will send you a short skills assessment to determine what supports you will need to successfully access the database using Stata.
In addition to access to the #RealCollege™ database, members of the Collaborative will work closely with Hope Center leaders, including:
- Sara Goldrick-Rab, President and Founder
- Christine Baker-Smith, Executive Director
- Vanessa Coca, Director of Research
- Paula Umaña, Director of Institutional Transformation
- Carrie Welton, Director of Policy and Advocacy
- Kallie Clark, Senior Research Associate
- Japbir Gill, Senior Research Associate
For more details on the #RealCollege™ Survey instrument, please email [email protected].