The Record sent its biannual approval ratings survey to 500 randomly selected students last week. Respondents indicated their approval, disapproval, or neutrality towards 24 campus entities, including Dining Services, the faculty, and the Record.
The survey received 171 responses — a response rate of approximately 34 percent. First-years and seniors each accounted for about 29 percent of respondents, while sophomores accounted for 26 percent and juniors for 16 percent. Off-cycle students were asked to round their class years down.
Based on the survey results, the College faculty saw the highest approval rating, while the Facilitators for Allocating Student Taxes (FAST) received the most disapproval from students.
Like many of its peer institutions, the College has been grappling with the increasing use of generative artificial intelligence on campus. In October, a Record survey found that 77 percent of students use AI. In the approval ratings survey, 55 percent of respondents indicated concern about the prevalence of AI use for completing coursework. Twenty-eight percent of students said they do not feel worried about AI use at the College.
Sixty-five percent of respondents self-identified as white, a higher proportion than the 43 percent reported in the College’s 2024-2025 Common Data Set (CDS). Twenty-two percent of respondents identified as Asian or Asian American, ten percentage points higher than the CDS reported. Ten percent of respondents self-identified as African American or Black, four points higher than the number given in the CDS. Unlike the College’s CDS report, the Record’s survey allowed respondents to identify with multiple racial categories.
The respondents’ genders broadly reflected the College’s reported gender breakdown. Fifty percent of respondents self-identified as female, 45 percent as male, and 2 percent as non-binary. The remaining respondents preferred not to identify their gender. By comparison, the CDS reported 52 percent female students, 46 percent male students, and 2 percent non-binary or another gender identity. Fifty-seven percent of respondents indicated they receive financial aid from the College, four percentage points higher than reported in the CDS. Nine percent of respondents were international students, and 16 percent of respondents identified as Hispanic or Latino/a/x.
This semester, a string of bias incidents have targeted students of color — perpetrated both by fellow students and drivers on local roads. In the survey, 23 percent of respondents felt that the College did not offer sufficient support for students of color this semester. Another 23 percent of respondents indicated the opposite view — that the College offered sufficient support — marking an increase from the 18 percent that held this belief last spring. The remaining 54 percent of respondents indicated neutrality.
The faculty received the highest rating among all entities surveyed, as it has since 2018, with 89 percent of respondents indicating approval. The College overall received a 70 percent approval rating, up four percentage points from last spring, with 10 percent of respondents indicating disapproval, and the remaining students indicating neutrality.
Campus Safety Services (CSS), Dining Services, and President Maud S. Mandel also received high approval ratings. CSS received 77 percent approval, up 13 points from last spring. Sixty-five percent of respondents reported approval of Dining Services, and Mandel’s approval rating totaled 56 percent, up seven points from the spring.
Respondents most disapproved of FAST, with a third of respondents indicating disapproval of the organization, up from about a quarter last fall. A quarter of responding students also indicated disapproval of the Health Center.
In light of the Trump administration’s combative stance toward higher education, which Mandel has described as an “assault,” the Record asked respondents to indicate their approval of the College’s reaction to the administration’s policies. Down from 58 percent in the spring, 42 percent of respondents said they approved of the College’s response to policies by the Trump administration, while 41 percent indicated neutrality and 17 percent disapproved.
At 55 percent, respondents were mostly neutral about the College’s new On The Log initiative, which aims to facilitate critical dialogue across a variety of subjects throughout the year. Thirty-four percent approved and 11 percent disapproved of the initiative.
