Undergraduate
Financial Literacy Surveys
Fall
2006 and Fall 2007
This pre- post-survey experiment, conducted in fall 2006 and fall 2007 on behalf
of the UVa Financial Aid Office, asked questions to undergraduate recipients of Pell Grants. All Pell recipients at UVa were surveyed.
In fall 2006, out of a total of 233 in the population, 182 responded, for a response
rate of 78%. The questionnaire asked about the students' knowledge
and behavior regarding their personal finances and was part of a
study to assess the financial management education component of
AccessUVa. The same population will be surveyed with the same instrument in fall 2007 to assess the impact of training
on budgeting, credit cards and interpretation of credit reports
by the Office of Student Financial Services (SFS). One randomly assigned group of Pell recipients received the training in fall 2006 and another group received no training. The objective will be
to determine the financial management skills and knowledge of both
groups as well as to provide SFS with feedback
to be considered in developing a larger scale training program for incoming
Pell Grant recipients. Other surveys designed to measure the effectiveness of
AccessUVa have been conducted as well. For more information about
those results, click here.
Data
Reports
Questionnaire and Codebook (abridged version)
Methodology
Data
(Stored in IAS Data
Catalog)
Frequencies
Overall (.pdf)
Fall 2006
Fall 2007
Text Comments
Text
comments (.pdf)
Fall 2006
Fall 2007
Other
responses (.pdf)
Fall 2006
Fall 2007
Summary Tables
Comparison betwen groups' answers to knowledge questions (.pdf)
Reports
Supplement to the 2007 AccessUVa Survey's Report: Financial Literacy Surveys
Methodology
Fall 2006
The
survey population was all 233 entering Pell grant recipients.
On
August 28, 2006, 233 undergraduate Pell recipients were sent personalized
letters signed by the Associate Director of the Institutional and Assessment Studies Office, Jonathan Schnyer. The
letter informed them of the importance and general purposes of
the survey, assured them of confidentiality, and invited them
to participate. Both groups of respondents were not aware of the connection between the survey and SFS' training sessions. The survey was conducted entirely over the web.
Respondents were tracked via an alphanumeric randomized respondent
key. Three email reminders were sent to nonrespondents, on September
1, 8, and 14. Lotteries were
conducted as incentives for respondents, who were eligible
to participate in a series of lotteries for two $250 gift certificates from the UVa bookstore.
When
the field period ended on September 18, 2006, a total of 182 students
had responded to this survey for a response rate of 78%. At a
95% confidence level, the overall sampling error for the survey
was ± 3.5%. Sampling error would be higher for subgroup
breakdowns of the data, and for cases where not all respondents answered a
question.
Sampling
error assumes a random (representative) sample. Analysis was
conducted to determine whether respondents differed from nonrespondents
in important known characteristics such as domicile, gender, ethnic
background and intended program of study. Overall, respondents
looked similar to the population.
Fall 2007
The survey population was the same as in 2006, that is the 233 Pell Grant recipients who entered UVa in 2006.
On October 1st, 2007, 233 undergraduate Pell recipients were sent personalized
letters signed by the Associate Director of the Institutional and Assessment Studies Office, Jonathan Schnyer. The
letter informed them of the importance and general purposes of
the survey, assured them of confidentiality, and invited them
to participate. Both groups of respondents were not aware of the connection between the survey and SFS' training sessions. The survey was conducted entirely over the web.
Respondents were tracked via an alphanumeric randomized respondent
key. Four email reminders were sent to nonrespondents, on October
10, 24, November 7, and 21. Lotteries were
conducted as incentives for respondents, who were eligible
to participate in a series of lotteries for two $250 gift certificates from the UVa bookstore.
When
the field period ended on November 30, 2007, a total of 145 students
had responded to this survey for a response rate of 62%. At a
95% confidence level, the overall sampling error for the survey
was ± 5%. Sampling error would be higher for subgroup
breakdowns of the data, and for cases where not all respondents answered a
question.
Sampling
error assumes a random (representative) sample. Analysis was
conducted to determine whether respondents differed from nonrespondents
in important known characteristics such as domicile, gender, ethnic
background and intended program of study. Overall, respondents
looked similar to the population.
Questions regarding the administration of the survey,
the questionnaire, or the results can be directed to Jonathan Schnyer,
Associate Director and Assessment Coordinator, Office of Institutional
Assessment and Studies, P.O. Box 400427, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4727
(telephone: 434/924-3417 or schnyer@virginia.edu).
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