Preparing for Higher Education Studies: Survey of Bachelor Level Students, January - May, 2017

The purpose of the study: to investigate the attitude of bachelor students towards higher education maturity and to identify the factors influencing the quality of higher education maturity in Lithuania.
Major investigated questions: respondents were asked in which degree program they were currently studying and entered the current degree program by which choice. The reasons for choosing higher education were asked. Respondents were asked what form of degree they were studying and why they chose that form of degree. Respondents were asked if they had entered higher education immediately after leaving school. Those who took a break were asked to give reasons why. All respondents were then asked if it was easy to choose a course, how much they wanted to study it and how they felt when they found out they had taken up the course. After a block of questions, wanted to find out what was important in their choice of degree. It was asked if they had thought about choosing one of the engineering or technical courses when they entered university. Those respondents who had not thought about such a study option were asked to indicate the reasons for such a decision. All respondents were asked what was most important in their final decision about where and what to study. Further, they were asked what type of school they finished secondary education in and where they finished it. It was clarified whether he had participated in at least one Olympiad in the 11th to 12th grade of secondary school, vocational school or in the 3rd to 4th grade of high school. It was also asked whether he had ever repeated a school course (left for a second year) and how many subjects were taken at a higher level in the last school year. It was further asked how much time was spent on average doing homework each day and how many books the respondent's family had at home during the school year. It was asked what language of instruction the school used, whether any siblings were studying, and whether the family was receiving assistance from the city welfare office at the time of entry into secondary school. It was asked whether the schools had at least one tutor in the last school year to help prepare for the exams. Respondents were asked two sets of questions to assess the learning environment in the completed school and their efforts in preparing for studies. It was explained what was the approximate yearly average grade in school and what are the most important components of study preparation in order to study in a university. After a block of questions, they were asked to assess their own college readiness and that of the group students and how they felt they were ready for college compared to the group students. The aim was to find out whether it was important to study with very good grades and whether they felt "in their own sled" when studying in their current course. After a block of questions, they were asked what they would do differently to be better prepared for university. They were asked how they filled in the application in the system LAMA BPO and whether they heard about the possibility of receiving state support (scholarship, loan, grant, compensation, etc.) for students studying in non-state funded places (VNF) in Lithuanian HEIs. Those who know about such a possibility were asked what kind of state support students studying at VNF places can apply for. They were asked what financial difficulties they would have faced if the respondent had accepted the VNF place. It was clarified whether he had taken out a student loan to study. Those who had not taken out a loan were asked to answer for what reasons they did not plan to do so. Looking ahead, all respondents were asked if they planned to continue studying after graduation, and if so, they were asked to indicate their degree, field of study, and college education. After a block of questions, respondents were asked to explain why they wanted to continue their studies at master's level, and they were asked to rate their readiness for this study in general. Furthermore, respondents assessed the current situation in general education and higher education and expressed their opinion on current and planned changes in higher education. It was asked whether the motivation of first-year students should be assessed when entering a higher education institution and how it should be assessed. The aim was to find out if respondents' motivation is assessed when they enter their current course of study and whether this helps to select the most motivated students. Furthermore, the aim was to clarify how admission to a humanities degree should be made and what the minimum score for a state matriculation examination should be in order for graduates to be admitted to a university. Finally, it was asked who should receive public funding for the degree.
Socio-demographic characteristics: age, gender, education, living in dormitory, average of last session ratings, travel abroad while studying, work status, number of hours worked per week, reason for working, work-study affiliations, parental (guardian) education, parental (guardian) financial situation in last year of school, income, legal status of college, city where college is located.