Student computer ownership increases

A survey of UW–Madison students finds a substantial increase in computer ownership, especially among undergraduates.

The survey, conducted by the Division of Information Technology (DoIT), also found nearly 90 percent of students are satisfied or very satisfied with the computing resources the University provides, a figure that has remained steady for the past two years.

View the report

Between February and May DoIT conducted its seventh annual student survey in an ongoing effort to determine student awareness and use of UW computing services, and to gauge demand for new and existing services.

Overall student computer ownership increased from 65 percent last year to 77 percent this year. Much of this increase was attributable to first- and second-year undergraduate students, who reported large jumps in computer ownership. Windows 95/98 continues to secure its place as the dominant operating systems on owned computers; 81 percent of students use Windows 95/98 on their computers, compared with 59 percent last year.

The number of hours students spend connected to the Internet also rose this year. Students estimated that they spent an average 14 hours per week connected to the Internet during the fall semester, almost double the figure they cited last year.

This figure is strongly influenced by a small but growing number of “power users” who are connected 15 or more hours per week. Twenty-six percent of students spent 15 or more hours per week connected, compared to 12 percent for the 1998 academic year.

Of the 2,000 students who received the questionnaires, 685 completed and returned them. The survey’s margin of error is plus or minus 3.7 percentage points. To get the full report, visit: http://www.wisc.edu/doit/research/99student/trends/