Gallup Survey Shows N.C. A&T Alumni Lead UNC System in Enthusiasm for Alma Mater

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (May 23, 2019) – Alumni of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University are more likely to recommend N.C. A&T to family and friends and more strongly attached to their alma mater than alumni of any other campus polled in the University of North Carolina System, results from a new Gallup survey show.

When asked, “On a scale of 0 to 10 where 0 means you are not at all likely and 10 means you are extremely likely, how likely is it that you would recommend A&T to family, friends, or colleagues,” 84 percent of N.C. A&T alumni respondents replied “10,” while 10 percent more indicated 9 or 8.

On questions that Gallup considers indicative of alumni attachment, such as “A&T was the perfect school for people like me” and “I can’t imagine a world without A&T,” respondents showed the highest level of attachment – 65 percent – of any UNC System campus surveyed. Gallup’s national alumni database shows only 20 percent of alumni are attached to their colleges or universities.

The findings are good news for the nation’s largest historically black university, as well as one of North Carolina’s top three public research universities. It has produced more than 70,000 alumni over the past 128 years, and graduates more African American engineers and agricultural science majors each year than any university in the nation. It is also rated the country’s no. 1 public HBCU by U.S. News & World Report.

“These results give definition to something we’ve known for a great many years -- there has always been something special about the educational experience and environment at North Carolina A&T,” said Chancellor Harold L. Martin Sr. “Even so, it was gratifying to see that 99 percent of our alumni respondents said that if they had to do it all over again, they would still obtain their bachelor’s degree, and 96 percent would attend A&T.”

As part of its survey of alumni across the UNC System, Gallup contacted 2,718 N.C. A&T alumni. The survey was conducted Nov. 15, 2018 through Feb. 1, 2019, and yielded a total of 77,695 completions from undergraduate alums who graduated from UNC campuses between 1940 and 2018.

Other findings of note for N.C. A&T included:

• Asked to respond to the statement, “My education from A&T was worth the cost” on a 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) scale, 75 percent answered with a 5, and another 17 percent with a 4.
• On the same scale, 85 percent of respondents replied with a 5 or 4 to the statement, “My professors at A&T cared about me as a person,” and 94 percent with a 5 or 4 to the statement, “I had at least one professor at A&T who made me excited about learning.”
• In assessing their lives since graduation, 95 percent of respondents described themselves as “satisfied” with their personal lives today.
• While respondents graduated from a wide range of academic programs with a diverse list of career possibilities, 64 percent said they currently hold “professional” positions, while another 16 percent described their positions as “managerial.” A total of 62 percent indicated total household income, before taxes, of at least $90,000 and as high as $240,000 or more per year.

“These findings paint a picture of an Aggie Nation that is thriving and that has great affection for our university,” said N.C. A&T Associate Vice Chancellor for Alumni Relations Teresa M. Davis. “We see that manifest in the many thousands of alumni who return each year for our nationally renowned homecoming celebration and in the generosity that so many of our alumni are showing in the Campaign for North Carolina A&T.

“ ‘Aggie Pride’ is more than just a slogan you hear called out wherever Aggies get together, it’s a sentiment that comes from our hearts.”