Curricular Satisfaction Levels of NATA Accredited Post-Professional Athletic Training Graduates

The purpose of this study was to examine the overall satisfaction levels of recent graduates (2005 - 2006) of NATA-Accredited Post-Professional Graduate Athletic Training Education Programs as related to the 2002 Standards and Guidelines for Graduate Education. An electronic survey was developed by the researchers to gather demographic data about the subjects, and to assess their level of satisfaction with various curricular areas of their graduate program using a combination of open and closed-ended questions. A listing of the names of the graduates of the twelve programs from May 2005-May 2006 was generated, and these subjects were emailed a letter which contained a link to the online survey. The overall number of survey recipients was 21 1 and 123 surveys were returned, yielding a 58.29% response rate. Descriptive and frequency statistics were gathered for each question to dete1mine patterns in demographics and open-ended questions. ANOVAs and Independent T-Tests were used to determine any differences in satisfaction areas in relation to gender, length of program, time between undergraduate and graduate degree programs, and time taken to complete their graduate degree requirements. Results revealed that there were no overall differences in satisfaction in any of the ten standard areas between genders, length of program, and if the student took time off from school between their undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Results demonstrated that students who took more than the allotted amount of time to complete their graduate degree requirements were significantly less-satisfied in the areas of depth of learning, breadth of learning, instructor availability, writing, and overall program satisfaction. Our research has concluded that graduates are generally satisfied across all the areas of their graduate education, as it relates to their didactic curriculum. Student satisfaction and program evaluation are useful means of evaluating the efficacy of a program, and because limited research has been conducted in Post Professional Graduate Athletic Training Education, it was important for the authors to determine if programs have been able to accurately convey the information that it intends to its students. Future studies should focus on reform and updates in graduate education standards.