The library gets many questions from our researchers regarding SPSS. HCU no longer has a campus-wide license to the software. The Library learned about a freeware package called PSPP (letter reversal of SPSS). We asked for the opinion of several professors who specialize in math and analytics and they give it a thumbs up. Their web site says, "GNU PSPP is a program for statistical analysis of sampled data. It is a free (as in freedom) replacement for the proprietary program SPSS, and appears very similar to it with a few exceptions."
They also say, "PSPP is a stable and reliable application. It can perform descriptive statistics, T-tests, anova, linear and logistic regression, measures of association, cluster analysis, reliability and factor analysis, non-parametric tests and more. Its backend is designed to perform its analyses as fast as possible, regardless of the size of the input data. You can use PSPP with its graphical interface or the more traditional syntax commands." Another big question pertains to data compatibility between the two programs. PSPP clearly states, "Syntax and data files which are compatible with those of SPSS."
When everyone is trying to manage tight budgets, we don't think students will the switch from SPSS to PSPP.
Disclaimer: Neither the library nor HCU ITS provide technical support for PSPP.