Introduction
The University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey (UCUES) is a biennial survey conducted at UC’s nine undergraduate campuses. It provides valuable information about student behaviors such as their use of time working, studying, socializing, and participating in campus activities; their level of academic engagement such as how much course material they read, classroom participation, and collaborative learning; their self-ratings of academic and interpersonal skills; and their involvement in community service. Results are used to better understand the academic and co-curricular experiences of students, assist with program evaluations, assess financial aid packages, and understand campus climate.
The data tables present summary results of student responses to UCUES by survey administration year, survey topics, and various student demographics. It provides the frequency and percentage of students who respond to each survey question. The longitudinal dashboard compares responses to the same questions across seven administrations.
For more information about UCUES survey, please visit IRAP's survey services website.
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Longitudinal Comparisons Dashboard
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Definitions and Data Sources
Gender identity: Indicates whether a student is female or male, as reported in UC’s spring term enrollment data. Winter or fall term data is used if spring data is not available.
First generation: Indicates that neither parent of a student has a four-year college degree.
New Generation (New Gen): Students who are first generation, Pell recipients, and/or from underrepresented groups (African American, American Indian, Hispanic/Latino(a)).
Race/ethnicity: Identifies a student’s race/ethnicity in one of seven categories (i.e., African American, American Indian, Hispanic/Latino(a), Asian, White, International, or Unknown) based on UC’s spring term enrollment data. Winter or fall term data is used if spring data is not available.
Residency: Identifies a student’s residency status in one of four categories (i.e., CA resident, Non-CA resident, Foreign/International, or Unknown) for fee purposes based on UC’s spring term enrollment data. Winter or fall term data is used if spring data is not available. Campus data is used when systemwide enrollment data is not available.
Pell Grant: An indicator showing whether a student received a Pell Grant during the academic year in which the student took the survey.
First language: Indicates a student’s first language spoken at home as reported on the UC application for admission.
Student level: Indicates a student level or academic status in one of the five categories (i.e., freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, or other) based on UC’s spring term enrollment data. Winter or fall term data is used if spring data is not available.
Discipline: Identifies a student’s discipline in one of the following categories; Arts, Engineering/Computer Sciences, Health Professionals & Clinical Sciences, Humanities, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences/Math, Professional Fields, Social Sciences/Psychology, or Undeclared/All others/Unknown, based on UC’s spring term enrollment data. Winter or fall term data is used if spring data is not available.
Notes
- As the instrument has changed over the years, survey questions and their order in the instrument across administrations may be different. For comparison purposes, survey responses were grouped and presented by topic (i.e. academic engagement, time allocation, campus climate, etc.) following UCUES 2016 structure.
- Overall, UCUES systemwide response rates range from 35 percent to 45 percent over the years. However, they vary across campuses and student characteristics. It is important to note that highly aggregated data may not fully represent responses of all campuses and student groups. To better understand student experience, users are recommended to explore the data by campus, administration year, and student characteristics, as students at different campuses may have different experiences.
- The dashboard shows a distribution of responses to each survey item. When interpreting results, especially by student characteristic, please keep in mind that statistical tests were not conducted to determine significant differences.
- As some survey items come from different modules and/or respondents may skip some questions/items, the total number of respondents can vary from item to item.
- Percentages may not sum up to 100 percent due to rounding.
- Items with less than 10 valid responses to an item or a question will not be displayed.
- If no respondent selected a particular answer choice, a blank will appear instead of a zero for the response.