Student Experience Survey
The Penn State Student Experience Survey is an ongoing effort to obtain feedback from undergraduate students across all University campuses in a systematic way. Students are asked about their experiences in a variety of contexts, including the degree to which Penn State has helped them improve upon a number of skills. Understanding the student experience and level of satisfaction informs decisions that will make Penn State a more student-centered University. As such, the survey results serve as a diagnostic tool to improve our programs and services.
The Student Experience Survey was administered in 2017 and 2014. Its predecessor, the Student Satisfaction Survey, was administered in 2010, 2007, 2004, and 2002.
The survey is administered on a three-year cycle. Results of the 2017 are below, and the next administration will be in 2020.
2017 Student Experience Survey
The Student Experience Survey was administered to students at all Penn State campuses in March 2017. Based on the feedback received, SARA created the Student Engagement Report, which focuses on the data surrounding students’ cocurricular/academic engagement and experiences at Penn State. For the purposes of reporting, Penn State campuses are grouped into the following three categories: University Park (UP), Campus Colleges (CC), and University College (UC).
Results from the survey reveal the following:
- Cocurricular Engagement
- Approximately 67% to 96% of students participated in cocurricular activities (clubs or organizations, campus or University committees, political activities); these percentages increased from 2014 to 2017.
- Clubs or organizations continue to be the most popular activity across all campus types.
- Working for Pay
- When on- and off-campus work is combined to determine the total percentage of students working for pay on and/or off campus, the results indicate that more students work at least one hour a week at the commonwealth campuses (CC and UC) for both 2014 and 2017 administrations.
- Students who work for pay across all campuses reported that they felt a higher level of interpersonal and intrapersonal skills.
- Athletics
- Fitness activities and club/intramural sports were the two most popular athletic/fitness activity choices among students for all campus types.
- Academic Engagement
- Having increased since 2014 at all campus types, the number of hours spent studying or doing homework outside of class in a typical week is 20.2 for UP students (17.9 in 2014), 17.5 for CC students (15.2 in 2014), and 15.3 for UC students (13.9 in 2014).
- Most students reported that they do not skip any classes in a typical week (67.7% at UP, 78.4% at CC, and 80.1% at UC).
Survey Instrument - View or download this document for the list of questions asked on the survey.
Survey Report on Student Engagement – View or download this document for a summary report of the sections of the survey that focused on student engagement.
2014 Student Experience Survey
Survey Instrument – View or download this document for the list of questions asked on the survey.
Survey Report on Student Engagement – View or download this document for a summary report of the sections of the survey that focused on student engagement.
2002-2010 Student Satisfaction Survey
Please contact Student Affairs Research and Assessment staff (see the contact on this page) for copies of the Student Satisfaction Survey instruments or reports.