IRAP collaborates with the Undergraduate Education and Institutional Research departments on campuses to assess undergraduate student experience and learning outcomes, and provide decision support on factors influencing graduation rates, trends in degrees awarded, and outcomes.


Undergraduate outcomes content and analysis is separated into the four categories below:

  1. Data dashboards and summary metrics (Link directly to the UC Information Center and UC Accountability report, respectively.)
  2. Undergraduate student experience
  3. Persistence and graduation rates
  4. Outcomes

Data dashboards and summary metrics

Undergraduate outcomes dashboards Link

UC Information Center

Explore UC data within the Undergraduate outcomes subject area at the UC Information Center.

Undergraduate student success: chapter 3 Link

UC Accountability report

Summary metrics on UC undergraduate student success can be found in chapter 3 of the UC accountability report.

Teaching and Learning: chapter 8 Link

UC Accountability report

Summary metrics on Teaching and Learning can be found in chapter 8 of the UC accountability report.

Undergraduate student experience

AI Use at UC – UCUES results October 2024 PDF

October 2024

The 2024 UC Undergraduate Student Experience Survey (UCUES) included several questions related to AI to assess the extent of AI tool usage among undergraduate students at UC campuses and to evaluate their understanding of guidelines for AI use in supporting learning.

Extracurricular participation and student success September 2023 PDF

September 2023

UC provides a variety of extra-curricular activities for undergraduate students. This report provides information on the influence of participation in these activities on student academic outcomes.

Undergraduate voter participation and campus political climate at the University of California May 2020 PDF

May 2020

A topic brief exploring undergraduate voter registration and participation and their connection to the undergraduate experience on UC campuses.

Parenting students' experience and challenges at UC February 2019 PDF

February 2019

This topic brief provides a profile of undergraduate and graduate parenting students at the University of California. It examines their financial concerns, academic and social experiences and challenges, as well as their success at UC, by using responses from the University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey (UCUES) and the Graduate Wellbeing Survey (GWS).

Global food initiative: Food and housing security at the University of California PDF

December 2017

UC is dedicated to ensuring the success of its more than 260,000 undergraduate and graduate students. This report provides information on the university’s latest data collection efforts and strategies for addressing basic needs security.

Adaptive learning technology pilot report December 2016 PDF

December 2016

This document presents a 2015-16 pilot study at the University of California exploring the use of adaptive learning technology, in this case the Assessment and Learning Knowledge Spaces (ALEKS) system, to enhance student success and improve instruction.

Persistence and graduation rates

UC goals for 2030 Link

UC webpage

UC’s 2030 goals are driving bold, equity-centered change across our campuses to better serve California students.

IRAP's UC 2030 equity goals community of practice Link

UC undergraduate non-completion October 2021 PDF

October 2021

This report provides some insight on students who start their undergraduate education at UC and do not complete their degree at UC and sometimes not at all. Non-completion and completion at other institutions is compared across selected social demographics.

Three-year degree pathways project August 2017 PDF

August 2017

The University of California seeks to enable all students to complete their undergraduate degrees in a timely fashion and to ensure that their education prepares them to be the next generation of leaders for California, the nation, and the world.

Bridging the gap: Increasing retention rates for female engineers in the UC system March 2017 PDF

March 2017

An analysis of the systemwide performance in engineering retention at the undergraduate level by gender, identifying programs and policies that have shown to increase the rate of retention for female students.

UC undergraduate college completion: using unit-taking strategies to improve graduation rates April 2015 PDF

April 2015

This project addresses the association between the number of units an undergraduate takes and their time to graduation.

Outcomes

UC undergraduate advising needs: A comparison between transfer and freshman entrants April 2025 PDF

April 2025

This topic brief compares responses to the new 2024 UCUES advising questions among transfer and lower-division and upper-division freshman entrants to better understand transfer students’ advising needs.

Undergraduate engagement, satisfaction, and challenges at the University of California December 2024 PDF

December 2024

This presentation summarizes insights and key findings from UCUES administrations, 2006 – 2024.

UC 2030: Equity is excellence May 2024 PDF

May 2024

Equity is at the center of our UC 2030 goals. Learn more about strategies being deployed across the system to reach our goals and about the data tools that inform our work. This report offers an in-depth view of strategies in action and is accompanied by two quick reference appendices with campus profiles and tools in use across the system.

Understanding the value of a UC degree

IRAP webpage

The UC Office of the President’s Institutional Research and Academic Planning (IRAP) department has developed a series of topic briefs that identify specific indicators, both economic and non-economic, to more comprehensively demonstrate a college degree’s impact on students and the broader public.

What is the value of a UC degree for on-the-fence students? An evaluation of the 2001-2011 UC eligibility in the local context program January 2023 PDF

January 2023

This brief evaluates the University of California's 2001-2011 Eligibility in the Local Context (ELC) program, which provided UC admissions advantages to California high school students in the top four percent of their class by GPA.

Major restrictions, socioeconomic stratification, and student success October 2022 PDF

October 2022

This report analyzes the equity implications of GPA-based major restrictions, which are commonly used to limit access to impacted majors.

Undergraduate foster youth at the University of California July 2020 PDF

July 2020

This topic brief summarizes enrollment trends, demographic characteristics, graduation rates, satisfaction with undergraduate experiences, basic needs, and post-graduation employment outcomes for UC undergraduate foster youth.

UC's student veteran community March 2020 PDF

March 2020

This topic brief summarizes student veteran enrollment trends, demographic characteristics, fields of study, graduation outcomes, satisfaction with undergraduate experiences, and post-graduation employment trajectories.

California K-12 teachers educated at the University of California August 2019 PDF

August 2019

The University of California awards more than 70,000 degrees per year, including 55,000 undergraduate degrees and 15,000 graduate academic and professional degrees. As these graduate leave UC and enter the California workforce, a growing number are joining California's K-12 educational system.

UC continues to lead in serving low-income undergraduates March 2019 PDF

March 2019

Data from U.S. Department of Education show that UC is unique in its commitment to enrolling and graduating Pell Grant recipients when compared to AAU private and public universities.

2016 Summer sessions pilot outcomes July 2017 PDF

July 2017

In 2016, three UC campuses piloted initiatives that included financial incentives with the goal of increasing the enrollment of UC undergraduate students in the summer. This report presents the results of those pilots.

What's it worth? April 2017 PDF

April 2017

A multi-faceted approach to measuring the value of undergraduate humanities degrees at the University of California

Advising strategies to support timely graduation December 2015 PDF

December 2015

The University of California seeks to enable all students to complete their undergraduate degree in a timely fashion and to ensure that their education prepares them to be the next generation of leaders for California, the nation, and the world.

UC innovations in education are improving student outcomes February 2015 PDF

February 2015

UC is leveraging technology to promote student success. In January 2015, UC campuses came together to discuss strategies to increase student success at the Undergraduate Completions Conference.