Institutional Research and Academic Planning
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.
Summary metrics can be found in the Student Success chapter of the UC Accountability Report (Chapter 3).
Interactive data dashboards can be explored at the UC Information Center's Undergraduate outcomes subject area.
Undergraduate outcomes content and analysis is separated into the four categories below:
- Undergraduate student experience
- Persistence and graduation rates
- Degrees awarded
- Outcomes
Undergraduate student experience
Nonbinary student experiences at UC
UC Information CenterThe analyses in this report examine the comparative experiences of students disaggregated by gender across a variety of areas including climate, financial security, mentorship, mental health, and academic outcomes. Additional analyses examine nonbinary students specifically, examining what factors may contribute to their resilience or serve as a barrier to their academic success and mental health.
Extracurricular participation and student success PDF
September 2023UC 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.
AI Use at UC – UCUES results PDF
October 2024The 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.
Student basic needs
UC Information CenterThis dashboard provides information on basic needs and illustrates the relationship between food insecurity and/or homelessness to student learning, engagement, satisfaction, and outcomes.
Parenting students' experience and challenges at UC PDF
February 2019This 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 2017UC 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 PDF
December 2016This 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.
UC undergraduate student research, expectations, experience and aspirations
UC Information CenterUC provides a rich environment for student research. Undergraduate students are engaged in various research activities and their post-graduation aspirations align with pursuing research.
Persistence and graduation rates
UC student success dashboards
UC Information CenterUC campus and systemwide dashboards, including data on retention, graduation, time-to-degree, and academic major migration.
UC undergraduate non-completion PDF
October 2021This 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.
Undergraduate retention and graduation rates
UC Information CenterExplore freshman and transfer retention and graduation rates, time-to-degree, graduation GPA, and units by campus, entry cohort, and demographic.
Three-year degree pathways project PDF
August 2017The 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.
Degrees awarded
UC undergraduate alumni outcomes
UC Information CenterUC awards tens of thousands of bachelor degrees annually. These degree recipients go on to work in a wide variety of industries. On average, they experience a doubling of salary between 2 and 10 years after graduation. The return on investment is strong for most degrees.
STEM degree pipeline and production Link
UC Information CenterDegree recipients from the University of California’s (UC) science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs go on to conduct valuable scientific research and drive the state’s and the nation’s technology and innovation sectors. The Degrees awarded topic brief summarizes the number of UC STEM degrees awarded, UC’s share of STEM degrees awarded in the state and nation, post-graduation workforce industries, and racial/ethnic demographics.
Outcomes
UC undergraduate advising needs: A comparison between transfer and freshman entrants PDF
April 2025This 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 PDF
December 2024This presentation summarizes insights and key findings from UCUES administrations, 2006 – 2024.
UC 2030: Equity is excellence PDF
May 2024Equity 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 webpageThe 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.
Undergraduate foster youth at the University of California PDF
July 2020This 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 undergraduate alumni outcomes
UC Information CenterUC awards tens of thousands of bachelor degrees annually. These degree recipients go on to work in a wide variety of industries. On average, they experience a doubling of salary between 2 and 10 years after graduation. The return on investment is strong for most degrees.
UC alumni graduate degree outcomes
UC Information CenterRecent data confirms that a UC education enables students to achieve their graduate degree completion objectives. Nearly 40 percent of UC undergraduate alumni go on to complete a graduate degree within 15 years of graduating from UC.
UC and comparator Pell recipient graduation rates
UC Information CenterUC campuses compare favorably in both the share of Pell grant recipients and six-year graduation rates when considering American Association of Universities (AAU) peers, California State University (CSU) campuses and a selection of other large state university systems.
UC's student veteran community PDF
March 2020This 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 PDF
August 2019The 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 PDF
March 2019Data 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.
Undergraduate Experience Survey (UCUES) summary data
UC Information CenterThis dashboard presents summary results of student responses to UCUES by student demographics. UC uses results to better understand the academic and co-curricular experiences of students, assist with program evaluations, assess financial aid packages, and understand campus climate.
2016 Summer sessions pilot outcomes PDF
July 2017In 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.
Advising strategies to support timely graduation PDF
December 2015The 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 PDF
February 2015UC 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.
IRAP experts and requests for additional information
IRAP experts: undergraduate outcomes
Tongshan Chang | Chris Furgiuele | Matt Reed | Yang Yang
Requests and information