Survey Highlights
UTEP is committed to providing an excellent education and high-quality services to its students.
Among other sources of information and data, UTEP uses surveys to gather information about the experiences and perspectives of UTEP students to help monitor progress toward achieving institutional goals. Surveys also yield information about the exceptional characteristics of UTEP students. The following are brief descriptions of these surveys as well as highlights of key findings.
New Student Survey (NSS)
All new first-time and transfer students are invited to complete the New Student Survey. Questions allow faculty, staff, and advisors to learn more about the strengths, expectations, needs, and interests of our students. Highlights from the Fall 2019 NSS show:
90% of respondents ranked UTEP as their first or second choice university when they applied for admission.
44% of respondents indicate that they are comfortable speaking both English and Spanish
Graduating Senior Survey (GSS)
Graduating seniors are invited to complete this survey during the fall, spring, and summer semesters. A key purpose of the GSS is to assess students’ perceptions of the knowledge and skills they acquired at UTEP. Highlights of the 2018-19 GSS show:
96% of respondents reported that UTEP contributed to their ability to think critically
92% of respondents reported that UTEP contributed to their ability to write clearly and effectively
93% of respondents reported that UTEP contributed to their ability to work effectively with others
National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)
The NSSE is an annual survey of first-year and senior students that examines the degree to which students engage in effective educational practices that are provided by institutions and are associated with positive outcomes, including learning, personal development, persistence, and graduation.
High-Impact Practices
The NSSE measures first-year and senior students’ participation in High-Impact Practices, which are positively associated with student learning. These activities include: learning communities, service-learning, research with faculty, internships, study abroad, and culminating senior experiences.
On the 2019 NSSE, 69% of first-year students at UTEP reported participating in at least one High-Impact Practice, and
80% of UTEP seniors participated in at least one High-Impact Practice
Higher-order Learning
Higher-order Learning measured on the NSSE is an indicator of Academic Challenge. This indicator captures how much a student’s coursework involves challenging cognitive tasks such as application, analysis, judgment, and synthesis.
On the 2019 NSSE, both first-year and senior students at UTEP reported that their coursework frequently emphasized applying facts, theories, or methods to practical problems or new situations, analysis, evaluation, and/or forming new ideas or understandings at levels that were significantly higher compared with students in other Carnegie Class R1 institutions and their U.S. peers nationwide who completed the 2019 NSSE.
Collaborative Learning
Collaborative Learning is a NSSE indicator of Learning with Peers. This indicator captures students’ development of interpersonal skills and social competencies that will prepare them for the kinds of complex and unstructured problems they will encounter during and after college.
On the 2019 NSSE, both first-year and senior students at UTEP reported that they frequently worked with other students on projects and assignments, explained course material to other students, or asked for help from another student at levels that were significantly higher compared with students in other Carnegie Class R1 institutions and their U.S. peers nationwide who completed the 2019 NSSE.