Page Description

The following page is a two column layout. Page sections are identified with headers. The footer contains update and contact information.

Learn More

  • Students

    Find out more about the characteristics of students who attend Chico.

  • Admissions

    See how many students applied, accepted, and enrolled at Chico. Learn more about students’ high school preparation and test scores.

  • College Costs & Financial Aid

    Learn about costs to attend Chico and how much financial aid is typically awarded.

  • College Cost Estimator

    Estimate your cost to attend Chico in a few simple steps.

  • Classes and Campus Life

    Learn more about professors, where students live, and campus safety at Chico.

  • Student Experiences

    Discover ways to be actively involved in your education at Chico – inside and outside the classroom.

  • Majors, Graduation and Next Steps

    See which majors are most popular at Chico and what recent graduates plan to do after earning their bachelor's degree.

  • Student Success & Progress

    Discover how many students who start at Chico finish their bachelor's degree and how long it takes.

  • Student Learning Outcomes

    Figure out what learning gains to expect in critical thinking, writing, and other important subjects at Chico.

  • Public Good

Student Learning at California State University, Chico

All colleges and universities use multiple approaches to measure student learning. Many of these are specific to particular disciplines, many are coordinated with accrediting agencies, and many are based on outcomes after students have graduated.

Assessing student learning outcomes is an important and ongoing process to ensure that CSU, Chico continues to create and maintain high-quality learning environments. Each degree program has student learning outcomes published with their Program Portfolios under the Academic Program Review website. Every degree program undergoes a program review every five years with a significant part of this review being the assessment of student achievement of the program's learning outcomes. Several degree programs are evaluated by outside professional accrediting agencies that have rigorous student learning outcomes standards. Each degree program also is required to complete an annual update on the progress of assessing student learning outcomes made during the past year. In addition, assessment of student learning outcomes is a major part of the regional accreditation of the university by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) that occurs every 7 to 10 years. Direct and indirect assessment of student learning outcomes is used to continually improve student learning and improve the curriculum.

Learning Assessment Examples

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Pilot Project to Measure Core Learning Outcomes

Colleges and universities participating in the College Portrait measure the typical improvement in students' abilities to think, reason, and write using one of three tests. This is part of a pilot project to better understand and compare what students learn between their freshman and senior years at different colleges and universities.

2008-09 Results from the Collegiate Learning Assessment

The Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) measures critical thinking, analytic reasoning, problem solving, and written communication using a performance task and an analytic writing task. The scores from the tasks are reported separately below.

Test Administration Process

Test Information

Performance Task Results for First-time, Full-time Students

The increase in learning on the performance task is well above what would be expected at an institution testing students of similar academic abilities.

Freshman Score: 1026
Senior Score: 1274
CLA score range: 400 to no maximum score.

Average EEA scores for tested students
Freshman Score: 1043
Senior Score: 1097

Analytic Writing Task Results for First-time, Full-time Students

The increase in learning on the analytic writing task is well above what would be expected at an institution testing students of similar academic abilities.

Freshman Score: 1031
Senior Score: 1228
CLA score range: 400 to no maximum score.

Average EEA scores for tested students
Freshman Score: 1027
Senior Score: 1096

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