Florida State University College Portrait

Learn More

Students
Find out more about the characteristics of students who attend FSU.
Admissions
See how many students applied, accepted, and enrolled at FSU. Learn more about students’ high school preparation and test scores.
College Costs & Financial Aid
Learn about costs to attend FSU and how much financial aid is typically awarded.
College Cost Estimator
Estimate your cost to attend FSU in a few simple steps.
Classes and Campus Life
Learn more about professors, where students live, and campus safety at FSU.
Student Experiences
Discover ways to be actively involved in your education at FSU – inside and outside the classroom.
Majors, Graduation and Next Steps
See which majors are most popular at FSU and what recent graduates plan to do after earning their bachelor's degree.
Student Success & Progress
Discover how many students who start at FSU 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 FSU.

Student Learning at Florida State University

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.

The State Board of Governors has directed each university to develop Academic Learning Compacts for each baccalaureate degree program. A State University System Academic Learning Compact (SMALC) is comprised of the identification, for each academic Bachelor's program, of what it is that students will have learned by the end of the program, and how that learning will be measured above and beyond course grades. A Compact must include the core learning expectations in the areas of Communication, Critical Thinking Skills and Content/Discipline knowledge and skills. It also must identify the corresponding assessments used to determine how well student learning matches those articulated expectations.

Learning Assessment Examples

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.

2007-11 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: 1108
Senior Score: 1250
CLA score range: 400 to no maximum score.

Average EEA scores for tested students
Freshman Score: 1184
Senior Score: 1188

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: 1053
Senior Score: 1216
CLA score range: 400 to no maximum score.