University of Kentucky College Portrait
University of KentuckyLexington, KY 40506
859-257-9000
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- Students
Find out more about the characteristics of students who attend UK.
- Admissions
See how many students applied, accepted, and enrolled at UK. Learn more about students’ high school preparation and test scores.
- College Costs & Financial Aid
Learn about costs to attend UK and how much financial aid is typically awarded.
- College Cost Estimator
Estimate your cost to attend UK in a few simple steps.
- Classes and Campus Life
Learn more about professors, where students live, and campus safety at UK.
- Student Experiences
Discover ways to be actively involved in your education at UK – inside and outside the classroom.
- Majors, Graduation and Next Steps
See which majors are most popular at UK and what recent graduates plan to do after earning their bachelor's degree.
- Student Success & Progress
Discover how many students who start at UK 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 UK.
Student Learning at University of Kentucky
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.
UK is committed to assessing what students know and can do with the education they receive. Assessment of student learning outcomes occurs at multiple levels. Faculty assess student learning at both the course and program levels where techniques such as the use of rubrics to evaluate samples of student performance are employed. University level assessments obtain performance and satisfaction data from students to provide multiple perspectives on the quality of student learning and the environment for learning. As examples, results from the Collegiate Learning Assessment show that UK seniors perform better than expected on a series of performance tasks, given their incoming academic preparation; the Graduating Seniors Survey reveals that 9 of 10 students rate the quality of instruction by faculty as good or excellent; and over 75% of respondents to the Undergraduate Alumni Survey indicated their current position was either directly or somewhat related to their majors. Key findings from these and other surveys can be found at: http://www.uky.edu/IRPE/students/surveys.html.
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.
- 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 what would be expected at an institution testing students of similar academic abilities.
Freshman Score: 1201
Senior Score: 1317
CLA score range: 400 to no maximum score.
Average EEA scores for tested students
Freshman Score: 1171
Senior Score: 1202
Analytic Writing Task Results for First-time, Full-time Students
The increase in learning on the analytic writing task is above what would be expected at an institution testing students of similar academic abilities.
Freshman Score: 1123
Senior Score: 1248
CLA score range: 400 to no maximum score.
Average EEA scores for tested students
Freshman Score: 1173
Senior Score: 1179