Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania College Portrait

Learn More

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

Student Learning at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania

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 faculty, staff and administration of Bloomsburg University are engaged in learning outcomes assessment on a daily basis. Academic departments carry out learning outcomes assessments for all academic programs, including direct, indirect and course-embedded assessments. In addition, the institution routinely gathers data to determine the overall success of the academic enterprise. The ETS Proficiency Profile is used for learning outcomes assessment on an institution-wide basis. Comparison of freshmen and senior value-added performance data on the ETS Proficiency Profile show gains in reading, writing, and mathematics. Gains in Critical Thinking were not significant. ETS Major Field Tests are administered by several academic programs. The university also monitors the success of its graduates through surveys of employers and graduate schools. The most recent data shows that 85.5 percent of the students who graduated in December 2008, May 2009 and August 2009 were placed in jobs or graduate school by Spring 2010. Our graduates continued to do well in a tough economic climate, even with the slight decline in percentage employed/continuing their education (

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.

2009-10 Results from the ETS Proficiency Profile (formerly MAPP)

The ETS Proficiency Profile (formerly MAPP) measures critical thinking, analytic reasoning, and written communication and reports separate scores on critical thinking and written communication.

Test Administration Process

Test Information

Critical Thinking Results for First-time, Full-time Students

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

Freshman Score: 109
Senior Score: 113
ETS score range: 100 to 130

Average SAT scores for tested students
Freshman Score: 999
Senior Score: 999

Written Communication Results for First-time, Full-time Students