UC Undergraduate Experience Survey

What is the survey about?

The University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey is about being a student at UC Santa Cruz – your academic work, access to classes, satisfaction with advising and campus services, and future plans.  Your responses help improve student life by giving important feedback that is used to help improve academic programs and student services.  This survey takes place at every general University of California campus, and is conducted only once every 2 years.

Prizes in 2024 included more than 100 different gift cards!

See the prize winners for the 2024 survey!  Drawings were held throughout spring quarter.  Students who completed the survey were entered into drawings for more than one hundred giftcards that could be used for a mix of local Santa Cruz shops and nationally available businesses. Prizes included:

• Downtown Dollars ($10, $30, and $100), which can be used at many local restaurants and shops in downtown Santa Cruz!
• Bookshop Santa Cruz gift cards ($30 to $100)!
• Amazon gift cards ($50 to $100)!
• Apple gift cards ($50 to $100)!
  

Completing the survey early increases the chances of winning a prize!  Drawings were held in appreciation of students' time and as an incentive for participation.  Students selected in a prize drawing would receive an email from surveys@ucsc.edu.

Survey results are used throughout campus:

1. The survey is an important way for students to provide feedback to faculty, campus leaders, and student services about what is working well and what should be changed.  It is the only comprehensive campus-wide student survey that allows students to provide feedback on the quality of academic experience, used in formal evaluations of each major.  See the many survey results from past years.
2. Survey results help faculty and staff understand trends in the student experience.  Results have been used to evaluate major curriculum, teaching practices, advising, student programs, campus services, and the climate for inclusion and belonging on campus.  The survey has been run since 2006.
3. This survey is designed especially for University of California students and allows comparative analysis of UC Santa Cruz and other UC campuses. Across the University of California system, over 50,000 students participate each year of the survey.

Responses are confidential and secured:

Your responses are reported only in the aggregate or in a way that is not personally identifiable.  Additional measures are also in place to ensure the security of survey response data.  For more information, please see the Institutional Research, Analytics, and Planning Support Surveys Privacy and Confidentiality Policy.

For questions or technical support:

Please write to the Student Surveys Team at surveys@ucsc.edu.