Insights and Highlights
The 2025 UCLA Senior Survey was administered to 7,091 graduating seniors across six of nine undergraduate degree-granting schools and academic divisions, including: the School of Arts & Architecture, College of Letters & Science, School of Education & Information Studies, Herb Alpert School of Music, Luskin School of Public Affairs, School of Theater, Film and Television. All together, these schools represented more than 85% of all undergraduates.
Overall Satisfaction
Graduating seniors report high overall satisfaction with their undergraduate experience with an average rating of 3.32 out of 4 across the university. Satisfaction remains well above the midpoint of the scale across all divisions, indicating broad approval of the undergraduate experience.
Major Satisfaction
Graduating seniors report strong satisfaction with their academic majors with an average rating of 3.13 out of 4 across the university. Results indicate major satisfaction is consistently high across disciplines with somewhat higher ratings in smaller, more structured academic programs.
Skills Development
Graduating seniors report their UCLA experience has substantially contributed to their skill development with an average rating of 3.23 out of 4 across a broad set of academic, personal, and interpersonal competencies. Skills acquired include critical thinking, communication, creativity, ethical reasoning, leadership, self-management, and openness to new ideas. Results indicate that students across all divisions perceive meaningful growth in key skills, with particularly strong outcomes in smaller academic environments.
Experiential Learning
Internship participation among graduating seniors is more common than research engagement, with 57.2% of students report completing one or more internships. On average, students report completing 1.23 internships, with a median of 1.0 internship.
Meanwhile, participation in faculty-led research among graduating seniors remains relatively limited, with an overall participation rate of 9.2%.
GenAI Usage
While GenAI use is widespread, most graduating seniors report only occasional engagement with GenAI tools. Approximately 73% report using GenAI overall, and 33.6% note using the technology several times per year or per month, suggesting exploratory or task-specific use rather than routine integration into coursework. Additionally, 65% of seniors viewed GenAI as more helpful than harmful for learning, while 35% disagreed, indicating mixed but generally positive perceptions.
The distribution of student GenAI use included: Never (27.3%), Several times per year (25.4%), Several Times per Month (24.6%), Several times per week (16.4%), andDaily (4.2%)
Learn more about GenAI use and perspectives
Opportunities for Teaching and Learning
Taken together, the 2025 Senior Survey reflects a stable, academically strong undergraduate experience characterized by high satisfaction, meaningful skill development, and strong instructional support—particularly from teaching assistants.
Building on these strengths, areas for continued strategic investment include:
Strengthening faculty-student engagement in large courses
Lower faculty support ratings relative to those of TAs suggest that students in high-enrollment courses experience limited direct interaction with faculty. Encouraging scalable faculty engagement strategies such as structured office hours, short feedback mechanisms, or technology-supported communication practices may help improve faculty support without disproportionately increasing faculty workload.
TLC Resources to help address this finding
Efficient Assessments and Grading
Using Gradescope to Deliver Assessments and Grade Efficiently
Related Articles
Learning Pods Model Promotes Student Engagement in High-Enrollment Courses
Scholarly Teaching Seminar Brings Personalized Learning Insights to Large Lectures
Enhancing major-level advising and curricular coherence
The survey results offer valuable insight into student experiences to inform departmental and program-level discussions about curriculum design, advising, instructional support, and learning outcomes. Encouraging units to engage with their own data and identify targeted improvements may help sustain high satisfaction while addressing areas of variability.
TLC Resources to help address this finding
Leveraging Self-Reflection to Improve your Teaching
Leveraging mid-quarter student feedback to improve your teaching
Mid-Quarter Surveys: Best Practices and Sample Questions
Mid-Quarter Student Survey Guide
Classroom Observation for Instructors
Related Articles
TLC Seminar Series Brings Educational Innovation Experts to Campus
Expanding equitable access to research and internships
While internships and research are associated with strong student engagement and satisfaction, access remains uneven across divisions. UCLA may benefit from expanding structured pathways to experiential learning through programs such as course-based research, internship-for-credit models, and cross-campus partnership, particularly for high-enrollment majors where these opportunities may be more limited.
TLC Resources to help address this finding
Active Learning Teaching Guide
Read about a community-engaged course supported by the TLC
Related Articles
Honors Students’ Courthouse Visit Highlights Experiential Learning Outcomes
CUTF Course on LA Housing Guides Students Through Research on Policy Solutions
Providing structured guidance on GenAI use
GenAI tools are now common in students’ academic environments, though use remains largely occasional and discipline-specific. Clear, course-level guidance on appropriate and ethical GenAI use paired with instructional support on how it might enhance learning can help students develop responsible, effective academic practices.
TLC Resources to help address this finding
Creating a Generative AI Policy for your Course
How and Why to Talk to Students about GenAI
Generative AI for Teaching and Learning
Related Articles
TLC Committee Advises on AI’s Impacts to Teaching and Learning
Supporting explicit articulation of skills development
Graduating seniors report strong gains in critical thinking, communication, and personal development skills, particularly in smaller and applied academic programs. Sharing effective pedagogical practices across divisions such as project-based learning, collaborative assignments, and reflective assessments could help ensure more consistent skill development across large, high-enrollment majors.
TLC Resources to help address this finding
Fostering and Sustaining Student Belonging
Calibrating Your Classroom for Critical Discourse
Related Articles
Learning Pods Model Promotes Student Engagement in High-Enrollment Courses
New Public Health Course Spotlights Community-Engaged Learning