Academic Outcomes

CSHE Research Cited in EdSource Amid UC Standardized Testing Debate

June 10, 2026

As the University of California Academic Senate deliberates whether to recommend reinstating standardized testing for freshman applicants, research from the Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE) is playing a central role in the systemwide conversation.

A recent EdSource report, "UC freshmen increasingly are not ready for college math. Some professors want to require the SAT again," highlights a sharp division among UC faculty. While over 1,400 STEM faculty members have signed an open letter advocating for the return of the SAT/ACT to gauge math readiness, opponents of high-...

Study Finds Widespread Generative AI Use Among College Students, Signaling Urgent Need for Discipline-Specific Assessment Reform

May 20, 2026

BERKELEY, CA — A new study led by Igor Chirikov, a senior researcher at UC Berkeley’s Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE) reveals that two-thirds of undergraduates at major U.S. public research universities utilized generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) during the 2023–2024 academic year. Both AI adoption and AI-assisted misconduct vary dramatically depending on the student's academic field.

The paper, titled "...

In the News: ROPS Paper Featured in Education Week

June 1, 2026

Our recent ROPS article Broadening Our Perspective Concerning America’s Education Attainment: Growth, Progress, and Data Gaps, by Michael Kirst and Victor Chan, was featured in Education Week. The media coverage dives deep into the findings on American educational attainment.

While the dominant public narrative often points to a "learning recession" based strictly on K-12 standardized test scores, this research looks more broadly at youth ages 15–25...

Executive Summary. Staying Enrolled in CalFresh Helps Community College Students Stay in School

Igor Chirikov
Jesse Rothstein
2026

Nearly half of California community college students report struggling with food insecurity. SNAP food benefits (known as CalFresh in California) can help reduce student hunger. Alleviating hunger among students should lead to improved educational outcomes, but rigorous research on this topic remains scarce. Our recent study (The Impact of Nutrition Assistance on College Student Success) helps to close that gap, using a compelling matching design with...

CSHE Senior Researcher Igor Chirikov Featured on KCRA 3 to Discuss CalFresh and College Success

May 11, 2026

CSHE senior researcher Igor Chirikov was recently interviewed by KCRA 3 News to discuss the findings of his study linking food security to higher education success.

The segment highlights a new working paper co-authored by Igor Chirikov and Jesse Rothstein. The study, The Impact of Nutrition Assistance on College Student Success, offers some of the most precise data to date on how California's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—known as CalFresh—directly impacts academic outcomes.

By evaluating similar student profiles, the...

CalFresh Benefits Help Students Succeed in College, New Study Finds

May 4, 2026

Berkeley, May 4, 2026 – Community college students who receive CalFresh during their first year of college are more likely to stay on track academically and return for a second year, according to a new working paper from the California Policy Lab and the Center for Studies in Higher Education.

The research finds that students who maintained CalFresh benefits throughout their first year were more likely to complete a full-time course load (30 or more credits) and more likely to enroll...

Broadening Our Perspective Concerning America's Education Attainment: Growth, Progress, and Data Gaps. CSHE 2. 26 (April 2026)

Kirst, Michael
Chan, Victor
2026

Our research demonstrates that the current narrative of education stagnancy or decline is misleading. We focus on ages 15–25 and find a pattern of growth and progress in Advanced Placement, dual enrollment (i.e., combining high school and college), four-year colleges/universities growth and completion, apprenticeships, certificates, and credentials. Together, these elements significantly increase the number of years U.S. students spend in education and their attainment. Just as importantly, however, our analysis identifies where current research and data infrastructure fall short. While...

New ROPS Report Challenges Return to SAT

September 30, 2025

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New UC Berkeley Report Challenges Return to SAT: Calls for Public Universities to Double Down on Public Mission

Berkeley, CA – September 30, 2025 — As a number of elite “Ivy-Plus” universities have reinstated SAT and ACT requirements, a new research report by Saul Geiser, Senior Associate at UC Berkeley’s Center...

How Instructors Regulate AI in College: Evidence from 31,000 Course Syllabi

Igor Chirikov
2026

The way instructorssupport or restrictstudent use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools shapeswhich skills students developin collegeand their preparation for AIaugmented jobs. This paper introduces a taskbased approach toAI and skill formationtostudy...

New Study of 31,000 College Syllabi Shows Faculty Warming to AI in the Classroom

February 3, 2026

BERKELEY, CA — As generative artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes the classroom, a new study from the Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE) provides novel large-scale longitudinal evidence of how faculty are responding.

The working paper, “How Instructors Regulate AI in College: Evidence from 31,000 Course Syllabi,” authored by Igor Chirikov, Senior Researcher and the SERU Consortium Director, tracks the evolution of AI policies at a major public research university from 2021 to 2025. Using computational methods to analyze tens of thousands of course syllabi, the research...