Undergraduate Education

Students are doing worse than you think

June 25, 2026

In this article, The Economist looked at international trends with declining math skills and falling levels of literacy for undergraduates.” A major question for colleges and universities is not just how they will respond to a growing pool of underprepared applicants, but whether they are themselves prepared to continue enforcing high expectations.” The college grading system is central to these concerns.

The Economist cited a recent study by Igor Chirikov, Senior researcher at the Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE), on the effect of AI. “He found the number of top marks...

LA Times Article: Trust in colleges decaying over AI cheating

June 14, 2026

The LA Times interviewed CSHE Senior Researcher, Igor Chirikov, who co-led a large study of undergraduate AI use. The article in the LA Times, "Inside college AI cheating wars: extreme surveillance, false accusations, jarring confusion," addresses the prevalence of the technology in the classroom.

To access the research paper:

https://www.science....

UC Berkeley News Interview with Igor Chirikov

May 21, 2026

UC Berkeley News interviewed Senior Researcher, Igor Chirikov about his study on AI use and misuse by undergraduate students.

This study of generative AI use by undergraduates was published in Science on May 21, 2026.

CalFresh Participation Among California’s College Students: A 2020–21 School Year Update

Henderson, Jamila
Hogg, Jennifer
Hoover, Sarah
Lacoe, Johanna
Perez, Alan
Rothstein, Jesse
2023

Food insecurity is widespread among college students in the United States. CalFresh food benefits, known federally as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, can help students in California pay for food, but may not reach all eligible students. To better measure student participation in CalFresh, the California Policy Lab (CPL) partners with the California Community College system (CCC), the University of...

New Forbes Report Featuring SERU Multi-Engagement Findings

April 24, 2025

A new Forbes report, authored by Bryan Penprase (Vice President for Sponsored Research & External Academic Relations, Soka University of America) featured the latest findings from the SERU Multi-Engagement Report.

Use and Users of Digital Resources: A Focus on Undergraduate Education in the Humanities and Social Sciences, by Diane Harley, Jonathan Henke, Shannon Lawrence, Ian Miller, Irene Perciali, and David Nasatir

Diane Harley
Jonathan Henke
Shannon Lawrence
Ian Miller
Irene Perciali
David Nasatir
2006

A “build it and they will come” approach to many university digitization initiatives has precluded systematic investigations of the demand for these resources. Those who fund and develop digital resources have identified the general lack of knowledge about the level and quality of their use in educational settings as pressing concerns. The purpose of our research was to map the universe of digital resources available to undergraduate educators in a subset of users in the humanities and social sciences (H/SS), and to examine how understanding use and users can benefit the integration of...

BEYOND THE MASTER PLAN: The Case for Restructuring Baccalaureate Education in California

Saul Geiser
Richard C. Atkinson
2010

Although a stunning success in many ways, California’s 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education has been a conspicuous failure in one respect: California ranks near the bottom of the states in the proportion of its college-age population that attains a baccalaureate degree. California’s poor record of B.A. attainment is an unforeseen consequence of the Master Plan’s restrictions on access to 4-year baccalaureate institutions. In a cost-cutting move, the framers of the Master Plan restricted eligibility for admission to the University of California and the state colleges (later the...

THE EFFECT OF PRE-COLLEGE EXTRACURRICULAR PARTICIPATION ON FIRST-YEAR COLLEGE ENGAGEMENT AND COMPLETION by Tongshan Chang, UCOP CSHE 6.17 (April 2017)

Tongshan Chang
2017

This study examines how student pre-college participation in extracurricular activities and volunteer and community services varies by demographic and academic variables, and how their experience participating in these activities affects first-year college engagement and learning outcomes. The analysis focuses on students at the University of California’s (UC) nine undergraduate campuses and is based on the self-reported data that compares their high school experience with their first year experience at UC. Students differ significantly in their participation in precollege activities...

PORTRAIT OF THE DISENGAGED

Steven G. Brint
Allison M. Cantwell
2012

The topic of undergraduate academic engagement has been a matter of intense inquiry for more than a generation. This paper examines the other side of the coin: the size and characteristics of academically disengaged populations. Drawing on classic sociological work on conformity and deviance, we theorize four dimensions of student academic disengagement: values disengagement, behavioral disengagement, alternative involvement, and interactional disengagement. Using survey data, we estimate the size of disengaged populations along each of these dimensions and the characteristics of...

Minority Undergraduate Programs Intended to Increase Participation in Biomedical Careers

Anne MacLachlan
2012

This article reviews a selection of undergraduate programs intended to increase successful minority participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics majors, potentially leading to biomedical careers. The object is to examine their structure, consider how well they address the issues of the target population, and assess the extent to which they have met/meet their goals. As a means of conducting this review, the first step is to examine the concepts used as the building blocks for program design. These concepts are found in a shared, yet often undefined, vocabulary...