Student Opinion Survey
HLC conducts surveys of student opinion to inform peer review teams visiting institutions as part of comprehensive evaluations. The results are intended to help the peer review team identify possible questions for its meetings with faculty, staff and students during the visit.
The student opinion survey supports HLC’s efforts to make the accreditation process more open and transparent. It will allow all students, rather than just students who happen to be on campus at the time of a visit, to voice opinions on questions important to them.
HLC will aggregate the data and remove any identifying information of faculty, staff and students, with the exception of the institution’s chief executive officer, from the written responses. A report of the survey results will be provided to the team and the institution prior to the visit.
Please note: The survey and its results are to provide students with an opportunity to participate in the accreditation process and to inform the peer review team. HLC will not use the results for ranking or comparison and will not publish them.
Survey Timeline
Three months prior to the month of the scheduled visit:
An email is sent to all institutions with a comprehensive evaluation visit scheduled. The email will notify the institution of the requirement and include a link to the policy and procedural information, as well as a link to the student survey with specific dates for when the link should be shared with the students (the open date) and when the survey will close. If the institution will not be in session during the survey window, HLC will work with the institution to modify the survey dates accordingly.
Two months prior to the month of the scheduled visit:
On the date that HLC has specified for distribution, institutions share the survey with all students via email and any additional methods of distribution. A reminder email must be sent at least four days later. The survey will remain open for 10 days.
One month prior to the month of the scheduled visit:
HLC provides the survey results to the institution via email. Peer review team members will access the survey results in the Assurance System as part of the Evidence File.
Exceptions for institutions with visits in September, October and February:
Institutions with visits in September or October will be asked to conduct their survey in April. Institutions with visits scheduled in February will be asked to conduct their survey in November. This ensures that surveys are conducted at a time when students are likely to be in session. These institutions will still receive the survey report at least one month prior to the scheduled visit.
