UDLA recognizes the need to prepare lifelong learners who develop knowledge and skills in classroom settings and deepen learning through experiences beyond those walls, as well as communicate and collaborate across cultures in an increasingly competitive world. For these reasons, assessment is essential to guide, empower, and integrate student learning. Assessment is not an isolated activity or merely the evaluation of student work, but a means to encourage active engagement in learning, especially through reflection, and a tool to measure the effectiveness of the university’s programs, curricula, and teaching-learning processes. Thus, the principal objective of assessment is to support the learning process of each student and stimulate meaningful learning, academic achievement, and personal growth, aligned with established institutional and program learning outcomes.
UDLA’s institutional learning outcomes form both the foundation for all teaching and learning activities and the framework for initiatives that contribute to students’ overall development. These outcomes are linked to the university’s mission of forming “capable, enterprising individuals with an international perspective and a firm commitment to society, based on ethical principles and values,” as well as to the core competencies specified by WSCUC and other transversal learning outcomes.
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Demonstrates the ability to evaluate claims and make decisions based on evidence, logical reasoning, and accurate estimations, enabling the development of goals, arguments, and effective actions to achieve a defined purpose. | ![]() |
Develops problem-solving proposals through creative thinking, using analogies, heuristics, and the ability to manage projects effectively. |
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Integrates principles from the learning sciences, leadership, emotional intelligence, and human behavior to engage effectively within social systems and achieve individual and team goals, while actively challenging conformity. | ![]() |
Integrates systems thinking and ethical, personal, and professional principles to participate responsibly and with self-regulation across diverse environments. |
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Communicates ideas clearly and effectively through critical analysis of communication, using strategies that incorporate appropriate sources and adapt to the context and audience. |
UDLA implements an assessment cycle approach to capture evidence of student learning and drive continuous improvement systematically. The following key components support this process:
Assessment Cycle. Adapted from Driscoll & Wood, 2007.
Demographic Data: Institutional headcount totals the number of students enrolled yearly and a breakdown by men and women. Enrollment by ethnicity presents data on the most representative ethnic groups of the university.
Student Completion:
Retention and graduation rates are calculated through the 2020-2021 academic year based on new, first-time students entering in the fall semester. These rates do not consider incoming transfer students. Retention rates are calculated in 1 and 2 years.
Graduation rates are calculated on a 5-year, 6-year and 7.5-year graduation rate. The percentage of graduates in each cohort by gender considers only actual graduates, not the original makeup cohort.
Scholarship information: Information is divided by the type of scholarship granted.
Geographic Data: Presents the composition of the university’s student body.
Add'l. Demogr. Data: Includes information on marital status, disability and first-generation students.