Program Student Learning Outcomes (PSLO) Assessment

About UK PSLO Assessment

Program-Level Student Learning Outcomes (PSLOs) describe the knowledge, skills, abilities, and professional competencies that students are expected to demonstrate upon completion of an academic program.

PSLO assessment is the process of gathering and reviewing evidence of student learning to better understand how well students are achieving program goals and to identify opportunities for continuous improvement. At the University of Kentucky, PSLO assessment focuses on improving student learning, strengthening academic programs, and supporting a culture of evidence-informed decision making.

Assessment is not intended to evaluate individual students or faculty members. Rather, it provides programs with meaningful information about student learning and helps guide curricular and instructional improvements.

UK PSLO Assessment Overview Video

Watch the video for an overview of UK PSLO Assessment and its role in student learning.

Integrating Kentucky's 10 Essential Skills into UK PSLO Assessment

The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) has identified 10 Essential Skills that Kentucky graduates should develop through their college experience, including communication, critical and creative thinking, quantitative reasoning, information literacy, collaboration and teamwork, professionalism, knowledge application, civic engagement, interpersonal relations, and adaptability and leadership.

All Bachelor’s degree and undergraduate certificate programs are encouraged to consider how their PSLOs support the development of one or more of the Essential Skills. Aligning PSLOs with the Essential Skills can help programs create stronger connections between disciplinary learning, professional preparation, and student success. The Essential Skills framework may also assist programs when developing, reviewing, or revising student learning outcomes, assessment measures, and rubrics.

This visual guide illustrates how PSLOs, 10 Essential Skills, curriculum mapping, and student skill development work together within a coherent learning framework. It highlights how programs can map opportunities for students to develop these broader competencies over time.

File

from-pslo-to-essential-skills.pdf
(109.2 KB)

Why Do We Assess PSLO?

Measure Student Learning: Provide evidence of student achievement of program-level student learning outcomes.

Support Continuous Improvement: Use assessment results to strengthen curricula, teaching practices, learning experiences, and program effectiveness.

Promote Alignment and Coherence: Ensure a shared understanding of learning expectations across courses, faculty, and assessment activities within a program.

Inform Decision-Making: Use assessment evidence to guide program planning, curricular revisions, accreditation efforts, and other improvement initiatives.

Demonstrate Accountability: Document student learning and support institutional, state, and accreditation expectations.

What It's Not: The purpose is not to evaluate individual students, faculty members, or courses. Assessment focuses on understanding and improving student learning at the program level.

UK PSLO Assessment Process

Need assistance planning and implementing PSLO assessment?

Download PSLO Assessment Plan and Report Templates:	UK PSLO Assessment Plan and Report Templates
Refer to the PDF Guide of Creating a Plan to Assess Your Program:	Creating a Plan to Assess Your Program
Watch the Video on UK PSLO Assessment Best Practices:

Ready to Get Started?

The PSLO Assessment SharePoint is a resource hub that provides everything needed to support program-level student learning outcomes assessment, including templates, reporting tools, sample plans and reports, rubrics, FAQs, instructional videos, and best practice resources.

Faculty and program leaders can access assessment dashboards, submit required materials, manage program workspaces, and find resources to support assessment planning, implementation, and continuous improvement.

Don't have access? Please request access to the PSLO Assessment SharePoint workspace here.

UK PSLO Assessment SharePoint Entry

Sharepoint SIte