Graduate School Surveys
Each year the Graduate School administers three web-based surveys--the Doctoral Exit Survey, the Masters Exit Survey, and the Doctoral Student Experience Survey. The first two exit surveys collect information from graduate students completing their degrees at UW-Madison, while the third survey collects information from doctoral students transitioning to the dissertator stage of their program. All three surveys solicit feedback on students' academic experiences (e.g. program quality, support, advising), and gather information on post-degree career plans. Survey data are used internally by the Graduate School to help inform policy review and development. Data are also regularly shared with graduate degree programs in the form of summary data reports to support program assessment and review efforts.
Doctoral Exit Survey (DES)
The Doctoral Exit Survey is administered to all graduating Ph.D. students as a required component of degree processing and conferral. Graduates must complete the DES prior to submitting their dissertation electronically to the Graduate School. More detailed information and a link to the survey can be found on the doctoral degree completion page of the Graduate School website.The current version of the Doctoral Exit Survey Questionnaire has been used by the Graduate School since Fall, 2015. Each spring the Graduate School provides Ph.D. program administrators an aggregated summary report of exit survey data collected from program graduates over the prior three academic years. To maintain student confidentiality, reports are only provided when a program has a minimum of five graduates over the prior three academic years.
A visualization of DES data from the past five academic years can be viewed by those with a university NetID. To access the visualization, click on the following link:
Masters Exit Survey (MES)
The current version of the Master's Exit Survey Questionnaire can be found here. Starting in the 2020-21 academic year, the Graduate School will provide master's program administrators an aggregated summary report of exit survey data collected from program graduates. To maintain student confidentiality, reports will only provided when a program has a minimum of five graduates.
*Students in the Library and
Information Studies MA program, and the School of Business full-time,
evening, and executive MBA programs do not participate in the Master's Exit Survey and are exempted from the survey requirement.
Doctoral Student Experience Survey (DSES)
The Doctoral Student Experience Survey is administered to all Ph.D. students at the preliminary examination stage as a required step to move on to dissertator status. The survey covers career aspirations, academic experiences, and academic challenges, among other topics. Ph.D. students who have been issued a preliminary examination warrant by the Graduate School receive an email with DSES survey instructions and a link to the survey. Students are required to complete the DSES prior to submitting their signed degree warrant to the Graduate School. More information and a link to the survey can be found on the preliminary examination page of the Graduate School website.The current version of the Doctoral Student Experience Survey Questionnaire can be found here. Starting in the 2020-21 academic year, the Graduate School will provide Ph.D. program administrators an aggregated summary report of DSES data collected from students in the program. To maintain student confidentiality, reports will only provided when a program has a minimum of five graduates.
Programs can contact the Graduate School with any survey-related questions or requests by sending an email to exitsurveys@grad.wisc.edu.