- Systematic administrative uses
- UCUES responses about the academic experience in the major are reported each year to each department for its majors. The results are also analyzed in detail by the Financial Policy and Institutional Research Team for academic program review, the periodic in-depth evaluation of every instructional program. Students are asked to rate how satisfied they are with such aspects of their major as instruction by faculty and graduate student teaching assistants, advising, equitable treatment by faculty, and the availability and quality of courses. These responses are also compared to other majors and to prior years' data to examine trends over time. UCUES data have helped shift academic program review from a predominant focus on faculty and graduate students to one of increasing attention to the undergraduate experience.
- UCUES results regularly inform the decisions of administrators in everyday situations, from answering specific questions (for example, what percentage of students are employed off campus or how many hours undergraduates study per week) to providing a more complete and nuanced picture of the everyday experience of a diverse population of undergraduates.
- UCUES responses are a key component of the UC system's public accountability initiative, which is akin to the Voluntary System of Accountability template proposed by AASCU and APLU (formerly NASULGC).
- Non-routine administrative uses
- Evaluating specific student programs, such as the Fall Program for Freshmen and the Incentive Awards Program; Transfer, Re-entry, and Student Parent Center; and the Professional Development Program.
- Simple reporting of topics of interest to campus constituents (such as participation in Education Abroad Program and other study abroad programs).
- Calculating performance metrics for campus programs and services (such as the University Health Services and the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive).
- Providing facts and figures for official communications, including speeches and publications.
- In-depth assessment of an administrative unit's programs (such as the Career Center).
- Evaluating admissions policy (for example, pp. 79-83 of the 2008 UC Systemwide Academic Senate's review of the BOARS' Revised Proposal to Reform UC's Freshman Eligibility Policy.
- Demonstrating to lawmakers that proposed legislation to mandate community service would be unnecessary because many undergraduates are already involved in voluntary activities.
- Tabulation of responses for academic departments (majors) and colleges for self-study and assessment.
- Scholarly research
- Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) conferences and publications, as a program of the Center for Studies in Higher Education.
- Instruction
- Sociology 105, Introduction to Sociological Methods (uses subset of UCUES data for computer data analysis-intensive course)
- Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program (undergraduates conduct original empirical research using UCUES data)