Student Survey Data: How Students Rate Online Course Design (Fall 2025)
Student Survey Data: How Students Rate Online Course Design (Fall 2025)
The student survey is developed and administered by the CSU Chancellor’s Office and is aligned with Quality Matters (QM) and Quality Learning and Teaching (QLT) standards. Students rate 24 items about their course’s design and their experience, organized into eight categories, on a 5-point scale (1 = Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree). The survey also collects course and background information.
171 students responded in Fall 2025, from three fully online undergraduate courses taught by three instructors
Disciplines represented: Marketing, Biology, and Public Health
81% were continuing undergraduates and 15% were transfer students
Student feedback on online course design was strongly positive across the board: every category averaged above the “Agree” threshold except one, and the average of the eight category means was 4.26 on the 5-point scale.
Course Overview and Introduction earned the highest rating (4.48), suggesting students find these courses well organized and easy to start, while Student Interaction and Community rated lowest (3.91). Both findings are consistent with prior years of this survey. The interaction category also had the largest standard deviation (1.17), meaning student experiences of community varied more than anything else measured: some courses are building connection better than others.
This result converges with the Spring 2026 faculty survey, where structured student-to-student interaction was the least-adopted design practice (68.5%) and one of faculty’s top three improvement priorities. Faculty and students independently point to the same gap, which strengthens the case for making peer interaction a campus professional development focus.
Students’ overall experience translated into demand: 77% said they were very likely, and another 16% somewhat likely, to enroll in a future online course. Only 7% said they were unlikely to do so.
Because Fall 2025 responses came from three courses in three disciplines, results describe those courses rather than all CSUF online offerings; year-over-year consistency in the pattern of highest and lowest categories adds confidence in the broad picture. A Spring 2026 administration was not conducted, so Fall 2025 is the most recent data available.