Graduate Student Experience in the Research University
The gradSERU Student Survey is open until April 12 2025. Access the survey from the personalized link emailed to you on March 10th.
The gradSERU (Graduate Student Experience in the Research University, IRB-2021-25-Exempt) is a nationwide survey for graduate university students. It’s especially designed for large, public research universities that, like Purdue, serve large and diverse student populations and provide many academic and social opportunities both in and out of the classroom.
Purdue University uses this survey as the primary benchmarking tool to assess student experiences with academics, advising, student life, campus climate, health and wellness, and much more. Faculty and staff from all over campus, at all levels, use the data to help with decision-making and strategic planning. Student organizations can also use the data to advocate for specific student needs. Because the data are so valuable and widely used, a high response rate is imperative for accuracy.
Purdue University administers the gradSERU biannually on odd-numbered years. The next administration is March 2025! All graduate students will receive a direct email inviting them to participate in the survey on March 10, 2025 with the deadline to complete the survey by April 7th.
All students aged 18 years and older who are enrolled in a graduate program at the Purdue-West Lafayette or Indianapolis campuses, or Purdue Online, are invited to take the gradSERU. To achieve a statistically reliable sample, we need as many responses as possible. It is important that we get responses from all academic programs and from all demographic groups.
No. The gradSERU is voluntary.
All graduate students can enter a prize drawing to win one of 60 Amazon gift cards at $50 each. In addition, if we reach our response rate goal of 25%, all students will be eligible for a second prize drawing to win one of 5 Amazon gift cards at $200 each. Winners will be drawn at random from among all respondents at the end of the survey time. If you do not want to take the survey, you can still be entered in the prize drawings. Send an email to seru@purdue.edu, and put “gradSERU prize drawing” in the subject line. State in the body of the message: “Please include me in the gradSERU survey prize drawing.” Include your name, phone number, and email where you can be reached if you win.
Yes. The gradSERU (IRB-2021-25-Exempt) is under review by Purdue’s Institutional Review Board and is the primary, official survey administered by Purdue University for understanding the graduate student experience.
We do not advise taking the gradSERU on a mobile device. The questions are formatted for a wide screen, so it is best to take the survey on a laptop or desktop computer.
You will sign in using your unique PUID. This is necessary to ensure that only current Purdue West Lafayette or Indianapolis students, or Purdue Online students, take the survey and that each student completes the survey only once. So, yes: the gradSERU survey really is confidential. Your choice to participate or not won’t affect your status as a student. Nothing you say can be linked to you or used against you in any way.
We respect students’ busy schedules, so we’ve avoided pointless questions about things we already know or can find somewhere else. In most cases, if you say you haven’t done something, the survey will skip over any follow-up questions on that topic. Still, the gradSERU is designed to answer the questions of many different administrators and researchers, so it does cover a lot of topics. Every question in the gradSERU is important to somebody. And it’s your chance to say what’s important to you!
Response times vary. Students who give long answers to optional questions take longer. You’ll probably finish the gradSERU in 15-40 minutes.
Yes. It is best if you power through and finish at one sitting. But if you get interrupted, the link will save your answers and pick up where you left off. If you do stop midway through, don’t forget to come back and finish.
Yes. You can be sure your response will count by submitting the survey. We won’t require 100% completion because some questions may be difficult or uncomfortable for you to answer. But please try and go through to the end and answer all the questions you can.
The aggregated results from the survey will be available online to Purdue administrators, faculty, staff and students. By special request, IDA+A can provide limited datasets of (de-identified) responses at the department or special group (e.g., international students) levels. In all cases, the data are managed so the opinions and responses of individual students are protected. Purdue-affiliated individuals can email seru@purdue.edu to request a custom report.
Send your question to seru@purdue.edu. We’ll respond promptly.