PAEA works with accredited member programs to collect rich data from matriculating and graduating students. The national results of the Matriculating Student Survey (MSS) and End of Program Survey (EOPS) are published annually in our By the Numbers: Student Report series. In addition, personalized raw data and reports to support evaluation, benchmarking, research, and scholarly work are available to members with robust student survey participation. All member programs, regardless of their utilization of Personalized Student Insights services, are welcomed and encouraged to invite their students to participate in the MSS and EOPS.
Please contact the PAEA Research Team at 703-667-4353 or data@PAEAonline.org with questions or to request personalized student insights.
Formats
PAEA offers two types of Personalized Student Insights. Through these services, eligible programs may receive data or reports drawn from only their own students’ responses.
Some programs are beginning to compile longitudinal student databases that bring together exam results, course grades, and PAEA student survey responses — among other datapoints — for the purposes of program evaluation and educational outcomes research. To support this important use of data, PAEA accepts applications from member programs to access their own consenting students’ MSS responses.
Interested programs must submit an application, including proof of IRB approval or exemption prior to January 1st, 2025. Programs can apply for either identified data (i.e., including consenting students’ names) or deidentified data (i.e., excluding students’ names and other personally identifying information such as ZIP code). During the survey, students will be presented with a consent form, outlining the program’s request to access either their identified or deidentified data. Students will be asked to provide consent for PAEA to share information with the program. PAEA will provide consenting students’ data to only those programs that have submitted and application and achieved the requisite 50% overall class survey response rate. Programs requesting deidentified data may use the data in aggregate for research and evaluation only and are prohibited from attempting to use survey responses to identify individual students.
Learn more about preparing a request for Personalized Student Data.
PAEA has identified items from the MSS and EOPS that directly address multiple components of the ARC-PA Accreditation Standards for Physician Assistant Education (5th Ed.) or that may otherwise be useful to programs and offers template reports summarizing individual programs’ student responses to these selected questions. Programs meeting eligibility criteria may request a report summarizing their own students’ responses to these questions. The Student Report summarizing data from all participating PA programs is published annually in the spring after the student surveys close, allowing for program benchmarking against national data. Items cannot be added, edited, or removed from the personalized student reports but summary statistics not included in the personalized reports may be requested as part of PAEA’s Data on Demand service.
Preview the information contained in the reports below:
- Personalized Student Insights: Matriculating Student Survey
- Personalized Student Insights: End of Program Survey
Preview the information contained in the instruments below:
Learn more about preparing a request for Personalized Student Report.
Cost
Access to personalized student insights is a member benefit available to all accredited programs that meet eligibility criteria. There is no cost to eligible programs, and fulfillment of personalized student insights requests will not count toward the one complimentary hour of PAEA Research Data on Demand services annually allotted to each member program.
Eligibility
Personalized Student Insights are available to accredited member programs whose dues are up-to-date and that have completed the most recent Program and Curriculum Surveys. To receive data from either student survey administered from 2023 onwards, programs must have attained at least a 50% student response rate. The response rate threshold for data collected from 2018 through 2020 was 80%, 65% in 2021, and 60% in 2022. In addition to the eligibility criteria outlined above, programs requesting personalized student data must provide further documentation by the first of the month prior to matriculating (MSS) or graduating (EOPS) students.
Preparing a Request for Personalized Student Data
Deadline
All programs interested in receiving their own students’ identified MSS data must submit an application, including proof of IRB approval or exemption, prior to January 1, 2025. Programs that do not submit an application with proof of IRB approval or exemption by the deadline will be unable to retroactively request personalized student data; however, students are still invited to participate in the survey, and programs will remain eligible for prize drawings.
IRB documentation
PAEA requires that all programs interested in receiving their own students’ MSS responses – whether identified or deidentified – obtain IRB approval or exemption from their own institutions. Proof of IRB approval or exemption must be provided to PAEA as part of the application. Programs may download copies of the 2024 MSS survey instrument, standard consent form, and Personalized Student Insights consent forms to submit to their IRB.
Policies
Programs requesting personalized student data must agree to the following policies:
- Student participation in the MSS is strictly voluntary.
- Student consent to release data to the program is strictly voluntary.
- Data will only be made available if the overall participation rate among the matriculating cohort is at least 50% beginning 2023.
- Programs will receive students’ unaltered, raw data.
- Programs must take extensive measures to protect student privacy and confidentiality, including storing data on a secure, password-protected server accessible only to investigators trained in human subjects protections.
- Programs may not release identified student data to any external individuals or parties.
- The source of the data must be properly cited in any published works in any format, or in other forms of dissemination of the data in whole or part.
- Violation of these stipulations may result in forfeiture of any further access to PAEA data.
In addition, programs requesting deidentified student data must agree to the following:
- Programs requesting deidentified data may use the data in aggregate for research and evaluation only and are prohibited from attempting to use survey responses to identify individual students.
Per normal student survey procedures, program directors (PDs) will be contacted two weeks prior to the month in which the program matriculates students. PDs will receive a survey link and pre-written emails with information about the MSS and/or EOPS to send to students. Programs that have met eligibility criteria and submitted an approved application prior to the deadline will receive their students’ raw, unaltered data within 60 days of matriculation via a secure link for file transfer.
Request Personalized Student Data
Submit RequestPreparing a Request for a Personalized Student Report
Programs may submit an application for a personalized student report at any time. PAEA will provide the report within 60 days of the matriculation (MSS) or graduation (EOPS) date to those programs that have met the eligibility criteria. Programs will be required to agree to the following policies:
- Student participation in the Matriculating Student Survey and the End of Program Survey is strictly voluntary.
- No individually identifying student information will be released.
- This report will only be made available if the participation rate among the matriculating or graduating cohort is at least 50% beginning 2023. The response rate threshold for data collected from 2018 through 2020 was 80%, 65% in 2021, and 60% in 2022.
- This report will be generated using students’ unaltered, raw data.
- The report template cannot be changed. Any requests for further information must be made as part of PAEA’s Data on Demand service.
- The report must be properly cited in any published works in any format, or in other forms of dissemination of the report in whole or part. Suggested citations:
- PA Education Association, PAEA Custom Reports: Matriculating Student Survey prepared for [Name of Program], Washington, DC: PAEA; [Year]
- PA Education Association, PAEA Custom Reports: End of Program Survey prepared for [Name of Program], Washington, DC: PAEA; [Year]
- Violation of these stipulations may result in forfeiture of any further access to PAEA data.