ETS^® Proficiency Profile

ETS has a long history of effectively helping institutions satisfy accreditation requirements and measure student performance. And, as the conversations around student learning outcomes and the shifting higher education landscape continue, it is important to work with a market leader who can provide valid and reliable data and position you for the future.

Get the Valid, Actionable Data You Need for Accreditation Initiatives and More

The ETS^® Proficiency Profile assesses four core skill areas — reading, writing, mathematics and critical thinking — in a single, convenient test that the Voluntary System of Accountability (VSA) has selected as a gauge of general education outcomes. The assessment measures and demonstrates student learning while optimizing your time and resources.

Plus, get greater insight into your students' writing skills with a direct and authentic measure of their ability to construct a response by adding an essay to the ETS Proficiency Profile assessment.

The ETS Proficiency Profile helps you to:

• meet requirements for accreditation and accountability initiatives and performance funding by measuring the effectiveness of your general education program
• evaluate and inform teaching and learning, and pinpoint strengths and areas of improvement
• benchmark performance by providing comparative data for nearly 500 institutions and more than 600,000 students nationwide
• create greater flexibility in your testing program by adding up to 50 locally authored questions and using both paper-and-pencil and online formats, as well as choosing to use proctored (both on and off-campus) and nonproctored versions
• conduct trend analyses to evaluate program improvement efforts and overall learning outcomes
• meet your requirements for VSA and Transparency by Design

Focused on the Needs of Today's Institutions

Additional Administration Options

With the ETS Proficiency Profile, institutions have always had the ability to administer the 40-minute abbreviated test or a more robust two-hour standard assessment using proctored on-campus, or nonproctored delivery methods. Now institutions will also be able to administer the assessment using a proctored off-campus method. This newly introduced option to use remote proctoring provides institutions with even more flexibility to securely test remote students or students studying in online courses.

Certificates of Achievement

Published ETS research confirms that students' motivation in taking learning outcomes assessments has a significant impact on their test performance. In order to help you motivate students to perform their best and increase participation, ETS offers performance-level certificates for students taking the online standard form of the ETS Proficiency Profile. These certificates of achievement can provide students with motivation to do well, which ultimately helps institutions to better position themselves for accreditation and performance funding.

Who Takes the Test and Why?

College students take the ETS Proficiency Profile so that their institutions can demonstrate program effectiveness for accreditation and funding purposes. Plus, students taking the online standard form can earn a Certificate of Achievement. Students can share this electronic certificate with an unlimited number of academic institutions and prospective employers. The certificate also adds value to institutions looking to measure student learning outcomes. Published ETS research proves the connection between motivation and performance on student learning outcomes. Knowing a certificate — with value beyond the classroom — is at stake, students will have the motivation to perform well and demonstrate their true ability.

Colleges and universities can also conduct various studies, such as cross-sectional and longitudinal, using ETS Proficiency Profile data to determine how much their students are learning and how they can improve learning outcomes.

For information on validity, see the ETS Proficiency Profile research page.

When and Where Do Students Take the Test?

There are no preset test administration dates. Testing is conducted at your convenience, either onsite or remotely via computer. A variety of testing formats offers flexibility to meet your specific scheduling and staffing needs. Format options include:

• standard (two-hour) and abbreviated (40-minute) test forms
• paper-and-pencil or online delivery
• proctored on-campus administration
• proctored off-campus administration
• nonproctored administration

For more information, review the Format section.

Interested in Learning More?

For more information about the ETS Proficiency Profile, contact us.