Collaborative Assessment Project (CAP)

Overview

The Collaborative Assessment Project (CAP) orients CCCU members around a common set of campus assessments that help us provide empirical evidence that Christian higher education is a significant and valuable enterprise. CAP’s common assessments provide sector norms for institutional benchmarking, while its cyclical nature empowers participating schools to examine their institutional effectiveness over time through longitudinal data analysis.

Involvement in CAP is a valuable opportunity for your institution to collect data from your students, which can help improve student success, prepare for accreditation, and develop data-driven strategic planning.

Please review the program details and benefits below:

For the 2026–27 academic year, CAP will utilize the Thriving Project under the direction of CCCU Senior Fellow Dr. Laurie Schreiner.

[Register for the 2026-27 Collaborative Assessment Project- coming soon]

2026-27 CAP Instrument: The Thriving Project

The Thriving Project is a comprehensive approach to assessing campus climate, student success, and faculty/staff well-being.

CAP Cost: $250 to participate in one or more instruments (all standard fees apply when registering for The Thriving Project). If your institution is not utilizing The Thriving Project this academic year, you may still register and participate in CAP and benefit from the data analyses from The Thriving Project.

CAP Registration Deadline: October 1, 2026

[Register for the 2026-27 Collaborative Assessment Project- coming soon.]

Programs Details and Benefits

Beginning in 2000, The Collaborative Assessment Project (CAP)  has produced research and data to help CCCU member institutions improve student satisfaction, engagement, retention, and success. Each year CAP compiles data across CCCU institutions and compares that information against national private college benchmarks.

Please direct any questions you may have to Jeff Clawson, PhD, CCCU Assistant Vice President for Membership, Grants & Research.

Components of the Project will Include:

  1. Assess Student Thriving Oct-Nov 2026
  2. Campus Reports and Action Plans
  3. Assess Faculty & Staff Thriving Oct-Nov 2026
  4. Webinars and Consults in Spring 2027

Benefits:

  • A regular assessment cycle CCCU members can count on.
  • Benchmarking to national norms as well as CCCU members and affiliates.
  • Additional Student Satisfaction Inventory (SSI) and The Thriving Project reports issued to CCCU consortium participants (over a $500 value).
  • Predictive models, action plans, and free webinars (developed and hosted by the CCCU).

Webinars

The CCCU will host three seminars in the during the Winter, Spring, and early Summer of 2025. These webinars will include additional analyses from the aggregated CCCU consortium data, practical applications of that information, and strategies to help Institutional Research and Institutional Effectiveness professionals communicate this information to the decision makers on their campuses.

Webinar dates and times are forthcoming.

 

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