Who Actually Fills In Student Evaluations? New Evidence on Non-Response Bias

Updated Sep 10, 2026

A response rate says how many students replied; it does not show whether respondents resemble the full cohort. Erica De Bruin, Ann L. Owen and Stephen Wu investigate this distinction in a randomised experiment at a selective US liberal arts college.

Key findings

Pell Grant recipients, students with lower GPAs and students later in their college careers were less likely to complete evaluations across study conditions. Black, Hispanic and multi-racial students participated less than white students in traditional end-of-semester evaluations.

An alternative prompt asking students to explain their own criteria for effective teaching increased the likelihood of writing more than three words and the total words written, conditional on responding. Length alone does not establish the usefulness of a comment.

Delaying feedback until the following semester reduced response rates, especially for seniors. The decrease was smaller for Black, Hispanic and multi-racial students, making the responding sample more racially representative overall. That is a trade-off in this setting, not evidence that delay universally removes non-response bias.

Applying the question locally

As an editorial recommendation, compare respondent composition with the eligible cohort before relying on an overall response rate. Where appropriate and privacy-preserving, examine whether participation differs across programmes, years and demographic groups.

If testing a new prompt or timetable, define success in advance. Response volume, representation and the usefulness of comments are separate outcomes. Avoid claiming that analysing existing comments can recover the views of students who did not respond.

Reference

Erica De Bruin, Ann L. Owen and Stephen Wu. “Can student evaluations be made more representative? Testing alternative strategies.” Studies in Higher Education. DOI: 10.1080/03075079.2025.2467424.

Updated 7 September 2026: claims about comment quality and the expected effects of UK implementation have been narrowed.