If sufficient demographic information is provided by the students, then the data can be analyzed in multiple ways. For example the progress of students could be tracked by the number of general education courses they have taken . Better results on general education success indicators would be expected if students have taken 30 hours or more of general education. Or the College could check to see if students who take a broad sampling of general education courses produce better results than students who tend to select courses from one academic area. Many different instruments exist for measuring these skills of the faculty could create, norm, and develop standards for judging student progress or success.
National tests have the advantage of having the scales and standards already established.
What is important is not what instrument is selected, but what the College does with the results obtained. For example, a writing requirement after the student earned 45 credit hours might reveal a trend in poor expository writing, or a tendency to use generalizations without adequate detailed support. This student writing test could reveal where curriculum and courses need improvement. Perhaps more courses across the entire curriculum should require more writing. Or perhaps different kinds of writing instruction should be incorporated.