Survey Timeline and Key Dates for Exit, Alumni, and Employer Surveys

Use this timeline to plan administrations for exit, alumni, and employer surveys and complete the tasks required for comparative reporting. The primary contact will receive system emails about important deadlines and required next steps.

Survey Dates

The following dates apply to exit, alumni, and employer surveys for the 2026-2027 academic year.

September 1, 2026: Programs can begin launching exit, alumni, and employer surveys.
August 15, 2027: Exit surveys must close.
September 15, 2027: Alumni surveys must close.
September 30, 2027: Employer surveys must close.

Planning Your Survey Administration

Exit Surveys

Exit surveys are designed for students who are approaching the completion of their program.

You can administer exit surveys as often as needed during the academic year. If your program has multiple graduating cohorts, you can do a separate survey launch for each cohort. If you administer the survey to multiple cohorts, the previous survey administration must be closed before you can launch another.

We recommend launching the survey about 30 days before students complete the program and leaving it open for about 30 days.

For the 2026-2027 academic year, all exit surveys must close by August 15, 2027.

Alumni Surveys

Alumni surveys are intended for graduates who have been out of the program for 9 to 12 months. This gives graduates time to gain professional experience before responding.

We recommend leaving alumni surveys open for two to three months to give participants time to respond.

For the 2026-2027 academic year, all alumni surveys must close by September 15, 2027.

Employer Surveys

Employer surveys are intended for employers or supervisors familiar with a graduate’s professional performance.

We recommend leaving employer surveys open for two to three months to allow time for responses and follow-up reminders. We also recommend leaving the employer survey open for at least 15 days after the alumni survey closes.

For the 2026-2027 academic year, all employer surveys must close by September 30, 2027.

Other Important Dates

Spring 2027: Complete the Profile for exit survey orders. Learn more about the Profile.
June 2027: Review and save Select 6 comparison institutions for eligible exit and alumni survey orders. Learn how to choose Select 6 comparison institutions.
September 2027: Final comparative reports available for exit surveys.
October 2027: Final comparative reports available for alumni surveys.

The primary contact will receive system emails when the Profile and Select 6 tasks are available, along with reminders about completing them. They will also receive an email when final comparative reports are available.

Questions?

If you have questions about your survey timeline or upcoming administration, contact Benchworks Support at benchworkssupport@elentra.com.