This paper reviews recent literature pertaining to outcomes assessment, especially college senior surveys, and provides background information on several successful studies documenting the effectiveness of outcomes assessment. Books chosen for review are: (1) "Information on Student Outcomes: How To Get It and How To Use It" (Peter T. Ewell); (2) "Measuring College Outcomes" (C. Robert Pace); and (3) "College: The Undergraduate Experience in America" (Ernest Boyer). Specific student outcome assessments are reviewed from the University of Maryland, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, California's Stanford University, Harvard University in Massachusetts, Kean College of New Jersey, Ohio's Kent State University, Bowling Green State University (Ohio), and Ohio University. Essential elements of outcome assessments as found from the literature review suggest that faculty be involved in controlling the assessment, that presidential backing is required, that several methods of assessment are needed to fully understand the undergraduate experience, and that it is important to assess senior year students. School program analysis revealed that each contained a section questioning students about the campus environment, that all surveys had background information sections, and that all of them asked for the seniors' overall assessment of their university experiences. The report provides a model of a senior survey. Contains a 15-item bibliography. (GLR)