The "Boston College Questionnaire about the Undergraduate Experience" (BCQ)" arose from a growing need to gather reliable evidence about the impact of the undergraduate experience on students who attend Catholic colleges and universities in the United States. Although abundant sources of data exist that tell us who our students are when they arrive on our campuses, the focus of this new instrument is to provide information about who they are becoming during their undergraduate experience by linking students outcome measure with institutional mission. A review of several existing questionnaires designed to measure the undergraduate experience revealed the need for a way to collect greater detail concerning the undergraduate activities, practices and attitudes that might be linked to student outcomes aligned with the institution's mission. Furthermore, while reliable and valid cognitive development scales are being administered to undergraduates at Catholic universities, the link between cognitive development and student engagement is weak--and most often non-existent. For this reason, the BCQ has two embedded cognitive scales of faith and intellectual/ethical development that, in relationship to religious/spiritual activities, practices and attitudes, can be seen as indicators of effectiveness in growth toward achieving specific mission related outcomes.