The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) is a national survey conducted by the Center for Postsecondary Education at Indiana University to gather data from four-year institutions in the U.S. and Canada regarding “student participation in programs and activities that institutions provide for their learning and personal development.”  You can find more detailed information from the NSSE Survey site at http://nsse.iub.edu/.

How did WCU do?

The NSSE is composed of 106 questions grouped into 5 major benchmarks:

• Level of Academic Challenge (LAC)
• Active and Collaborative Learning (ACL)
• Student-Faculty Interaction (SFI)
• Enriching Educational Experiences (EEE)
• Supportive Campus Environments (SCE)

Composite scores are calculated in each benchmark for both first-year and senior respondents for a total of 10 overall benchmarks. 

Based on the students that responded to the survey, WCU exceeds the average results of other schools participating in the NSSE survey in seven out of 10 overall benchmarks.  Also, WCU’s responses are significantly higher than the average score of the NSSE Top 50% for seniors in Student-Faculty Interaction.

In 2009, WCU collected additional data due to our participation in the Consortium for the Study of Writing in College (see the Consortium Report and the Consortium Report by Carnegie Classification).

Who completed the survey?

In 2009, WCU had 252 first-year students and 360 seniors completed the survey.  WCU respondent characteristics are different than the overall demographics of the university but the NSSE benchmark scores are weighted to account for this discrepancy.  (See Guide to Your NSSE Institutional Report 2009 for more details).  Below is an abbreviated table of our respondent characteristics.  See the full Respondent Characteristics report for more details. 

Nationally, 367,318 students (31% response rate) participated in the survey this year, from 640 institutions in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada.  Since NSSE’s inception in 1999, more than 2,395,000 students have participated in the survey from almost 1,400 colleges and universities.

Selected Comments

• The professors are great, and the class sizes make everyone's life easier. They know me by name, and I really enjoy that. (First-year, Female)
• I am pleased with my educational experience here so far and I feel that I will have all the education I need to start in the work field when I graduate (First-year, Male)
• Attending this institution has been such a wonderful experience, allowing me to pave the way to my future career. I have been able to prove to myself that I am capable of achieving my hopes and dreams and may be able to secure them for my children in the future because of doors opened by my education at Western Carolina University. Thank you, administrators and instructors.  (Senior, Female)