National Survey of Student Engagement To Release Scores

Angela Januzzi

July 31, 2007

In the National Survey of Student Engagement, first and fourth-year students are asked about their collegiate experience, including five major benchmark areas: level of academic challenge, active and collaborative learning, student-faculty interaction, enriching educational experiences, and supportive campus environments. However, the catch of the survey has always been its secrecy; NSSE allows each school to decide whether or not to make its results public. 

Recently, however, NSSE has asked permission of its surveyed schools to make public the above-mentioned benchmark areas in USA Today. While many schools appear to be in the process of agreeing, there is much suspicion that the NSSE is attempting to create a new rankings system out of its data—especially since the scores are hardly ever flattering across all five points.  The NSSE states the opposite, though, claiming, “The project is intended to respond to calls for greater institutional transparency,” --and ironically—“to underscore the idea that educational quality is more complex than typically available elsewhere, such as in rankings.”

The NSSE board also stated that the purpose of releasing the benchmark survey info to USA Today is timely and necessary, representing a new period of cooperation among higher education institutions and their joined commitment to encouraging the best undergraduate education possible. 

The lesson to be learned by school administrators and educators from this release of information is the dawning era it represents: more accessible information about the attributes and strengths of schools, along with openly available information about their weak points, will also be available on a common website of college and university statistics to be released this fall, currently under review by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities and the Council of Independent Colleges. A new focal surge upon student interest and need is gaining acceleration, and successfully running an institution of higher education will become more contingent than ever upon this priority.

 Source: Jaschik, Scott. “The Quest for ‘Meaningful’ Comparisons.” www.insidehighered.com. Posted: July 31, 2007.