National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)

In 2023, 541 colleges and universities across the United States and Canada participated in the survey. The UW-Madison response rate was 10 percent – 825 first-year students (12 percent) and 662 seniors (8 percent) answered the survey.

UW-Madison findings

• A First Look at NSSE 2023.
• Focus on Wisconsin Experience.
• Focus on Academic Emphasis.
• Focus on Diversity and Climate.
• Focus on Career and Workforce Preparation.
• Selected NSSE Results Over Time.

NSSE-Provided Reports

• NSSE Engagement Indicators Snapshot.
• Detailed Frequency Distributions and Summary Statistics.
• Career and Workforce Preparation Module Summary.
• High Impact Practices Summary.
• Multi-Year Report.
• Administration Summary

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) is a survey of college freshmen and seniors designed to assess student involvement in practices associated with high levels of learning, show what students think of their undergraduate experience, and how they are benefiting from their studies. In spring 2020 all UW-Madison first-year students and seniors were invited to respond to NSSE. The UW-Madison response rate was 9% — 747 first-year students (10%) and 730 seniors (8%) responded. The 2020 fielding of NSSE occurred during the COVID-19 disruption.

The profile of respondents is similar overall to the fielding of NSSE in 2017 and prior years, but the response rate was less than half of what it was in 2017. We attribute the lower response rate to not providing an incentive as we did in 2014 and 2017, and in part to the Covid-19 disruption. NSSE went into the field on 2/13/2020 before the Covid-19 disruption and stayed live until 04/06/2020. Because of the low response rate, the number of responses is too low to do many of the disaggregation reports that we have done in prior years; only aggregate institution-level reports will be available for 2020 NSSE.

Short Summaries of UW-Madison Findings

— A First Look at NSSE 2020 (Sept. 2020)
— Focus on Wisconsin Experience (Sept. 2020)
— Focus on Academic Emphasis (Sept. 2020)
— Focus on Diversity and Climate (Sept. 2020)
— Focus on Transferable Skills and Career Preparation (Sept. 2020)
— Selected NSSE Results Over Time (Oct. 2020)

NSSE-Provided Reports

— NSSE Engagement Indicators Snapshot
— Detailed Frequency Distributions and Summary Statistics
— Transferable Skills Module Summary
— Public Research Universities (AAU) Consortium Report
— High Impact Practices Summary
— Multi-Year Report
— Administration Summary

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) is a survey of college freshmen and seniors designed to assess student involvement in practices associated with high levels of learning, show what students think of their undergraduate experience, and how they are benefiting from their studies.

In spring 2017 all UW-Madison freshmen and seniors were invited to respond to NSSE. The UW-Madison response rate was 29 percent — 1,952 first-year students (31 percent) and 2,556 seniors (28 percent) responded.

Short Summaries of UW-Madison Findings

— A First Look at NSSE 2017 (posted Sept. 2017)
— Focus on Wisconsin Experience (posted Oct. 2017)
— Focus on General Education (posted Oct. 2017)
— Focus on Climate (posted Oct. 2017)
— Focus on Transferable Skills and Career Preparation (posted Nov. 2017)

NSSE-Provided Reports

— NSSE Engagement Indicators Snapshot
— Detailed Frequency Distributions and Summary Statistics
— Transferable Skills Module Summary
— Public Research Universities (AAU) Consortium Report
— High Impact Practices Summary
— Administration Summary

— Reports by Major Area of Study

– Mapping UW-Madison Majors to NSSE Broad Major Field Categories
– Arts and Humanities
– Biology, Agriculture, and Pre-Health
– Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Computer Sciences
– Social Sciences
– Business
– Communications, Media, and Public Relations
– Education and Rehabilitation Sciences
– Health Professions
– Development of Transferable Skills (includes results for all 9 major field categories)

In 2017, a total of 725 colleges and universities across the United States and Canada participated in the survey. NSSE is based at the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research.

How do I get access to 2014 data and reports?

• See links below for reports by school/college and by key demographic variables.

Key findings from NSSE 2014:

• 90% of our seniors report having participated in one or more high impact practices, such as research with a faculty member, participation in a learning community, culminating senior experience, service learning course, internship, and study abroad.
• About 50% of our freshmen report having participated in research with a faculty member, learning community, or service learning course.
• 92% of freshmen and 94% of seniors rate their overall experience at UW-Madison as excellent or very good, significantly more than students at our peer institutions
• Our students spend about 18 hours per week preparing for class, significantly more time than students at our peer institutions, but not as much as the two hours out-of-class per hour-in-class that is the higher education standard.
• Over 90% of our seniors report that their experience at UW-Madison has contributed quite a bit or very much to their knowledge, skills and personal development in thinking critically and analytically.
• Over 70% report UW-Madison contributed quite a bit or very much to working effectively with others, writing clearly and effectively, and analyzing numerical and statistical information.
• Compared to our peers, our students spend less time in discussions with people of a race or ethnicity different from their own
• UW-Madison students report taking fewer service learning courses than our peers

– NSSE 2014 Overview

– 2014 Snapshot (prepared by NSSE)
– Frequency Reports (prepared by NSSE)
– Respondent Profile(prepared by NSSE)
– High-Impact Practices (prepared by NSSE)
– Consortium Report – AAUDE (prepared by NSSE)
– Experiences with Diverse Perspectives (prepared by NSSE)

– NSSE 2014 Questions
– NSSE 2014 Topic Questions: Experiences with Diverse Perspectives
– NSSE 2014 AAUDE Questions
– NSSE 2014: UW-Madison Students’ Engagement in Diversity

– First-Year Student Responses by Gender and Minority Status
– First-Year Student Responses by First Generation Status

– Senior Student Responses by Gender and Minority Status
– Senior Student Responses by Transfer and First Generation Status
– Senior Student Responses by Sexual Orientation and Disability Status
– Senior Student Responses by School/College

2011 UW-Madison NSSE Summary Reports – Students were surveyed in Spring 2011 (pdf files):
– 2011 NSSE Summary Report
– Appendix A. First-Year Student Responses by Gender, Minority Status, First-Generation Status
– Appendix B. Senior Student Responses by Gender, Minority Status, First-Generation Status, Transfer Status

– Appendix C. Senior Student Responses by School/College
– Frequency Reports (prepared by NSSE)
– Means Report (prepared by NSSE)
– Multi-Year Benchmark Report (prepared by NSSE)
– Respondent Characteristics (prepared by NSSE)
– BCSSE2010-NSSE2011 Combined Report (prepared by NSSE)
– BCSSE2010-NSSE2011 Respondent Characteristics (prepared by NSSE)
– 2011 NSSE Student Survey Instrument

2008 UW-Madison NSSE Summary Reports

– Students were surveyed in Spring 2008 (pdf files):
– 2008 NSSE Summary Report
– Appendix A. Report of Response Frequencies for All Questions
– Appendix B. Peer Comparison Report
– Appendix C. First-Year Student Responses by Gender, Minority Status, First-Generation Status
– Appendix D. Senior Student Responses by Gender, Minority Status, First-Generation Status, Transfer Status
– Appendix E. Senior Responses by School/College
– Appendix F. Senior Responses by Whether Student Studied Abroad

– NSSE 2008 Pocket Guide Report for UW-Madison (prepared and provided by NSSE)
– NSSE 2008 “Benchmark Scores” (prepared and provided by NSSE)

– NSSE 2008 Presentation on First Year Students – October 2009
– Slide presentation – UW-Madison NSSE Results, 2001-2008

2006 UW-Madison NSSE Summary Reports

PDF Files:

– 2006 NSSE Summary Report
– Appendix A. Frequency Report
– Appendix B. Peer Comparison Report 

2004 UW-Madison NSSE Summary Reports

PDF Files:

– Overview report, Appendix
– UW-Madison Seniors, by Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Transfer Status
– UW-Madison Seniors, by School/College

2001 UW-Madison NSSE Summary Reports

– Reports and Charts

UW-Madison Undergraduate Survey

2006 Undergraduate Survey Summary Document:

• 2006 Undergraduate Survey Summary – Complete Document (pages 1-96)
• 2006 Undergraduate Survey Summary – excluding appendices (pages 1-59)
• 2006 Undergraduate Survey Summary – appendices only (pages 60-96)
• March 2007 Presentation to WISCAPE (Margaret Harrigan)

Additional reports from the 2006 undergraduate survey:

• Analysis of Freshman Starts and Transfer Starts
• Analysis by Minority Status
• Analysis by Gender
• Analysis by First-Generation College Students and Other Students

2003 Undergraduate Survey Summary Document:

• 2003 Undergraduate Survey Summary – Complete Document (pages 1-85)
• 2003 Summary, excluding the appendices (pages 1-49)
• 2003 Summary appendices only (pages 1-3, 50-85)

Additional reports from the 2003 undergraduate survey:

• A Comparison of Freshman Starts and Transfer Starts
• Analysis by Minority Status

1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000 Undergraduate Surveys were also completed by the UW Survey Center.