The base cost of NSSE is determined by undergraduate enrollment. Please note that oversampling and consortium fees are not included in participation and sampling fees.
| Undergraduate Enrollment | Paper | Web+ | Web-Only* | Participation Fee | Sampling Fee |
| Less than 4,000 | 450 | 1,800 | All First-year & Seniors | $300 | $3,375 |
| 4,000 to 7,999 | 600 | 2,400 | All First-year & Seniors | $300 | $4,500 |
| 8,000 to 12,000 | 800 | 3,200 | All First-year & Seniors | $300 | $6,000 |
| More than 12,000 | 1,000 | 4,000 | All First-year & Seniors | $300 | $7,500 |
*All Web-only administrations are now offered as a census of all first-year and senior students. Institutions that do not want a census based on other assessment needs may request a smaller sample size.
The fee structure in the table below is for small schools that have less than 400 students in their combined first-year and senior classes. The fee applies for either Web-only or paper administration and is based on combined first-year and senior enrollment (not total undergraduate enrollment).
| Combined First-year and Senior Enrollment | Participation Fee | Sampling Fee |
| Less than 200 | $300 | $1,500 |
| 201 to 300 | $300 | $2,250 |
| 301 to 400 | $300 | $3,000 |
Oversampling: Institutions may survey additional students by adding to their NSSE-administered sample or by distributing paper surveys themselves on their campus. Paper oversamples administered by NSSE cost $7.50 per sampled student. Paper oversamples administered locally by the institution (distributed in classrooms, at residence hall meetings, etc.) cost $2.00 per survey sent to the institution. Web-only oversamples administered by NSSE cost $1.50 per sampled student. NSSE-administered oversamples must be of the same mode used for the institution?s standard sample (i.e., NSSE-administered paper oversamples are only available to paper mode institutions, and Web-only oversamples are only available to Web-only and Web+ mode institutions).
Consortia information is available here.