Quick Facts about NSSE
Survey Instrument
Survey Focus
Assessing (1) the time and effort baccalaureate degree-seeking students (primarily first-year students and seniors) devote to educationally purposeful activities, and (2) what schools are doing to intentionally channel student energy to these activities.
Institutional Participation
603 colleges and universities participated in NSSE 2010; 1,452 have participated since 2000. Search our database of participating institutions.
Student Participation
363,859 students completed NSSE 2009; 2,321,085 have completed the survey since 2000. Student participation for 2010 will be updated in August.
NSSE Director
History
NSSE was conceived in early 1998 as a new approach to gathering information about collegiate quality on a national basis, using a specially-developed survey of good practices in undergraduate education. NSSE founding director George D. Kuh worked with a national design team chaired by Peter Ewell, National Center for Higher Education Management System.
Supported by a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts, two survey pilots were administered in 1999, with the inaugural administration of The College Student Report survey in spring 2000.
For more details about NSSE history, read about our Origins and Potential and the NSSE Timeline, 1998-2009, written to document the 10-year anniversary of the 2000 survey administration.
Project Support
Launched in 2000 and supported in its development with a generous grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts, NSSE is now fully self-supported by institutional participation fees. Our research program has been supported by such organizations and foundations as the Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts at Wabash College, Lumina Foundation for Education, the Spencer Foundation, and the Teagle Foundation.
