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Kay Schneider

We share our NSSE results with the campus community in a variety of ways including a monthly newsletter and focus groups of faculty and students, at the all-faculty workshop, and with various committees.

Kay Schneider, Director of Assessment and Institutional Research, Concordia College (MN)

Frequently Asked Questions about NSSE and VSA*

*Information about the Voluntary System of Accountability (VSA) was excerpted from the VSA Web site. For the most up-to-date information about the VSA please visit www.voluntarysystem.org.

  1. What is the relationship between NSSE and VSA?
  2. What is the College Portrait and where do NSSE results fit in?
  3. Which of the four student experiences and perception measures should my institution use?
  4. Why does the College Portrait only include results for senior students when NSSE surveys first-year and senior students?
  5. Why does the College Portrait only include select NSSE items and not the NSSE Benchmark results?
  6. How were these NSSE items selected for inclusion in the College Portrait?
  7. What kind of NSSE data and reports can my institution add to the College Portrait, where it says, "Click Here for examples of how State U evaluates the experiences of its students"?
  8. Can my institution revise the NSSE items included in the College Portrait to better portray our strengths?
  9. Our institution has committed to the VSA, but has not participated in NSSE. Should we register for NSSE?
  10. How much does it cost to participate in NSSE to gather data that is reported on the VSA College Portrait?
  11. To whom do I direct questions about NSSE and VSA?


  1. What is the relationship between NSSE and VSA?

    NSSE has been selected as one of four assessment instruments about students’ experiences and perceptions for the VSA. Developed through a partnership between the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC), the VSA is designed to help institutions:

    • Demonstrate accountability and stewardship to the public
    • Measure educational outcomes to identify effective educational practice
    • Assemble information that is accessible, understandable, and comparable

    More information about the VSA is available at: www.voluntarysystem.org


  2. What is the College Portrait and where do NSSE results fit in?

    The VSA's College Portrait provides information on institutional and student characteristics, attendance costs, student engagement, and educational outcomes. This information is intended for students, families, policy-makers, campus faculty and staff, the general public, and other higher education stakeholders. An example of the College Portrait is available at www.voluntarysystem.org/docs/cp/CollegePortraitExample.pdf. The College Portrait is divided into three sections: 1) Consumer Information, 2) Student Experiences and Perceptions, and 3) Student Learning Outcomes.

    NSSE results are used to complete the Student Experiences and Perceptions section in the College Portrait. NSSE is one of four assessment instruments selected by the VSA that provide information about six specified areas that academic research has shown to be correlated with greater student learning and development: group learning, active learning, experiences with diverse groups of people and ideas, student satisfaction, institutional commitment to student learning and success, and student interactions with faculty and staff.


  3. Which of the four student experiences and perception measures should my institution use?

    This decision is left to the institution’s discretion. Each instrument has different characteristics to consider when selecting which measure to use, such as purpose, administration mode and timeline, sample section, and options for comparison information.

    NSSE is specifically designed to assess the extent to which students are engaged in empirically derived good educational practices and what they gain from their college experience (Kuh, 2001). The main content of the NSSE instrument represents student behaviors that are highly correlated with many desirable learning and personal development outcomes of college. The survey is administered each spring term using Web-based and paper modes to random samples of first-year and seniors students who were enrolled the previous term. Therefore, all those who are invited to participate in the survey have had enough experience with the institution to render an informed judgment.

    NSSE results provide information about student engagement at a particular institution and also include options for creating customized comparison groups. NSSE also supplies an institutional data file, which includes raw student responses to all survey items, including student identifiers for additional in-depth analyses.  For more information about what NSSE offers please see the NSSE Invitation to Participate on the registration site: www.nsse.iub.edu/html/registration.cfm

    Kuh, G.D. (2001). Assessing what really matters to student learning: Inside the national survey
    of student engagement. Change, 33(2), 10-17.


  4. Why does the College Portrait only include results for senior students when NSSE surveys first-year and senior students?

    The decision to include only senior students’ results was made by VSA representatives and the various stakeholders who developed the College Portrait. However, you can provide access to NSSE results from your first-year students by linking to supplementary NSSE data and reports in the “CLICK HERE for examples of how State U evaluates the experiences of its students” in the College Portrait.


  5. Why does the College Portrait only include select NSSE items and not the NSSE Benchmark results?

    The decision to include only select NSSE items and not the NSSE benchmark results was made by VSA representatives and the various stakeholders who developed the College Portrait. However, you can provide access to additional NSSE results and your NSSE Benchmark Comparisons by linking to supplementary NSSE data and reports in the “CLICK HERE for examples of how State U evaluates the experiences of its students” in the College Portrait.


  6. How were these NSSE items selected for inclusion in the College Portrait?

    The VSA Board determined the NSSE items to feature in the College Portrait. According to the VSA, particular data elements were identified and selected as a result of seven task forces working together. These task forces were made up of college and university presidents, provosts, student affairs officers, institutional research officers, and faculty members. The task forces were aided by focus groups, feedback from the higher education community, researchers, and the research literature. For further information about how items were selected, please see the VSA background and development link on their website: www.voluntarysystem.org/index.cfm?page=background.


  7. What kind of NSSE data and reports can my institution add to the College Portrait, where it says, "Click Here for examples of how State U evaluates the experiences of its students"?

    Here are some suggestions for NSSE data and reports to add to the “CLICK HERE for examples of how State U evaluates the experiences of its students” and other sections of the College Portrait that allow links to additional information. NSSE documents containing your institution’s results can be downloaded from the Institution Interface:

    NSSE Pocket Guide Report: “What Students are Saying…”. Short report features primarily first-year student responses to NSSE items included in the Pocket Guide to Choosing a College.

    NSSE Executive Snapshot. A concise summary of some key findings from your institution's performance on NSSE.

    NSSE Benchmark Comparisons. Report compares the performance of your institution with your selected comparison groups.

    USA TODAY Database.Web site features a searchable database of NSSE Benchmark Comparisons from institutions that elected to participate in this initiative.


  8. Can my institution revise the NSSE items included in the College Portrait to better portray our strengths?

    In short, no. To serve its national purpose of providing information in a common format, the College Portrait template is identical across all participating institutions. However, the template provides a number of opportunities for an institution to tell its distinctive story and use NSSE results to demonstrate institutional strengths. A supplemental page can be included with the College Portrait template if it is clearly labeled as a page added by the institution. See Frequently Asked Question #6 above for suggestions on additional NSSE data and reports to include on such a page.


  9. Our institution has committed to the VSA, but has not participated in NSSE. Should we register for NSSE?

    The VSA requires that participating institutions participate in and report results from one or more student experiences and perceptions surveys: the College Student Experiences Questionnaire (CSEQ), the College Senior Survey (CSS) from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP), the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), or the University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey (UCUES). These surveys differ in what they measure, how they’re administered, and how much they cost.

    Approximately 96% of institutions currently registered for the VSA have participated in NSSE. More than 1,300 baccalaureate-granting colleges and universities in the United States and Canada have used NSSE to document the extent to which students, faculty, and institutions engage in empirically-proven educational activities and to inform programs and practices that foster student engagement. NSSE asks first-year and senior undergraduates about their in- and out-of-class activities, what they feel they have gained from classes, their assessment of the quality of interactions with faculty and students, and other educationally-purposeful activities. Institutions can use NSSE data to measure aspects of the undergraduate experience that are consistent with good educational practices.

    Institutions must register for NSSE by the mid-September deadline to participate in survey administration the following spring. Results are available in August. To register for NSSE, go to: www.nsse.iub.edu/html/registration.cfm


  10. How much does it cost to participate in NSSE to gather data that is reported on the VSA College Portrait?

    The cost of NSSE is determined by total undergraduate enrollment. Additional fees apply for institutions requesting oversamples and participating in consortia. Information about the costs of participating in NSSE is available on our Web site at www.nsse.iub.edu/faq/ifaq.cfm#surveycost. There is no option to only administer the subset of NSSE items used in the VSA.


  11. To whom do I direct questions about NSSE and VSA?

    For questions about NSSE’s role in the VSA, please contact NSSE’s Assistant Director of Survey Operations, Todd Chamberlain, at toachamb@indiana.edu or (812) 856-5824.

    For questions about the VSA please check the VSA Web site (www.voluntarysystem.org) for the most-up-to-date information or contact the VSA Executive Director, Christine Keller at ckeller@aplu.org