A Pandemic Strikes

The coronavirus pandemic had a profound impact on almost all colleges and universities across North America. Despite the tumult it caused, the vast majority of schools’ participating in NSSE 2020 successfully collected data to improve undergraduate education. An in-depth analysis of NSSE data revealed survey response behavior and results to be relatively unaffected. Ultimately, only nineteen institutions needed to withdraw and four more eventually decided to exclude post-disruption survey respondents from their reports. Visit our website to learn more about how the NSSE 2020 administration unfolded, actions taken by NSSE to minimize the pandemic’s impact, and the various analyses completed to ensure data quality.

Survey Data and Methodology

Approximately 1.8 million first-year and senior students from 601 institutions (531 in the US, 65 in Canada, and 5 in other countries) were invited to participate in NSSE 2020. Of this population, 484,242 students responded to the survey. First-year and senior students were about equally represented among the respondent population.

NSSE’s sampling methodology calls for either a census of all first-year and senior students or a random selection of an equal number of students from each group, with sample
size based on total undergraduate enrollment. Census administration is available only via email recruitment, in which students get a survey invitation and up to four reminders by email. In 2020, all but two participating institutions opted for this method rather than the regular mail option, in which sampled students get up to three messages by post and up to two email reminders.

Unless noted otherwise, the results presented below are from 584 institutions—521 in the US and 63 in Canada—that participated in NSSE 2020. Due to nonstandard details of their participation, 17 institutions are not represented. In these summary tables, as in each Institutional Report 2020, only data for census-administered and randomly sampled students are included. NSSE 2020 U.S. respondents profiled here include 343,045 first-year (47%) and senior (53%) respondents.

U.S. Participating Institutions

NSSE 2020 participating institutions participating institutions and students reflect the diversity of bachelor’s-granting colleges and universities in the US with respect to institution type, public or private control, size, region, and locale (Table 1). A searchable list of participating institutions is on the NSSE website:

Institutional Response Rates

The average response rate for U.S. NSSE 2020 institutions was 30%, up two percentage points from last year.  The highest response rate among U.S. institutions was 79%, and about three out of five achieved a response rate of 25% or higher. Higher average response rates were observed for smaller institutions and across all undergraduate enrollment tiers relative to last year’s administration (Table 2).

Fifty-nine-percent of institutions chose to offer a survey incentive to increase response rates. On average, these institutions had a 33% institutional response rate, seven percentage points higher than those who did not offer an incentive. Institutions also had the option to use their learning management system or student portal to recruit students. In 2020, 114 U.S. institutions chose this option, and the average share of respondents who accessed the survey this way was 23%.

Survey Customization

Participating institutions may append up to two additional question sets in the form of NSSE Topical Modules or consortium questions (for institutions sharing a common interest and participating as a NSSE consortium) (Table 3). Of the nine modules available in 2020, the most widely adopted was Academic Advising, followed by First-Year Experiences and Senior Transitions (Table 4).

U.S. Respondent Profile

Table 5 displays selected demographic and enrollment characteristics of NSSE 2020 U.S. respondents alongside all U.S. bachelor’s degree-seeking students for comparison. NSSE reports use weights as appropriate to correct for disproportionate survey response related to institution-reported sex and enrollment status at each institution. Table 6 provides additional details about U.S. respondents.

Canadian Respondent Profile

Canadian respondents profiled here include 134,288 students (59% first-year, 41% senior) from 63 institutions from ten provinces, including 24 institutions in Ontario; 12 in Quebec; and under 10 from each of the remaining eight provinces. Female students and full-time students accounted for about 65% and 89% of Canadian respondents, respectively. The average response rate for Canadian NSSE 2020 institutions was 37%, with the highest response rate being 74%. Over 90% achieved a response rate of 25% or higher.

About 16% of Canadian respondents were at least 24 years old. The majority of students providing ethnocultural information identified as Caucasian or White (49%), while 10% were multiracial, 10% Chinese, 10% South Asian, 5% Black, and less than 4% from each of nine other categories.