NSSE Overview

NSSE 2021 Overview

Photo credit: Mississippi State University

Features
•The Pandemic Continues
•Data/Methodology
•U.S. Institutions
•Response Rates
•Survey Customiz.
•U.S. Respondents
•Canadian Respond.

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The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE, pronounced “nessie”) collects information from first-year and senior students about the characteristics and quality of their undergraduate experience. Since the inception of the survey, nearly 1,700 bachelor’s-granting colleges and universities in the United States and Canada have used it to measure the extent to which students engage in effective educational practices that are empirically linked with learning, personal development, and other desired outcomes such as persistence, satisfaction, and graduation.

NSSE data are used by faculty, administrators, researchers, and others for institutional improvement, public reporting, and related purposes. Launched in 2000 with the support of a generous grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts, NSSE has been fully sustained through institutional participation fees since 2002. This document provides an overview of NSSE 2021, including administration details, response rates, participating institutions, and respondent characteristics.

The Pandemic Continues

The coronavirus pandemic continued to have a profound impact on higher education and its students this past year, demanding rapid adaptation to unusual circumstances like shifting academic calendars and constantly changing health and safety requirements. NSSE adapted by adding a pandemic-specific question, and introduced two salient modules, Coping with COVID (created specifically for the 2021 administration) and Experiences with Online Learning.

Recognizing these difficult and changing circumstances, NSSE asked students about the extent faculty and staff had done a good job helping them adapt to pandemic-induced changes. Hearteningly, nearly 3 out of 4 respondents (73%) said faculty and staff had helped them substantially (“quite a bit” or “very much”) in this regard. However, some student groups reported slightly less support than their peers, such as those studying mostly online (71%), those at a doctoral degree-granting institution (71%), and Black or African-American students (72%).

In addition, student responses to the NSSE item about course type demonstrates a substantial shift to mostly remote instruction, with over 60% of all students reporting this course modality.

Survey Data and Methodology

Approximately 890,000 first-year and senior students from 353 institutions (344 in the US, 5 in Canada, and 4 in other countries) were invited to participate in NSSE 2021. Of this population, 211,667 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 2021, all but one participating institution 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 342 institutions—337 in the US and 5 in Canada—that participated in NSSE 2021. Due to nonstandard details of their participation, 11 institutions are not represented. In these summary tables, and in the Institutional Report 2021, only data for census-administered and randomly sampled students are included. NSSE 2021 U.S. respondents profiled here include 203,284 first-year (47%) and senior (53%) respondents.

U.S. Participating Institutions

NSSE 2021 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.

Table 1: Profile of NSSE 2021 U.S. Institutions and Respondents and Bachelor’s-Granting U.S. Institutions and Their Students
Institution Characteristics	Institutions (%)		Students (%)
	NSSE	U.S.	NSSE	U.S.
Carnegie Basic Classification
Doctoral Universities (Very high research activity)	8	8	25	31
Doctoral Universities (Higher research activity)	12	8	20	16
Doctoral/Professional Universities	12	9	11	10
Master's Colleges and Universities (Larger programs)	24	22	25	26
Master's Colleges and Universities (Medium programs)	13	12	7	6
Master's Colleges and Universities (Smaller programs)	6	8	3	3
Baccalaureate Colleges—Arts & Sciences Focus	12	15	4	4
Baccalaureate Colleges—Diverse Fields	13	17	4	5
Control
Public	43	35	65	67
Private	57	65	35	33
Undergraduate Enrollment
Fewer than 1,000	11	21	2	2
1,000–2,499	32	32	11	9
2,500–4,999	22	17	16	10
5,000–9,999	18	15	19	19
10,000–19,999	10	8	21	21
20,000 or more	8	7	30	38
Region
New England	10	8	8	6
Mid East	13	18	9	16
Great Lakes	17	15	16	14
Plains	10	10	9	7
Southeast	25	25	24	24
Southwest	10	8	14	12
Rocky Mountains	3	3	8	6
Far West	12	10	12	13
Outlying Areas	1	2	<1	1
Locale
City	45	47	58	62
Suburban	25	25	23	23
Town	24	22	16	14
Rural	6	6	2	1
Notes: Percentages are unweighted and based on U.S. postsecondary institutions that award baccalaureate degrees and belong to one of the eight Carnegie classifications in the table. Percentages may not sum to 100 due to rounding. U.S. percentages are based on the 2019 IPEDS Institutional Characteristics data. For information on the Carnegie Foundation’s 2018 Basic Classification, see carnegieclassifications.iu.edu

Institutional Response Rates

The average response rate for U.S. NSSE 2021 institutions was 30%, consistent with last year. The highest response rate among U.S. institutions was 93%, and about three out of five achieved a response rate of 25% or higher. Higher average response rates were observed for smaller institutions and at institutions that offered incentives for survey participation (Table 2).

Sixty-three-percent of institutions chose to offer a survey incentive. On average, these institutions had a 33% institutional response rate, eight 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 2021, 87 U.S. institutions chose this option, and the average share of respondents who accessed the survey this way was 27%.

Table 2: NSSE 2021 U.S. Participation and Response Rates by Undergraduate Enrollment and Use of Incentives
Institution Characteristics	Number of Institutions	Average Institutional Response Rate (%)
2,500 or fewer	149	35
2,501 to 4,999	70	30
5,000 to 9,999	58	24
10,000 or more	59	21
Use of Incentives Some institutions used recruitment incentives, such as small gifts or raffles, to encourage students to complete the survey.
Offered incentives	213	33
No incentives	124	25
All Institutions	337	30

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 ten modules available in 2021, the most widely adopted was Inclusiveness and Engagement with Cultural Diversity (Table 4).

Table 3: Summary of NSSE 2021 Participation in Additional Questions Sets
Selection of Additional Question Sets	Number of Institutions	Percentage of Institutions
None	23	7
One module only	52	15
Two modules	216	61
Consortium items only	4	1
Consortium items plus one module	58	16
Notes: Includes U.S., Canadian, other international institutions, and institutions with nonstandard population files or administrations. Percentages may not sum to 100 due to rounding.

Table 4: NSSE 2021 Participation in Topical Modules
Topical Module	Number of Institutions	Percentage of Institutions
Inclusiveness and Engagement with Cultural Diversity	115	33
Career and Workforce Preparation	95	27
Academic Advising	91	26
Experiences with Online Learning	61	17
First-Year Experiences and Senior Transitions	52	15
Coping with COVID	52	15
Development of Transferable Skills	26	7
Civic Engagement	24	7
Experiences with Writing	15	4
Global Learning	10	3
Notes: Includes U.S., Canadian, other international institutions, and institutions with nonstandard population files or administrations. Percentages sum to more than 100 because many institutions selected two modules.

U.S. Respondent Profile

Table 5 displays selected demographic and enrollment characteristics of NSSE 2021 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 5: Characteristics of NSSE 2021 U.S. Respondents and Undergraduate Population at All U.S. Bachelor’s Degree-Granting Institutions
Student Characteristics	NSSE Respondents (%)	U.S. Bachelor's-Granting Population (%)
Sex
Male	33	44
Female	67	56
Race/Ethnicity
African American/Black	10	12
American Indian/Alaska Native	1	<1
Asian	6	7
Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander	<1	<1
Caucasian/White	62	54
Hispanic/Latino	15	17
Multiracial/multiethnic	4	4
Foreign/nonresident alien	3	5
Enrollment Status
Full-time	89	84
Not full-time	11	16
Note: Percentages are unweighted and may not sum to 100 due to rounding. Institution-reported, using categories provided in IPEDS. NSSE percentages do not include students with “another” or “unknown” sex (0.1% of all respondents) or unknown race/ethnicity (11% of all respondents). The NSSE 2021 sampling frame consists of first-year and senior undergraduates. Data were provided by participating institutions. U.S. percentages are based on data from the 2019 IPEDS Institutional Characteristics and Enrollment data. Includes all class years.

Canadian Respondent Profile

Canadian respondents profiled here include 1,977 students (63% first-year, 37% senior) from 5 institutions in 3 provinces, including 2 institutions in Ontario; 2 in Alberta; and 1 in British Columbia. Female students and full-time students accounted for about 65% and 86% of Canadian respondents, respectively. The average response rate for Canadian NSSE 2021 institutions was 44%, with the highest response rate being 64%. All institutions achieved a response rate of 25% or higher. About 25% of Canadian respondents were at least 24 years old. The majority of students providing ethnocultural information identified as Caucasian or White (60%), while 10% were multiracial, 6% South Asian, 5% Black, 4% Chinese, and less than 4% from each of nine other categories.

Looking for a bit of NSSE history?

See all historical NSSE Overviews dating back to 2000 in PDF format.

NSSE Overview

NSSE 2021 Overview

The Pandemic Continues

Survey Data and Methodology

U.S. Participating Institutions

Table 1: Profile of NSSE 2021 U.S. Institutions and Respondents and Bachelor’s-Granting U.S. Institutions and Their Students

Institutional Response Rates

Table 2: NSSE 2021 U.S. Participation and Response Rates by Undergraduate Enrollment and Use of Incentives

Survey Customization

Table 3: Summary of NSSE 2021 Participation in Additional Questions Sets

Table 4: NSSE 2021 Participation in Topical Modules

U.S. Respondent Profile

Table 5: Characteristics of NSSE 2021 U.S. Respondents and Undergraduate Population at All U.S. Bachelor’s Degree-Granting Institutions

Canadian Respondent Profile

Looking for a bit of NSSE history?

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