IRP&E is pleased to introduce a new interactive report for CSU’s results of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). NSSE conducts surveys for first year and senior students at universities across the country. The data compiled in this report includes CSU first year and senior students in 2016, 2019, and 2022 and sophomore students in 2016.

High Impact Practices Responses

A focus on the NSSE report evaluates students’ experiences with High Impact Practices (HIP). There are six categories of HIP’s all which are meant to push students outside of their comfort zone and encourage in-depth learning. Students are recommended to participate in two HIPs throughout their college experience, one within their first year of college and one in the context of their major. Figure 1 shows participation in HIPs for first year students compared to Figure 2, which shows participation in HIPs for seniors. In general, about 4 in 10 first year students do not participate in any HIPs compared to about 1 in 10 seniors.

Figure 1: First Year Students Overall Participation in High Impact Practices

Figure 2: Senior Students Overall Participation in High Impact Practices

Engagement Indicator Summary & Survey Items Response

These two sections evaluate students’ engagement on campus according using NSSE’s Engagement Indicator themes. The first section, Engagement Indicator Summary, shows the overall engagement score (users can choose to show the average rating or the average percent positive) for each of the four categories: Academic Challenge, Campus Environment, Experience with Faculty and Learning with Peers. The second section, Survey Items Responses, allows viewers to pinpoint the exact survey question included in the themes. The graph below shows summary data collected from the Engagement Indicator, Academic Challenges comparing first-year first-generation students to CSU overall. Each bar shows the percentage of students who had given a positive response for each of the four subcategories with the Academic Challenges theme. Overall, first-generation first year students tend to be more engaged in Higher-Order Learning, Learning Strategies, and Reflective and Integrative Learning and less engaged with Quantitative Reasoning when compared to all CSU first year students.  

Figure 3: Average Percent Positive Ratings for Academic Challenges of First-Generation First-Year Students Compared to CSU Overall

NSSE Module Response

This sections of NSSE surveys students’ experience with Academic Advising and Inclusiveness and Engagement with Cultural Diversity, which are additional modules to the standard NSSE survey that have been administered at varying points in time between 2016 and 2022. Like the previous section, viewers can select specific survey questions and view results by a variety of student characteristics. The topics covered include the extent to which CSU created an overall sense of community among students, advisor availability, and support for developing academic goals and future plans.

Figure 4 shows first year students who answered the survey question “During the current school year, to what extent have your academic advisors done the following? Been available when needed.” Overall, about 7 in 10 students reported advisors being available when needed “quite a bit” or “very much.”

Figure 4: First Year Student Responses to Academic Advisor Being Available When Needed