involved busy work that had nothing to do with whether a child left college smarter than when he or she arrived.
Those assembled at the powwow were also concerned about the popularity of the U.S. News & World Report rankings, which rate schools principally on their reputations—deserved or not—as well as their exclusivity.
The meeting helped jump-start an effort that ultimately created
the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). The NSSE has
turned into a relentless cheerleader for schools to examine how they
educate their undergraduates and then do better.
While you’ve probably never heard of the National Survey of Student
Engagement, it’s worth becoming familiar with it because it
peers into the yawning maw of the higher education industry and asks
the sort of questions that high school kids and their parents rarely do.
The NSSE surveys more than a million students at hundreds of colleges
and universities each year with the aim of measuring the richness
of individual schools’ learning experiences.
The NSSE, which is based at Indiana University’s Center for Postsecondary
Research, attempts to measure the effectiveness of a campus
through its annual surveys of students in these areas:
• Academic rigor
• Active and collaborative learning
• Interactions between professors and students
• Enriching educational experiences
• Supportive campus environment
Students, for instance, are asked how often they discuss ideas and
make presentations in class. How much time do students spend on
homework, and how much reading and writing are assigned? Is there
much contact with professors outside the classroom?
You can find the latest annual survey, as well as a list of participating
schools, broken down by region, at NSSE’s Web site at http://nsse.iub.edu.
Cracking the Secrecy
The annual survey discusses results only in broad terms. In one
survey, for instance, freshmen at liberal arts colleges were more likely
to participate in class discussions and to view their professors more
positively than other institutions. In another finding, freshmen at research
universities were more likely to belong to a learning community
than other types of institutions.
The most recent survey concluded that students will typically
boost their performance in college if they participate in at least two
“high-impact” activities while in school with preferably one occurring
in their freshman year. Here are those desirable activities: Belonging
to a learning community, participating in undergraduate research,
studying abroad, taking part in an internship, and participating in a
capstone project, which usually requires seniors to use the knowledge
they’ve gained toward earning a degree in their academic major.
Obviously, it would be helpful to know how a school fared in the
yearly survey, but the NSSE doesn’t release its report card of individual
schools to the public. The NSSE keeps the results under wraps to
encourage greater school participation because fewer of them would
be willing to sign up if their dirty laundry was scattered on the campus
quadrangle for all to see. It was NSSE’s wish that schools on their own
would voluntarily provide the report to students and families, but few
had until 2007.
The secrecy started to lift when the NSSE and USA Today
collaborated to publicize individual school results. The NSSE now encourages
schools to release their benchmark scores to the newspaper.
In late 2007, the newspaper posted the latest yearly scores for 257
colleges and universities. You can examine the scores for individual
schools online and compare them to the average marks for similar institutions.
To access the USA Today scores, look for the link at the NSSE’s Web site.
Hidden Gems
Even with the promise of anonymity, many schools, including
those in the Ivy League, have spurned participating. It’s easy to see
why the Ivies, which can coast with the traditional ranking methodology,
would shrink from an analysis. It’s tough to do well in all five
benchmarks, and many of the schools that have succeeded aren’t the
ones that create admission frenzies. In one year of findings, which began
in 1999, these were the only schools that aced all five benchmarks:
• Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin
• Centre College, Danville, Kentucky
• Elon University, Elon, North Carolina
• Sweet Briar College, Sweet Briar, Virginia
The easy part, thanks to the NSSE’s Web site, is finding the names
of all the schools that participate in the yearly survey. Ask schools that
don’t release their results to USA Today why they don’t.
Using the NSSE Survey
Even without data from an individual school, the NSSE can be
helpful to students and families in a couple of ways. For starters, the
annual reports include methods that some schools are using to improve
the way they educate kids.
One recent report, for instance, discussed how the University of
South Dakota in Vermillion, South Dakota, after spotting trends in its
NSSE data, introduced a first-year experience for freshmen that included
seminars and residential learning communities. The university
also restructured its graduation requirements by adding an extra English
course and requiring more writing in its capstone courses. In reaction
to NSSE findings, Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New
York, boosted its efforts to increase student-faculty interactions, developed
a new model for its first-year experience, and strengthened its
science programs.
Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont, discovered that its
major challenge was cultivating a more supportive campus environment,
which it set about to do. Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana,
reacted to the survey by introducing a first-year experience for freshmen,
revising curriculum of popular majors, and expanding the
learning center. The experiences of other schools can help you formulate
questions to ask at the colleges and universities that pique your interest.
Asking the Right Questions
The NSSE can also help you formulate intelligent questions when
you’re evaluating schools. At its Web site, you can obtain a free booklet
titled A Pocket Guide to Choosing a College, Are You Asking the
Right Questions on a College Campus Visit?
Here is a sampling of the questions:
Academic challenges
• How much time do students spend on homework each week?
• What type of thinking do assignments require?
• How much writing and reading are expected?
• To what degree are studying and spending time on academic work emphasized?
Meaningful contact with teachers
• Are faculty members accessible and supportive?
• How many students work on research projects with faculty?
• Do students receive prompt feedback on academic performance?
Active learning
• How often do students discuss ideas in class?
• How often are topics from class discussed outside or in the classroom?
• How often do students make class presentations?
• Do students work together on projects—inside and outside class?
• Additional learning opportunities
• What types of honors courses, learning communities, and other
distinctive programs are offered?
• Is a culminating senior year experience required?
• How many students study in other countries?
• What percentage of students do community service?
Naming Names
The folks behind the NSSE remain steadfastly opposed to
collegiate rankings. But in 2005, George D. Kuh, the organization’s
founder and others, published a book that names names. The book,
Student Success in College: Creating Conditions That Matter, was the
result of a 24-person research team that talked with 2,700 people during
its visits to a diverse group of strong performing schools. The 20
schools enjoy higher than predicted graduation rates and, as measured
by the NSSE, have successfully worked with students of differing abilities.
Here are the 20 schools that made the list:
• Alverno College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• California State University at Monterey Bay, Seaside, California
• Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington
• Fayetteville State University, Fayetteville, North Carolina
• George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia
• Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington
• Longwood University, Farmville, Virginia
• Macalester College, St. Paul, Minnesota
• Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
• University of the South, Sewanne, Tennessee
• Sweet Briar College, Sweet Briar, Virginia
• University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas
• University of Maine-Farmington, Maine
• University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Michigan
• University of Texas-El Paso, Texas
• Ursinus College, Collegeville, Pennsylvania
• Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Indiana
• Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts
• Winston-Salem State University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
• Wofford College, Spartanburg, South Carolina
Action Plan
• When researching schools, use the list of questions that the
National Survey for Student Engagement developed.
• Look beyond the college rankings to find incredible schools.
Source: The College Solution: A Guide for Everyone Looking for the Right School at the Right Price
