NSSE Report Builder

Welcome to the NSSE Report Builder

You choose the group. We'll show you the results.

The NSSE Report Builder is a public, interactive tool that instantly generates reports of your choosing. The tool draws from a secure database of responses from the two most recent years of NSSE, and can be queried using any combination of student and institutional characteristics. You can choose to generate tables of Benchmark statistics or individual item frequencies.

The following pages will guide you through five easy steps to filter the data and produce results tables according to your selections:

Step 1: SELECT REPORT VARIABLES
Choose whether you want Benchmark statistics or individual item frequencies in your report.

Step 2: SELECT A GROUPING VARIABLE
Choose a category variable that will define separate groups for your report (e.g., enrollment size, gender, major field, race/ethnicity).

Step 3: SELECT INSTITUTIONS
Select the type of institution you want included in the report
(e.g., region, selectivity, enrollment size).

Step 4: SELECT STUDENTS
First, choose whether you want results for first-year students or seniors,
and then select the type of student to include in the report
(e.g., gender, class, first-generation).

Step 5: RUN THE REPORT
Review your selections and run the report.

Step 1: Select Report Variables > >

This is the public version. A version for users at participating institutions can be accessed by obtaining a secure identifier through the NSSE Institution Interface.

Photo courtesy of Earlham College

FYI

To protect the identities of institutions represented in the data, institutions will not be listed or named in this report builder. Results will only be given in aggregate form.
A minimum of six institutions and 250 students are required for results to be aggregated and produced.

See all FYI

Technical Details

Data File Summary

We welcome your feedback. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please email us.

Last Updated: May 13, 2013

Step 1: Select Report Variables

Choose whether you want Benchmark statistics or individual item frequencies in your report.

Select Report Variables

NSSE Benchmark Statistics

Item Frequencies

How would you like the items to be grouped in your report?

In the order they appear on the survey

Select up to three sets of items.

Engagement Activities (Question 1: 22 items)
Cognitive Tasks in Courses (Question 2: 5 items)
Reading, Writing, Problem Sets, and Exams
(Questions 3-5: 8 items)
Other Engagement Activities (Question 6: 6 items)
Enriching Experiences (Question 7: 8 items)
Campus Relationships (Question 8: 3 items)
Time Spent on Various Activities (Question 9: 7 items)
Campus Environment (Question 10: 7 items)
Self-Reported Gains (Question 11: 16 items)
Satisfaction (Questions 12-14: 3 items)

According to the NSSE Benchmarks

Select up to three sets of Benchmark items.

Level of Academic Challenge (11 items)
Active and Collaborative Learning (7 items)
Student-Faculty Interaction (6 items)
Enriching Educational Experiences (11 items)
Supportive Campus Environment (7 items)

Photo courtesy of Hamline University

FYI

We restrict the frequency reports to three sets of items to maintain the speed of the report builder. Feel free to run additional reports and select other sets of items.

See all FYI

Technical Details

Data File Summary

We welcome your feedback. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please email us.

Last Updated: May 13, 2013

Step 2: Select a Grouping Variable

Select a variable below to create separate categories for individual groups in your report. The image to the right shows an example of a report where students are grouped by gender.

Choose a grouping variable

Institutional characteristics
Carnegie 2010 Basic Classification

Select the categories you want to display in the report.
select all | unselect all

Research universities (very high research activity): RU/VH
Research universities (high research activity): RU/H
Doctoral/research universities: DRU
Master's colleges and universities (larger programs): Master's/L
Master's colleges and universities (medium programs):
Master's/M
Master's colleges and universities (smaller programs):
Master's/S
Baccalaureate colleges—arts & sciences: Bac/A&S
Baccalaureate colleges—diverse fields: Bac/diverse

Enrollment size (total undergraduate enrollment)

Select the categories you want to display in the report.
select all | unselect all

Small (fewer than 2,500)
Medium (2,500-4,999)
Large (5,000-9,999)
Very large (10,000 or more)

Student characteristics
Distance education status

'Distance learners (all courses entirely online)' and 'All others' will be the groups.

First-generation

'First-generation' and 'Not first-generation' will be the groups.

Gender

'Male' and 'Female' will be the groups.

Major field category

Select the categories you want to display in the report.
select all | unselect all

Arts and humanities
Biological sciences
Business
Education
Engineering
Physical sciences
Professional (other)
Social sciences
Undecided

Race or ethnicity

Select the categories you want to display in the report.
select all | unselect all

African American/Black
American Indian/Alaska Native
Asian/Pacific Islander
Caucasian/White
Hispanic/Latino
Foreign

click on image to enlarge

FYI

If you select either Carnegie 2010 Basic Classification or enrollment size as a grouping variable, then each group in your result set must have at least six institutions. For the other grouping variables, only the total number of institutions returned must be more than six.
Carnegie 2010 Basic Classification is not available for Canadian institutions and ‘race or ethnicity’ is defined differently in Canada. Therefore, when these are selected as a grouping variable, data from Canadian institutions are excluded.

See all FYI

Technical Details

Data File Summary

We welcome your feedback. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please email us.

Step 3: Select Institutions

Select an option to determine the institutions included in your report. The "customize" option allows you to further refine your set of institutions by selecting characteristics within categories such as size, region, selectivity, etc. Select all U.S. and Canadian institutions Select only U.S. institutions Select only Canadian institutions Customize by institutional characteristics Select an option to determine the institutions included in your report. The "customize" option allows you to further refine your set of institutions by selecting characteristics such as enrollment size, region, selectivity, etc. Select all U.S. and Canadian institutions Select only U.S. institutions Select only Canadian institutions Customize by institutional characteristics		Photo courtesy of Illinois College

Step 3 cont.: Select Institutions

Customize by Institutional Characteristics

Select a category and then select the desired characteristics.

Athletic affiliation

Athletic affiliation is available for most, but not all, US institutions,
and is not available for Canadian institutions.

select all | unselect all

NCAA Division I
NCAA Division II
NCAA Division III
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)

Barron's Profile of American Colleges Selectivity Index

The Selectivity Index is available for most, but not all, US institutions,
and is not available for Canadian institutions.

select all | unselect all

Noncompetitive (1, 1.5)
Less competitive (2, 2.5)
Competitive (3, 3.5)
Very competitive (4, 4.5)
Highly to most competitive (5, 5.5, 6)

Carnegie 2010 Basic Classification

The 'Carnegie 2010 Basic Classification' variable is only available
for US institutions.

select all | unselect all

Research universities (very high research activity): RU/VH
Research universities (high research activity): RU/H
Doctoral/research universities: DRU
Master's colleges and universities (larger programs): Master’s/L
Master's colleges and universities (medium programs): Master’s/M
Master's colleges and universities (smaller programs): Master’s/S
Baccalaureate colleges—arts & sciences: Bac/A&S
Baccalaureate colleges—diverse fields: Bac/diverse

Control

select all | unselect all

Public
Private

Enrollment size (total undergraduate enrollment)

select all | unselect all

Small (fewer than 2,500)
Medium (2,500-4,999)
Large (5,000-9,999)
Very large (10,000 or more)

Locale

Locale is not available for Canadian institutions.

select all | unselect all

City
Suburban
Town
Rural

Minority-serving institution (MSI) status

MSI status is not available for Canadian institutions.

Also, no Tribal colleges or universities are in the current data file.

select all | unselect all

Not a minority-serving institution
Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU)
Hispanic-serving institution (HSI)
Tribal college or university (TCU)
Other minority-serving institution

U.S. region and Canada

select all | unselect all

New England
Mid East
Great Lakes
Plains
Southeast
Southwest
Rocky Mountain
Far West
Outlying Areas
Canada

Include ALL Institutions

FYI

To maintain all institutions within a particular category (including those with missing data), be sure the category box is unselected.

If Carnegie 2010 Basic Classification or enrollment size is your grouping variable, then each group must contain at least six institutions.

Some criteria in combination include very few institutions. For example, you cannot produce a report of small or medium-sized public research universities.

See all FYI

Technical Details

Data File Summary

We welcome your feedback. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please email us.

Step 4: Select Students

Select whether you want a report for first-year students or seniors. The "customize" options allow you to further refine your students by selecting characteristics within categories such as first-generation, age, major field category, etc.

Class level options:

First-year students: Select all
First-year students: Customize by student characteristics
Seniors: Select all
Seniors: Customize by student characteristics

Photo courtesy of Chatham University

FYI

The Report Builder produces reports for one class level at a time. To produce results for both first-year students and seniors, you will need to run two separate reports.

See all FYI

Technical Details

Data File Summary

We welcome your feedback. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please email us.

Step 4 cont.: Select Students

Customize by Student Characteristics

Select a category and then select the desired characteristics.

Age

Based on student-reported birth year.

select all | unselect all

19 or younger
20 through 23
24 through 29
30 through 39
40 through 55
Over 55

Distance education status

Taking all courses entirely online, student-reported.

select all | unselect all

Distance learners (All courses entirely online)
All others

Enrollment status

Institution-reported full- or part-time enrollment.

select all | unselect all

Part-time
Full-time

First-generation student

Based on student-reported parental education, where
neither parent has a baccalaureate degree.

select all | unselect all

No
Yes

Gender

Institution-reported gender.

select all | unselect all

Male
Female

Grades

Letter grades, student-reported.

select all | unselect all

Mostly A's
Mostly B's
Mostly C's or lower

Major

Based on student-reported primary major.

Select a major field category below and then select the individual majors to include in your report.

Arts and humanities

select all | unselect all

Art, fine and applied
English (language and literature)
History
Journalism
Language and literature (except English)
Music
Philosophy
Speech
Theater or drama
Theology or religion
Other arts & humanities

Biological sciences

select all | unselect all

Biology (general)
Biochemistry or biophysics
Botany
Environmental science
Marine (life) science
Microbiology or bacteriology
Zoology
Other biological science

Business

select all | unselect all

Accounting
Business administration (general)
Finance
International business
Marketing
Management
Other business

Education

select all | unselect all

Business education
Elementary/middle school education
Music or art education
Physical education or recreation
Secondary education
Special education
Other education

Engineering

select all | unselect all

Aero-/astronautical engineering
Civil engineering
Chemical engineering
Electrical or electronic engineering
Industrial engineering
Materials engineering
Mechanical engineering
General/other engineering

Physical sciences

select all | unselect all

Astronomy
Atmospheric science (including meteorology)
Chemistry
Earth science (including geology)
Mathematics
Physics
Statistics
Other physical science

Professional (other)

select all | unselect all

Architecture
Urban planning
Health technology (medical, dental, laboratory)
Law
Library/archival science
Medicine
Dentistry
Veterinarian
Nursing
Pharmacy
Allied health/other medical
Therapy (occupational, physical, speech)
Other professional

Social sciences

select all | unselect all

Anthropology
Economics
Ethnic studies
Geography
Political science (includes govt, int. relations)
Psychology
Social work
Sociology
Gender studies
Other social science

Other majors (not categorized)

select all | unselect all

Agriculture
Communications
Computer science
Family studies
Natural resources and conservation
Kinesiology
Criminal justice
Military science
Parks, recreation, leisure studies, sports management
Public administration
Technical/vocational
Other field
Undecided

Race or ethnicity

Institution-reported race or ethnicity.

select all | unselect all

African American/Black
American Indian/Alaska Native
Asian/Pacific Islander
Caucasian/White
Hispanic
Other
Foreign
Multi-racial/ethnic
Unknown

Residence status

Living arrangement, student-reported.

select all | unselect all

Dormitory or other campus housing (not fraternity/sorority
house)
Residence (house, apartment, etc.) within walking distance
of the institution
Residence (house, apartment, etc.) within driving distance
of the institution
Fraternity or sorority house
None of the above

Student-athlete status

On a team sponsored by the institution's athletics department,
student-reported.

select all | unselect all

No
Yes

Include ALL Students

FYI

To maintain all students within a particular category (including those with missing data), be sure the category box is unselected.
For stable results, the number of students included in the results that are returned must be greater than 250.
Some criteria in combination include very few students. For example, restricting your report to the following selections will not generate the minimum 250 students:
- -Female seniors who are undecided about their major
- -Distance learners who live in a fraternity or sorority house

See all FYI

Technical Details

Data File Summary

We welcome your feedback. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please email us.

Step 5: Run the Report

Review your selections and choose your report format below then click SUBMIT to run your report.

Welcome to the NSSE Report Builder

Step 1: Select Report Variables

Select Report Variables

Step 2: Select a Grouping Variable

Step 3: Select Institutions

Step 3 cont.: Select Institutions

Customize by Institutional Characteristics

Step 4: Select Students

Class level options:

Step 4 cont.: Select Students

Customize by Student Characteristics

Step 5: Run the Report