National Survey of Student Engagement

NSSE annually asks students, at hundreds of four-year colleges and universities, about how they spend their time and what they gain from attending college.  Towson University participates in this survey every two to three years.

Towson University most recently participated in the 2023 NSSE. TU's first recruitment message was sent to TU's students on March 8th, 2023 and the last recruitment message was sent on April 4th. Students who participated in the survey were entered into a drawing for 1 of 20 Towson University Store gift cards worth $50 each. 

The immediate prior administration ran between February 10, 2020 and May 22, 2020.  Despite the unprecedented challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our survey was largely unaffected by the university's transition to remote learning, as more than 99% of responses were received prior to March 13th.

The table below provides an overview of 2023 NSSE administration (before report sample adjustments*).

*Institutions had the option to flag a subset of students for exclusion from reports, but all sample members were invited to complete the survey.

Category Total First-Year Senior
Survey Sample 5,916 2,477 3,439
Respondent Count 1,134 516 618
Respondent Rate 19% 21% 18%

NSSE Data

The following reports are produced by the NSSE team and are available to TU faculty and staff. The 2020 NSSE Reports may be accessed here, and the 2023 NSSE Reports may be accessed here.

Please email us at if you wish to access them.

Administration Summary

Engagement Indicators

Frequencies and Statistical Comparisons

High-Impact Practices

Major Field Reports

Multi-Year Report

Pocket Guide Report

Respondent Profile

Selected Comparison Groups

Snapshot

Topical Module: First-Year Experiences and Senior Transitions (2020)

Topical Module: Academic Advising (2023)

In order to explore the NSSE results, please consider this interactive visualization that was prepared by TU’s Office of Institutional Research.

NSSE 2020 Data Visualizations (Tableau Viz)

NSSE 2023 Data Visualizations (Tableau Viz)

NSSE Accreditation Toolkit (PDF)

This document offers guidelines for aligning the NSSE items with regional accreditation standards. 

Mapping NSSE items to MSCHE standards (Tableau Viz)