Most recent benchmark results

    National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)

    Most recent benchmark results

    NSSE was completed by 452 first-years (54% of the first-year class) and 386 seniors (57% of the senior class) in Spring 2011. NSSE uses selected item results to construct five Benchmarks of Effective Educational Practice that capture many aspects of students’ academic and co-curricular learning experiences.

    The following table provides the Spring 2011 results for St. Olaf College for all 103 participating institutions in the same Carnegie classification as St. Olaf (Baccalaureate–Arts & Sciences), and for a subset of 29 peer institutions that are equally or more selective than St. Olaf.

    First Year Students
    Seniors
    St. Olaf
    All Bac-A&S
    Peer Group
    St. Olaf
    All Bac-A&S
    Peer Group
    Level of Academic Challenge
    59.9
    58.7*
    60.9*
    64.4
    62.5*
    64.8
    Active and Collaborative Learning
    45.4
    47.3*
    46.5
    55.2
    54.9
    54.8
    Student-Faculty Interaction
    32.6
    39.3*
    38.5*
    48.9
    52.3*
    53.3*
    Enriching Educational Experiences
    31.7
    31.3
    32.4
    56.7
    52.5*
    56.6
    Supportive Campus Environment
    71.7
    67.8*
    69.7*
    65.3
    64.8
    65.3

    *These differences are statistically significant and probably not attributable to chance or sampling error.

    These benchmark results suggest that, similar to their peers at other institutions, St. Olaf students experience both a high level of academic challenge and a supportive campus environment, engage in active and collaborative learning, and participate in enriching educational experiences. However, St. Olaf students report somewhat less interaction with faculty than do students at similar institutions.

    Multi-Year Benchmark Report
    This report presents recalculated and comparable benchmark scores for St. Olaf College by year so that patterns of change or stability are discernible.

    For a description of the five benchmarks and the survey items that make up the scores, please see this webpage. For more information about the methodology for the construction of the benchmarks, please see this webpage. Both of these webpages are external links to the NSSE website.