The Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) provides data and analysis about student engagement in community colleges. Like its counterpart in four-year institutions, the National Survey of Student Engagement

National Survey of Student Engagement

The National Survey of Student Engagement is a survey instrument used to gauge the level of student participation at universities and colleges in Canada and the United States as it relates to learning. The results of the survey help administrators and instructors to assess their students' student...

 (NSSE), CCSSE’s survey instrument is used to gauge the level of student engagement

Student engagement

Student engagement occurs when "students make a psychological investment in learning. They try hard to learn what school offers. They take pride not simply in earning the formal indicators of success , but in understanding the material and incorporating or internalizing it in their lives." It is...

 in college. The survey is administered to community college students during the spring academic term

Academic term

An academic term is a division of an academic year, the time during which a school, college or university holds classes. These divisions may be called terms...

. The survey questions assess institutional practices and student behaviors that are correlated highly with student learning and student retention.

The survey serves three purposes for community college administrators and instructors:

• benchmarking — comparison to national norms on educational practice and performance by community and technical colleges.
• diagnosis — identification of areas in which an institution could improve students’ educational experiences and outcomes.
• monitoring/accountability — documentation and improvement of institutional effectiveness over time.

The CCSSE survey instrument was first piloted in 2001. From 2002 through 2010, more than 1,770,000 students at 754 community colleges in 49 U.S. states, British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

 and the Marshall Islands

Marshall Islands

The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...

 participated in the survey. CCSSE is administered by the Center for Community College Student Engagement

Center for Community College Student Engagement

The Center for Community College Student Engagement is a research and service project of the Community College Leadership Program in The University of Texas at Austin College of Education. The Center was founded in 2001 under the name Community College Survey of Student Engagement...

, a research and service project of the Community College Leadership Program in The University of Texas at Austin College of Education. The project director is Kay McClenney, Ph.D.