After 35 years of operation (since 1979), CSEQ and CSXQ survey operations were closed after the spring 2014 administration. New orders are no longer being accepted. However, institutions and independent researchers may apply to license items from the CSEQ and CSXQ for local assessment or research purposes. Contact us at 812-856-5824 or cseq@iu.edu for details.

If you have not participated in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) or the Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE), now is a good time to give them a look. NSSE has been continuously updated with new items, scales, and reporting, while offering a high degree of customization for comparison groups, topical modules, major field reporting, and more. To learn more about how NSSE and BCSSE can help address your assessment issues, contact us at nsse@iu.edu.

Thank you for your participation and support!

The decision to end these long-standing and influential programs was not taken lightly. Participation had declined to the point where only a small number of institutions participated each year. In addition, the surveys had not been updated since 1998, demanding a significant investment in revision. Continuing to operate on a cost-recovery basis was no longer feasible.

Of course, CSEQ's decline is primarily explained by its legacy in the National Survey of Student Engagement. About two-thirds of the original NSSE questions were drawn or adapted from the CSEQ, retaining a focus on student behaviors and investment in educationally purposeful practice. The widely used NSSE instrument (with standardized third-party administration and customizable comparison groups) is a good fit for the assessment needs of most institutions.

History

The College Student Experiences Questionnaire was launched in 1979 by C. Robert Pace—then at UCLA—who believed that measuring students' quality of effort would add substantially to our understanding of student learning and development. The second edition was published in 1983, and the third edition in 1990. When Pace retired from UCLA in 1993, the CSEQ was transferred to Indiana University Bloomington under the direction of George Kuh. Pace and Kuh co–authored the fourth edition which was published in 1998. Beginning in 1979, more than 500 institutions and independent researchers used the CSEQ, and over 400,000 students completed the questionnaire. Since its launch in 1998, the CSXQ was completed by 120,000 students from over 100 institutions. Researchers reported results in monographs, journal articles, and in countless research papers delivered at the national conferences of AERA, AIR, ASHE, NASPA, and many others.
 
The higher education community, and NSSE in particular, owes the late C. Robert Pace a debt of gratitude for his leadership in advancing the use of student surveys to illuminate important facets of the college experience. For more on Pace and CSEQ history, visit this remembrance.

Item Usage Agreements Available

Although the survey operations were ended, institutions and independent researchers may apply to license items from the CSEQ and CSXQ for local assessment or research purposes. Contact us at cseq@iu.edu for details.