Eighty-five percent of first-year students and 84 percent of seniors at Washington State University have rated their student experience as “excellent” or “good,” according to the 2025 National Survey of Student Engagement.
The data from the biannual survey is used to help drive WSU’s student experience strategy. The university has participated in the NSSE survey since 2000, using the data as a key source of information to drive its student experience strategy.
NSSE explores the student experience on a wide range of topics, including:
- Participation in high-impact practices (e.g., service learning)
- Support provided
- Sense of belonging
- Student-faculty interactions
- Learning strategies
NSSE data also shows that WSU has a higher percentage of first-generation students and far more students entering with more transfer and dual credits than our peer institutions. WSU also far outranked national land-grant institutions in the number of courses where students were engaged in service-learning. These points, plus additional information about student perceptions of engagement at WSU, provide needed insights into critical outcomes like retention, graduation, and student success.
NSSE data shows that WSU has a higher percentage of first-generation students and far more students entering with more transfer and dual credits than its peer institutions.
While students continue to show high levels of engagement and satisfaction with WSU, the NSSE results also indicate opportunities for improvement, such as developing strategies around helping students manage their non-academic responsibilities.
These results will be one of the many inputs utilized in WSU’s evaluation by the National Institute for Student Success (NISS). Founded by Georgia State University, NISS works with colleges and universities to “identify and resolve institutional barriers to college completion by increasing their capacity to implement proven and scalable student success systems.”
Starting this fall, NISS will lead a series of data collection and evaluation exercises to holistically review and analyze WSU’s key challenges to student success and ultimately provide a playbook with customized implementable strategies. The NISS initiative at WSU will be led by:
- Bill Davis
Vice Provost, Division of Academic Engagement and Student Achievement - Lisa Guerrero
Vice Provost, Access and Opportunity - Stephanie Kane
Assistant Vice Provost, Institutional Research - Romando Nash
Vice Provost, Student Affairs - Saichi Oba
Vice Provost, Enrollment Management - Kristina Peterson-Wilson
Vice Provost, Academic Administration and Chief of Staff
“Across the WSU system, we have a renewed focus on improving student retention,” said Provost and Executive Vice President Chris Riley-Tillman. “The data provided by NSSE, and the pending comprehensive review by NISS underscore the institution’s commitment to eliminating barriers to student success.”
The Office of the Provost will provide regular updates on the progress with NISS, concluding with a presentation on the playbook implementation plan in spring 2026.
