Rankings

National Survey of Student Engagement: A truer measure of quality

Student-engagement surveys evaluate best educational practices and provide valuable feedback for university administrators

Photograph by Derek Mortensen

Photograph by Derek Mortensen

When measuring the quality of education, Alexander McCormick is hardly swayed by a university’s reputation, nor its entrance exam scores.

“Neither of those really tells you anything about teaching and learning on the campus,” says the professor of educational leadership and policy studies at Indiana University Bloomington. Reputation is highly correlated with the wealth of an institution, while exam scores offer little indication of what happens after students are admitted.

“What ends up standing in for quality are not terribly good measures of what actually goes on in a university.”

As director of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), a North American survey offered annually since 2000, McCormick is most interested in improving higher education by asking current undergraduates about specific measures for levels of engagement on and off campus.

RELATED: 
Canadian University Survey Consortium: Surveying student satisfaction

With NSSE, approximately 100 questions are designed to evaluate best educational practices such as student-faculty interaction, collaborative learning and supportive campus environments, and give feedback to schools. How often have students attended an arts performance in the past year? How much of their course work emphasizes memorization? How often have they prepared two or more drafts of a paper before turning it in? How often do they ask another student for help with course material? How often have they had discussions with people of a different race? A different economic background? A different religious belief?

If it all sounds extremely specific, that’s the goal. “We ask about activities and experiences that previous research has shown to be positively related to learning outcome,” McCormick says. The higher the score, the better the odds that undergrads are getting the most from university.

When Quest University Canada was founded back in 2002 as a small, private, but non-profit liberal-arts school in Squamish, B.C., it was designed to provide many of the best practices found in this kind of survey. A sign of its success is that, in the five years it has participated in NSSE, Quest has come out at the top four times, and second once, when students rated their entire educational experience. Similarly, when students were asked if they would attend the same school all over again, Quest was in the upper echelon there, too.

While receiving high praise from students is always good, Quest president David Helfand believes the two overall-satisfaction questions Maclean’s publishes are the least important from NSSE, which had 114,511 surveys returned from first- and fourth-year students across all participating Canadian campuses last year, a response rate of 36 per cent. “These are the only two questions in the survey that represent student opinion,” he says. “The most important are those that measure what the students actually do.”

This year, 73 Canadian institutions took part in the survey, the largest number in its 15-year history. “We want to know that we’re actually having an impact on these students,” Helfand says, “that, when they come in, they’re in one state, and when they go out, they’re in a different state, presumably, better prepared for life.” The questions and answers on student engagement that Helfand refers to (six of which are published on Macleans.ca) are a measure of what Quest is accomplishing.

NSSE itself aggregrates the results and does not identify institutions. “We don’t give anyone the information that allows them to say: ‘We’re the best,’ ” says McCormick. Schools get their own scores, which they can compare to averages in different groups, including the top 50 per cent and the top 10 per cent. (Maclean’s asks all participating schools for their data on two student-satisfaction questions and six of 10 student-engagement measures; this year, 66 of 73 consented. Because most schools do not do the survey every year, we use data from the previous year’s results to fill in the blanks.)

Overall, compared to our American counterparts—622 U.S. institutions took part in last year’s NSSE—Canadian schools didn’t appear to perform as well, says McCormick. Another overarching trend was: The bigger the university, the lower it tended to perform on student-faculty interaction.

Last, Maclean’s includes the results from two questions posed to middle-year students by the Canadian University Survey Consortium. Of 28 universities that took part last year, 22,537 students filled out the survey—a response rate of 30 per cent—answering questions about participation in activities and the perception of the quality of the educational experience.

Robert Lapp, president of Canada’s Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, says, “The differences within universities can be greater than between universities.” The point is to make use of “formative feedback.”

In Lapp’s ideal scenario, university courses would be constructed collaboratively between a professor—the expert in content—and an educational developer, an expert in best teaching practices. “That would be utopia.”


Engagement indicator results from the 2014 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)

NSSE created 10 engagement indicators organized across 4 major themes: academic challenge; learning with peers; experience with faculty; and campus environment. Each indicator reflects students’ responses to a set of questions relating to these themes. Results are organized to compare performance across all participating schools—American and Canadian.

The following charts show results from the 2014 survey for six of the 10 NSSE engagement indicators. We have listed the universities in descending order of achievement, according to their senior-year scores.

Scores are on a scale of 60.


Scroll down to view the charts sequentially, or view them individually via the links below:
Higher-Order Learning
Quantitative Reasoning
Collaborative Learning
Student-Faculty Interaction
Effective Teaching Practices
Supportive Environment

Student questions:
How would you evaluate your entire educational experience at this institution?
If you could start over, would you go to the institution you are now attending?


Higher-Order Learning

This engagement indicator assesses how often coursework emphasizes such skills as applying facts, analyzing ideas in depth, evaluating points of view, and forming new ideas from various pieces of information.


First-year results Senior-year results
Quest 50.6 52.2
Trinity Western 39.7 43.9
Ambrose 37.2 43.4
Saint Paul (Ottawa) 39.3 42.9
St. Thomas 37.4 42.6
Huron (Western) 38 42.2
Mount Royal 39.6 42.2
Tyndale 36.2 42.2
Bishop's 36.6 42
Cape Breton 35.3 41.5
Kwantlen 35.4 41.5
Briercrest 38.8 41.4
MacEwan 37.6 41.4
Algoma 35.2 40.8
NSSE 2013 & 2014 average* 38.5 40.8
King's (Western) 38.2 40.7
Trent 37.6 40.7
King's (Edmonton) 37.5 40.6
Hearst (Laurentian) 37.9 40.3
UOIT 37.3 40.2
Thompson Rivers 36.4 40.2
Brock 36.6 40
Canadian University College 37 40
York 37.7 39.9
OCAD U 38 39.8
Redeemer 34.2 39.6
Mount Allison 34.4 39.4
Wilfrid Laurier 37.3 39.4
Carleton 36.8 39.3
Concordia (Edmonton) 38.4 39.3
UNBC 34.9 39.3
Queen's 38.6 39.2
Vancouver Island 36.9 39.2
Lethbridge 33.4 38.9
Laurentian 35 38.5
Nipissing 37.4 38.5
St. Francis Xavier 35.8 38.5
Saint Mary's 34.2 38.5
Sheridan 38.4 38.5
Acadia 35.5 38.4
Fraser Valley 37.5 38.4
Guelph 37.1 38.4
Brandon 33.9 38.3
Concordia 36 38.2
Athabasca 36.1 38.1
Toronto 37.9 38
Ryerson 36.1 37.8
McMaster 37.9 37.7
Western 38.2 37.6
Winnipeg 33.9 37.4
Sherbrooke 32.2 37.3
Brescia (Western) 36.2 37.2
Lakehead 35.5 37.2
UPEI 34.9 37.1
Calgary 34.8 37
Simon Fraser 34.3 37
Victoria 34.1 36.9
ACAD 36.7 36.8
Dalhousie 36.1 36.8
Saskatchewan 34.1 36.8
UBC (Vancouver) 37.4 36.7
Manitoba 34.4 36.6
Moncton 34 36.5
Alberta 35.2 36.4
Memorial 34.3 36.3
Regina 34.7 36.1
Trois-Rivières 32.6 35.7
Montréal 33.7 35.6
Ottawa 33.7 35.6
UQAM 34.9 35.6
Rimouski 35.1 35.6
Outaouais 33.7 35.4
UBC (Okanagan) 34.6 35.3
Laval 33.9 35.3
McGill 33.4 35.2
Waterloo 36.4 34.8

* NSSE average is the average score for all Canadian and U.S. universities and colleges that participated in the 2013 and 2014 surveys.
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Quantitative Reasoning

This engagement indicator assesses how often students use numerical information, such as numbers, graphs and statistics, to reach conclusions, examine real-word issues, and evaluate what others have concluded from numerical information.


First-year results Senior-year results
Quest 36.8 42.4
Athabasca 34.1 35.9
Acadia 23.7 31.6
UOIT 27.9 30.5
Dalhousie 27.6 30.2
Kwantlen 22.2 29.8
Guelph 26.7 29.7
NSSE 2013 & 2014 average* 26.7 29.5
Saint Mary's 24.5 29.2
Algoma 23.3 28.9
Trent 25.9 28.7
Hearst (Laurentian) 21.3 28.6
Queen's 28.5 28.6
Waterloo 27.1 28.3
Western 25.4 28.1
UBC (Okanagan) 23.5 27.9
McMaster 26.6 27.9
Calgary 26.4 27.8
UNBC 24.4 27.7
Carleton 24.4 27.6
Huron (Western) 23 27.6
Cape Breton 22.3 27.5
Mount Allison 20.3 27.5
MacEwan 21.2 27.4
UBC (Vancouver) 26.3 27.2
Ryerson 22.4 27.2
Bishop's 23.5 26.8
Mount Royal 26 26.8
Saskatchewan 22.3 26.8
St. Francis Xavier 24.2 26.7
Concordia (Edmonton) 22.5 26.6
Brescia (Western) 23.1 26.5
Simon Fraser 21.5 26.4
Moncton 24.7 26.2
Wilfrid Laurier 26.8 26.2
Alberta 26.4 26
Canadian University College 20 26
Sherbrooke 21.2 26
Laurentian 24.1 25.9
Trinity Western 23 25.9
McGill 23.3 25.7
Lakehead 22.7 25.6
Manitoba 21.5 25.6
Ottawa 22.9 25.6
Thompson Rivers 25 25.6
Brock 24.5 25.5
Toronto 24.8 25.5
Saint Paul (Ottawa) 17.6 25.1
Fraser Valley 20.9 25
Memorial 19.8 25
Nipissing 23.2 24.9
King's (Edmonton) 25 24.8
Concordia 22.9 24.7
Lethbridge 20.3 24.6
Trois-Rivières 20.3 24.5
Victoria 23.1 24.5
York 23.4 24.5
Outaouais 19.7 24.3
UPEI 22.7 24.2
Vancouver Island 20.2 24.2
King's (Western) 23.8 24.1
Sheridan 19.7 23.8
Laval 21.9 23.6
UQAM 21.3 23.2
Rimouski 22.7 23.1
Montréal 20.6 22.9
Redeemer 20.2 22.8
Regina 20.3 22.1
Brandon 18.7 21.7
Ambrose 17.9 21.5
St. Thomas 18.5 21.5
Winnipeg 18.2 19.5
OCAD U 15.9 19.1
Tyndale 16 18.6
Briercrest 14 16
ACAD 11.6 15.7

* NSSE average is the average score for all Canadian and U.S. universities and colleges that participated in the 2013 and 2014 surveys.
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Collaborative Learning

This engagement indicator gauges how often students work with other students on course projects or to prepare for exams, as well as how often students explain course material to other students or ask other students for help.


First-year results Senior-year results
Quest 46.5 51.8
Sherbrooke 37.8 37.8
Queen's 37.9 37.6
Moncton 35.8 37.1
UBC (Okanagan) 33.5 36.4
Kwantlen 29.3 36.3
Outaouais 33.8 36.2
Trinity Western 31.9 36.2
Canadian University College 32 36
UOIT 33.5 36
Bishop's 33.5 35.8
Brock 33.1 35.7
Nipissing 33.5 35.5
Thompson Rivers 30.5 35.4
Lakehead 32 35.2
UNBC 32 34.9
Trois-Rivières 32.8 34.9
Guelph 36.3 34.7
Acadia 33.3 34.6
McMaster 34.3 34.5
Ryerson 33.9 34.5
Sheridan 35.5 34.5
Calgary 35.2 34.4
Rimouski 31.2 34.4
Mount Royal 33.2 34.3
Laval 34.8 33.9
Algoma 32.6 33.8
Dalhousie 34.1 33.6
St. Francis Xavier 34.5 33.6
Waterloo 35.7 33.5
Montréal 32.3 33.4
Wilfrid Laurier 35.5 33.2
Briercrest 34.4 33.1
McGill 32.4 33.1
Western 34.9 33.1
Redeemer 35.3 33
Cape Breton 30.4 32.9
Fraser Valley 29.9 32.9
UPEI 31.5 32.9
Mount Allison 33.7 32.8
Brescia (Western) 30.6 32.5
UBC (Vancouver) 34.3 32.5
Trent 31.9 32.5
NSSE 2013 & 2014 average* 32 32.4
Vancouver Island 31.4 32.3
Carleton 30.1 32.1
UQAM 32.3 31.8
Laurentian 30.7 31.6
Lethbridge 28.9 31.5
Alberta 31.5 31.4
Simon Fraser 31.8 31.2
Ottawa 31.3 31
Brandon 25.5 30.9
Saint Mary's 30.4 30.9
Victoria 32.9 30.9
ACAD 24.7 30.8
Memorial 28.8 30.8
Concordia (Edmonton) 30.6 30.7
Saskatchewan 29.1 30.7
Winnipeg 23.6 30.5
King's (Edmonton) 30.1 30.4
Regina 29.6 30.3
Concordia 29.2 29.9
York 29.1 29.9
King's (Western) 30.8 29.8
OCAD U 29.4 29.3
Toronto 30.5 29.2
Ambrose 32.6 28.9
Huron (Western) 28.1 28.9
St. Thomas 27.7 28.8
Manitoba 26.6 28.1
MacEwan 26.8 27.6
Tyndale 31.6 26.6
Hearst (Laurentian) 25.6 25.6
Saint Paul (Ottawa) 23.4 25

* NSSE average is the average score for all Canadian and U.S. universities and colleges that participated in the 2013 and 2014 surveys.
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Student-Faculty Interaction

This engagement indicator assesses such things as how often students discuss topics with a faculty member outside class, work with faculty on activities other than coursework, or discuss their academic performance and career plans with faculty.


First-year results Senior-year results
Quest 27.9 37.7
Ambrose 17.3 29.5
Canadian University College 19 28
Bishop's 16.8 27.7
Trinity Western 16.8 27.7
Cape Breton 16.5 27.2
King's (Edmonton) 18.5 27.2
Huron (Western) 14.4 26.2
Acadia 15.5 26.1
Mount Allison 11.5 25.7
Thompson Rivers 16.2 25.4
Brescia (Western) 17.5 25.2
ACAD 16.9 25.1
Algoma 18.2 25.1
Sheridan 18.8 25
St. Francis Xavier 17 24.5
Vancouver Island 15.5 24.3
Briercrest 16.9 24.1
St. Thomas 14 24
Kwantlen 13.7 23.5
Redeemer 13.7 23.3
NSSE 2013 & 2014 average* 19 23.1
Brandon 13.9 23
Hearst (Laurentian) 16.6 22.9
Trent 13.8 22.8
Mount Royal 14.7 22.7
Saint Mary's 14 22
MacEwan 12.3 21.9
Moncton 15 21.9
King's (Western) 15.1 21.8
UNBC 11.9 21.8
Brock 14.1 21.5
Laurentian 13.8 21.3
Saint Paul (Ottawa) 11.1 21.3
OCAD U 14.2 21
Nipissing 14.2 20.9
Tyndale 16.6 20.9
Queen's 11.7 20.7
Western 15.8 20.6
UPEI 15.1 20.5
Lethbridge 12.4 20.1
Fraser Valley 14.1 20
Wilfrid Laurier 15.4 19.7
Guelph 11.2 19.6
Dalhousie 15.2 19.5
UOIT 14.7 19.5
UBC (Okanagan) 12.6 19.4
Concordia (Edmonton) 14.4 19.3
Regina 13.8 19.3
Winnipeg 10.9 19.1
York 13.2 18.9
Carleton 12.3 18.6
McMaster 14.1 18.6
Saskatchewan 11.1 18.2
Manitoba 12.5 18
Memorial 12.7 17.8
Victoria 11.5 17.8
Alberta 13.9 17.7
Lakehead 13.6 17.6
Ryerson 12.5 17.6
Toronto 13.7 17.5
McGill 11.5 17.4
Calgary 13.6 17.3
Concordia 12.6 17.1
Waterloo 15.7 16.7
Simon Fraser 11.5 16.6
UBC (Vancouver) 12.4 16.4
Sherbrooke 11.6 16
Ottawa 10.3 15.8
Trois-Rivières 8.5 15.6
Rimouski 10.2 15.5
Outaouais 8.8 12.8
Laval 7.9 12.6
Montréal 7.3 12.5
UQAM 8.5 12.5

* NSSE average is the average score for all Canadian and U.S. universities and colleges that participated in the 2013 and 2014 surveys.
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Effective Teaching Practices

This engagement indicator assesses how well instructors teach in an organized way, clearly explain course requirements, use examples or illustrations to explain difficult points, and provide prompt and detailed feedback on tests and assignments.


First-year results Senior-year results
Quest 49.4 51.5
MacEwan 38.6 44.2
Cape Breton 36 43.6
Trinity Western 40.6 43
Ambrose 39.4 42.9
Briercrest 45.1 42.8
Concordia (Edmonton) 40.7 42.8
Huron (Western) 37.8 42.7
Bishop's 40.3 42.1
Mount Allison 35.7 40.9
Mount Royal 39.8 40.7
Nipissing 38.4 40.6
Hearst (Laurentian) 39.3 40.5
Acadia 37 40.4
St. Thomas 38.7 40.3
NSSE 2013 & 2014 average* 39.3 40.3
Canadian University College 36 40
Sheridan 40.2 39.9
Fraser Valley 39.8 39.8
Tyndale 37.3 39.8
Saint Mary's 36.5 39.7
King's (Western) 38 39.6
Algoma 37.9 39.5
St. Francis Xavier 38.3 39.5
Vancouver Island 39.8 39.4
King's (Edmonton) 41.5 39.3
Redeemer 37.4 39.2
Trent 35.8 39.1
Brandon 37.3 39
Brescia (Western) 36.9 38.8
Thompson Rivers 39.2 38.7
Saint Paul (Ottawa) 40.7 38.6
Carleton 36.7 38.3
Kwantlen 36.8 38.1
Concordia 35.8 37.7
Brock 35.3 37.6
Guelph 34.9 37.6
Lethbridge 36.6 37.6
Wilfrid Laurier 36 37.5
UNBC 37.7 37.2
Queen's 33.8 36.7
Alberta 36.5 36.6
UOIT 35 36.6
York 34.4 36.6
Memorial 35.9 36.5
UPEI 36.1 36.5
Regina 36.1 36.5
Moncton 37 36.4
Western 35 36.4
Winnipeg 35.4 36.4
Manitoba 35.9 36.3
Simon Fraser 33.8 36.3
McMaster 34.2 36.2
Rimouski 38.1 35.9
Saskatchewan 34 35.9
ACAD 40 35.8
UBC (Okanagan) 34.7 35.8
OCAD U 35.2 35.8
Trois-Rivières 35.8 35.6
Victoria 34.6 35.5
Toronto 35.5 35.3
Laurentian 34.5 35.2
UBC (Vancouver) 34.2 34.9
Dalhousie 36.8 34.9
Laval 35 34.6
Sherbrooke 35.3 34.5
Calgary 33.9 34.3
Waterloo 35.1 34.2
Ryerson 34 34.1
Lakehead 34.5 34
UQAM 34.3 34
Outaouais 32.4 33.4
McGill 33.1 33
Ottawa 33.3 33
Montréal 33.4 31.9
Athabasca 29.5 29.2

* NSSE average is the average score for all Canadian and U.S. universities and colleges that participated in the 2013 and 2014 surveys.
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Supportive Environment

This engagement indicator assesses how well universities provide support for academic and non-academic endeavours, ranging from tutoring services and writing centres to recreation, health care and counselling. This measure also examines social interaction, including contact with students from different background.


First-year results Senior-year results
Quest 47.1 46.5
Trois-Rivières 42.3 45
St. Francis Xavier 44.4 43.9
Trinity Western 38.5 41.9
Bishop's 39.9 39.2
King's (Edmonton) 38.5 37.8
Redeemer 38.5 37.8
Hearst (Laurentian) 33.1 37.3
Canadian University College 37 36
Ambrose 34.2 35.8
Huron (Western) 35.6 35.8
Tyndale 38.2 35.8
Acadia 34.8 35
Queen's 38.4 34.7
Mount Allison 36.4 34.4
Briercrest 41.3 34.3
Trent 34.9 34.2
Brescia (Western) 35.2 33.9
Concordia (Edmonton) 33.5 33.7
Guelph 36.8 33.7
St. Thomas 33.9 33.2
MacEwan 31.1 32.9
UNBC 35.2 32.9
NSSE 2013 & 2014 average* 36.3 32.6
Cape Breton 29.1 32.3
Saint Mary's 31.3 32.3
King's (Western) 34.2 32.2
Mount Royal 33.6 31.9
Western 35.8 31.7
Moncton 34.1 30.7
Sherbrooke 31.9 30.7
Wilfrid Laurier 34.8 30.7
Carleton 33 30.3
Concordia 31.8 30.2
Laval 32.6 30.1
Brock 32.8 29.8
Algoma 29.6 29.4
McMaster 32.8 29.4
Thompson Rivers 30.9 29.4
Brandon 30.6 28.7
UOIT 32 28.5
Ryerson 31.4 28.3
York 31.5 28.3
UBC (Vancouver) 31.5 28
Kwantlen 29.2 28
Nipissing 34.5 28
Alberta 31.2 27.7
ACAD 32.8 27.7
Vancouver Island 30 27.7
Lethbridge 29.7 27.6
Saskatchewan 29.4 27.2
UBC (Okanagan) 29.9 27.1
Dalhousie 31 27
Fraser Valley 30.7 27
Memorial 30.6 27
Regina 29.6 26.9
Saint Paul (Ottawa) 29.7 26.8
Rimouski 31 26.7
Lakehead 29.1 26.5
Victoria 29.9 26.5
Calgary 30.5 26.4
UQAM 29.7 26.4
Ottawa 29.6 26.3
Simon Fraser 27.8 26.3
Winnipeg 26.8 26.3
Toronto 31.2 26.2
Montréal 29.4 26.1
UPEI 29.6 26.1
Manitoba 29.1 25.9
Waterloo 32 25.5
McGill 32 25.3
Sheridan 30.4 25.2
Laurentian 27.4 24.7
Outaouais 25.4 24.3
OCAD U 26.9 22.8

* NSSE average is the average score for all Canadian and U.S. universities and colleges that participated in the 2013 and 2014 surveys.
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How satisfied are students?

NSSE asks students dozens of specific questions about how they spend their time in and out of the classroom. Below are two questions that are the broadest and most representative of the student experience. Responses are ordered according to the percentage who chose the highest level of satisfaction, e.g., “Excellent.”

How would you evaluate your entire educational experience at this institution?


FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS
Excellent (%) Good (%)
Quest 76 21
Briercrest 72 25
Trinity Western 68 25
Bishop's 54 37
Redeemer 52 41
King's (Edmonton) 49 43
Queen's 49 41
Hearst (Laurentian) 48 48
Saint Paul (Ottawa) 46 45
Mount Royal 43 48
Rimouski 42 47
St. Francis Xavier 42 46
Ambrose 41 50
Guelph 41 48
Sherbrooke 41 48
Concordia (Edmonton) 40 44
Western 40 46
MacEwan 39 50
Tyndale 39 41
Acadia 38 53
Nipissing 38 52
Sheridan 38 49
Athabasca 37 49
McMaster 37 45
Brescia (Western) 36 51
NSSE 2013 & 2014 average* 36 50
King's (Western) 35 51
Waterloo 35 48
Huron (Western) 34 51
Laval 34 55
Mount Allison 34 46
Vancouver Island 34 55
Wilfrid Laurier 33 52
UNBC 31 60
Canadian University College 30 58
Dalhousie 30 53
Fraser Valley 30 57
St. Thomas 30 62
Trent 30 53
Trois-Rivières 30 54
ACAD 29 50
Brock 28 55
Carleton 28 55
Lethbridge 28 57
McGill 28 52
UBC (Vancouver) 26 54
UQAM 25 61
UOIT 24 55
Victoria 24 62
Algoma 23 56
Brandon 23 55
Memorial 23 62
UPEI 23 57
Toronto 23 51
Alberta 22 56
Concordia 22 58
OCAD U 22 48
Cape Breton 21 56
Montréal 21 59
Ottawa 21 57
Ryerson 21 55
Saint Mary's 21 56
Thompson Rivers 21 63
Winnipeg 21 60
UBC (Okanagan) 20 63
Lakehead 20 56
Laurentian 20 54
Moncton 20 58
Regina 20 59
Calgary 19 57
Kwantlen 19 57
Saskatchewan 18 60
York 17 52
Outaouais 16 60
Simon Fraser 16 56
Manitoba 15 58

SENIOR-YEAR STUDENTS
Excellent (%) Good (%)
Quest 82 14
Trinity Western 77 21
Hearst (Laurentian) 73 27
King's (Edmonton) 73 27
Ambrose 68 26
Briercrest 64 31
Huron (Western) 64 28
Concordia (Edmonton) 58 34
MacEwan 58 35
Acadia 57 35
Mount Royal 56 37
Redeemer 56 33
Bishop's 55 40
Tyndale 55 42
Guelph 51 41
Queen's 51 39
Brescia (Western) 49 39
Sherbrooke 49 43
Cape Breton 47 43
St. Francis Xavier 45 40
King's (Western) 42 51
Mount Allison 42 45
Saint Paul (Ottawa) 41 54
St. Thomas 41 45
Western 41 47
NSSE 2013 & 2014 average* 41 45
UNBC 40 44
Trent 39 50
Lethbridge 38 50
McMaster 38 48
Nipissing 38 48
Fraser Valley 37 53
Vancouver Island 37 53
Saint Mary's 36 50
Wilfrid Laurier 35 51
Athabasca 33 49
Carleton 33 50
Brock 31 54
Rimouski 31 48
Winnipeg 31 53
Alberta 30 49
Kwantlen 30 55
Laval 30 54
Memorial 30 52
Victoria 30 54
Waterloo 30 49
Algoma 29 54
UBC (Vancouver) 29 51
McGill 29 48
UBC (Okanagan) 28 54
Canadian University College 28 66
Concordia 28 53
Dalhousie 28 52
Thompson Rivers 28 53
Trois-Rivières 28 55
UPEI 26 56
Toronto 25 48
Brandon 24 53
UOIT 24 50
UQAM 23 58
ACAD 21 58
Laurentian 21 53
Regina 21 56
Ryerson 21 54
Simon Fraser 21 56
York 21 53
Montréal 20 56
OCAD U 20 50
Lakehead 19 50
Saskatchewan 19 59
Ottawa 17 57
Outaouais 17 57
Calgary 16 57
Manitoba 16 61
Moncton 16 58
Sheridan 15 60

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If you could start over, would you go to the institution you are now attending?


FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS
Definitely Yes (%) Probably Yes (%)
Quest 76 18
Briercrest 73 25
Rimouski 68 27
Saint Paul (Ottawa) 66 30
Sherbrooke 66 27
Bishop's 61 33
Laval 61 32
Queen's 60 32
Redeemer 60 35
Trinity Western 60 35
Ambrose 59 28
UQAM 57 35
Acadia 55 36
Tyndale 54 28
Guelph 53 36
Mount Royal 52 40
Trois-Rivières 52 39
Nipissing 51 40
St. Francis Xavier 51 36
Sheridan 51 38
Western 51 39
Hearst (Laurentian) 50 46
UNBC 50 42
Athabasca 49 41
Concordia (Edmonton) 49 42
MacEwan 49 41
Brescia (Western) 46 42
Montréal 46 41
Outaouais 46 39
Canadian University College 45 49
King's (Edmonton) 45 46
McMaster 45 44
Mount Allison 45 39
McGill 44 44
Huron (Western) 43 34
Waterloo 43 45
NSSE 2013 & 2014 average* 43 42
UBC (Vancouver) 42 46
Winnipeg 42 47
Brock 41 45
Trent 41 42
Wilfrid Laurier 41 45
Dalhousie 40 45
King's (Western) 40 45
St. Thomas 40 51
Vancouver Island 40 48
Fraser Valley 39 50
Brandon 38 48
Carleton 38 48
Concordia 38 47
Memorial 38 51
ACAD 37 45
Alberta 36 48
Lethbridge 36 51
UOIT 36 46
Victoria 36 50
Laurentian 35 46
Moncton 35 49
OCAD U 35 50
Toronto 35 45
UPEI 34 47
Regina 34 50
Ryerson 34 49
Algoma 33 47
Saskatchewan 33 53
Lakehead 32 47
Ottawa 31 51
Saint Mary's 31 48
Cape Breton 30 48
Manitoba 29 56
York 29 47
Calgary 28 55
UBC (Okanagan) 27 54
Kwantlen 27 51
Simon Fraser 26 54
Thompson Rivers 26 59

SENIOR-YEAR STUDENTS
Definitely Yes (%) Probably Yes (%)
King's (Edmonton) 79 21
Hearst (Laurentian) 73 20
Trinity Western 73 19
Sherbrooke 72 22
Quest 71 22
Briercrest 69 25
Huron (Western) 65 25
Bishop's 63 29
Concordia (Edmonton) 59 33
MacEwan 59 35
Mount Royal 59 32
Tyndale 59 39
Ambrose 58 32
Guelph 57 33
Rimouski 57 29
Queen's 56 31
Saint Paul (Ottawa) 56 37
Acadia 55 34
Brescia (Western) 54 36
Laval 53 36
Trois-Rivières 51 36
Cape Breton 49 41
Redeemer 48 36
Canadian University College 47 41
UNBC 47 38
King's (Western) 46 42
St. Francis Xavier 46 31
Western 45 38
Fraser Valley 44 43
UQAM 44 42
Trent 44 41
NSSE 2013 & 2014 average* 44 38
McMaster 43 41
Memorial 42 42
Montréal 41 40
Vancouver Island 41 46
St. Thomas 40 40
Winnipeg 40 45
Lethbridge 39 46
Mount Allison 39 44
Nipissing 39 42
Wilfrid Laurier 39 42
Athabasca 38 45
Brock 38 44
McGill 38 43
Saint Mary's 38 41
Concordia 37 46
UBC (Vancouver) 36 49
Carleton 36 44
Outaouais 35 46
Victoria 34 47
Waterloo 34 44
Alberta 33 46
Kwantlen 33 46
Sheridan 33 49
Dalhousie 31 48
Moncton 31 47
Toronto 30 42
Algoma 29 48
UPEI 29 49
Saskatchewan 29 50
Brandon 28 45
UBC (Okanagan) 28 48
OCAD U 28 45
Ryerson 28 46
Thompson Rivers 28 50
Laurentian 27 49
UOIT 26 41
York 25 44
Ottawa 24 46
Regina 24 50
Simon Fraser 24 50
ACAD 23 43
Lakehead 23 46
Manitoba 23 55
Calgary 20 51

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