About CSSE

Background information about the CSSE

In 2011, the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) at the University of the Free State (UFS) obtained permission from the Centre for Community College Student Engagement at the University of Texas in Austin in the United States to adapt and contextualise the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) for use in South African colleges. The survey was named the College Survey of Student Engagement (CSSE) and was piloted nationally in the same year. The survey measures five benchmarks that have been adapted to the South African context: Active and Collaborative Learning, South African Student Effort, Academic Challenge, Student-staff Interaction and South African Support for Learners.

Why should institutions participate?

The CSSE provides Further Education and Training (FET) colleges with data that can be used by the colleges to assess institutional practices and student behaviours that are strongly correlated with student learning and student retention, and that may be used for benchmarking, diagnostic or monitoring purposes. Used systematically in a cyclical manner, the CSSE can provide up-to-date and relevant information that can be used by stakeholders at sectoral and institutional levels to improve student outcomes in the FET sector.