Few terms in the lexicon of higher education today are invoked more frequently, and in more varied ways, than "engagement". The phrase "student engagement" has come to refer to how "involved" or "interested" students appear to be in their learning and how "connected" they are to their classes, their institutions, and each other. As measured by such instruments as the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) or the College Student Experiences Questionnaire (CSEQ), the level of student engagement at a particular college or university is increasingly seen as a valid indicator of institutional excellence, more meaningful than such traditional (and more easily measured) characteristics as the number of books in the college library or Nobel laureates on the faculty. Why should engagement be so serious an issue today, particularly in colleges and universities? Is it possible to measure accurately (not to mention strengthen) the dispositions or connections to which the term "student engagement" refers? In this article, the authors provide a history of the word "engagement", present a national survey of student engagement, discuss the forms of engagement and define the term "student engagement". (Contains 10 resources.)