US Indiana university proposes a survey instrument, called National Survey of Student Engagement(NSSE), to monitor student engagement. This is represented by the amount of time and effort students devote to their studies and other activities for educational purposes. NSSE provides results on six High-Impact practices (HIPs) that are duly noted for their positive outcomes on student learning and retention. For the last survey in 2018, 511 institutions (489 in the US, 16 in Canada, and 6 in other countries for the first time) participated in this survey. Some accrediting bodies, such as AACSB or ACBSP, have introduced student engagement indicators. Thus, student engagement seems to be attracting more and more attention to assess university quality. However, these developments are still mainly centered in US and Canada universities. Conceptually the idea of student engagement might not be perceived the same way in other countries/cultures. This research wants to explore what is the understanding of student engagement in three US, Europe, and Chinese universities, what these universities do to promote it, and how they measure the outcomes. To do so, in depth exploratory interviews have been conducted among key players in those three universities. Results show some unexpected results.