College as a Community Experience

College as a Community Experience

College is often understood primarily as an academic institution: a place where students attend classes, earn credentials, and prepare for careers. Yet the college experience is also profoundly social and communal. Students enter networks of classmates, friends, professors, mentors, roommates, organizations, and institutions that can influence their development long after individual courses have ended.

Research and experiences across higher education emphasize the importance of belonging, relationships, participation, and shared experiences. Students do not simply attend colleges; they become members of communities. The strength of those communities can affect academic persistence, personal development, mental health, civic participation, and students' overall perceptions of their education.

Belonging and the College Experience

A sense of belonging is one of the central dimensions of college life. Students are more likely to feel connected to an institution when they believe that they are welcomed, respected, valued, and recognized as legitimate members of the campus community.

Belonging develops through repeated everyday experiences rather than through a single program or event. Conversations with classmates, recognition from professors, participation in organizations, friendships, advising relationships, residence-hall interactions, and informal encounters can gradually transform an unfamiliar institution into a community.

Feeling that one matters may be particularly important. Students can technically belong to an institution while still feeling anonymous or socially disconnected. Colleges therefore face the challenge of creating environments in which students not only have access to programs and services but also develop meaningful relationships with other people.

Friendship, Interaction, and Student Organizations

Friendship is a major component of the college experience. For many students, college involves leaving established family and friendship networks and constructing new social relationships.

Residence halls, classrooms, clubs, sports, student organizations, campus events, volunteer programs, and shared interests create repeated opportunities for interaction. These relationships can provide emotional support while also exposing students to unfamiliar perspectives, identities, cultures, and ideas.

Student organizations function as smaller communities within larger institutions. They provide opportunities to practice leadership, cooperation, communication, responsibility, conflict resolution, and collective decision-making. Identity-based and interest-based organizations can also provide students with places where they feel understood and supported.

Even acquaintances and relatively weak social ties can matter. Informal relationships can connect students with information, activities, resources, opportunities, and social groups that they might otherwise never encounter.

Residence Halls and Shared Spaces

Residential life demonstrates particularly clearly how education and community can overlap. Residence halls require students to negotiate shared spaces, relationships, responsibilities, differences, and conflicts while developing greater independence.

Living-learning communities and residential colleges intentionally combine academic and social experiences. Students who live and learn together have repeated opportunities to form relationships extending beyond scheduled classroom instruction.

Physical campus environments also shape community. Student unions, libraries, dining halls, courtyards, lawns, recreation facilities, and other gathering places create opportunities for spontaneous interaction.

These informal "third places" between the classroom and private living space can become important settings for friendship, conversation, collaboration, relaxation, and participation in institutional traditions. Campus architecture therefore influences not only how efficiently people move through a university but also how frequently they encounter one another.

First-Year Students, Mentoring, and Transition

The transition into college is an especially important period for community formation. New students must simultaneously navigate unfamiliar academic expectations, institutional systems, social environments, and personal responsibilities.

Orientation programs, welcome activities, first-year seminars, summer bridge programs, peer leaders, and mentoring initiatives can help students establish relationships before feelings of isolation become entrenched.

The first weeks and months of college can be particularly significant. Early friendships and supportive relationships can help students interpret unfamiliar experiences and understand that uncertainty about belonging is often shared by other students.

Transfer students, first-generation students, international students, rural students, and students entering institutions where they have few existing connections may face additional challenges in becoming integrated into established campus communities.

Faculty, Mentors, and Relationships

College community is not limited to relationships among students. Faculty members, advisors, mentors, administrators, and staff can become important sources of encouragement, recognition, information, and belonging.

A professor who learns a student's name, an advisor who helps navigate institutional bureaucracy, or a mentor who takes sustained interest in a student's development can make a large institution feel more personal and accessible.

Faculty-student interaction outside formal classroom instruction can also contribute to intellectual and personal development. Mentoring creates intergenerational relationships through which students gain knowledge, encouragement, guidance, and access to opportunities.

These relationships demonstrate that education is not simply the transmission of information. It is also a human process shaped by recognition, trust, conversation, and sustained interaction.

Classroom Community and Collaborative Learning

The classroom itself can function as a community. Courses that encourage participation, collaboration, discussion, shared inquiry, and respectful interaction can help students develop relationships with classmates while strengthening their engagement with academic material.

Inclusive teaching practices can reduce uncertainty about whether students belong in higher education. When students feel comfortable participating and believe their contributions are taken seriously, learning becomes a more collective experience.

Classroom community is particularly important for students who spend relatively little time elsewhere on campus. For commuters, working students, adult learners, and others with substantial responsibilities outside college, classmates and instructors may constitute their primary connection to the institution.

Diversity and Building Community Across Difference

Colleges bring together people with different racial, cultural, religious, socioeconomic, geographic, political, and personal backgrounds. This diversity creates opportunities for students to encounter people whose experiences and beliefs differ significantly from their own.

Simply assembling a diverse population, however, does not automatically create community. Institutions must create opportunities for meaningful interaction, dialogue, cooperation, and participation.

Programs encouraging dialogue across differences can help students learn how to disagree without withdrawing from relationships. Interfaith initiatives, bridge-building programs, collaborative projects, service activities, and diverse student organizations can create environments where difference becomes part of the educational experience.

A successful college community does not require uniformity. Instead, it can teach students how to participate in pluralistic communities where disagreement and cooperation coexist.

Civic Engagement and College as a Public Community

Colleges also connect students with communities beyond campus. Service learning, volunteering, community-based research, internships, civic organizations, and public projects allow students to participate in social institutions outside the university.

Such experiences can develop social capital by creating networks of relationships, trust, and cooperation. They can also encourage students to understand education as preparation for participation in public life rather than solely preparation for employment.

Universities and community colleges can themselves function as civic institutions. They provide spaces where people gather, debate ideas, organize activities, conduct research, participate in public discussions, and address problems affecting surrounding communities.

In this sense, college can serve as a laboratory for democratic community life.

Mental Health, Care, and Social Support

Belonging and social connection are closely related to student well-being. Loneliness, isolation, stress, and uncertainty can make academic challenges more difficult, while supportive relationships can provide students with emotional and practical resources.

Peer-support groups illustrate how students themselves can create communities of care. Faculty and staff can also contribute by communicating recognition, concern, and willingness to help.

A culture of care does not replace professional mental-health services, but it can create an environment in which students are less socially isolated and more likely to encounter people who notice when they are struggling.

Community should therefore be understood as part of the broader environment affecting student well-being rather than merely an extracurricular benefit.

Community Colleges and Nontraditional Students

The meaning of campus community differs across institutions and student populations. Traditional residential universities provide numerous opportunities for repeated informal encounters, while community-college students often commute to campus and balance education with employment, caregiving, and other responsibilities.

Adult learners, veterans, student parents, transfer students, and commuters may therefore need different opportunities for connection than students living in residence halls.

Flexible activities, peer networks, student centers, specialized organizations, mentoring programs, and accessible gathering spaces can help create community for students whose lives do not revolve around campus.

Student parents provide an especially important example. A genuinely inclusive conception of college community must recognize that some students arrive with families, careers, and substantial responsibilities beyond their coursework.

Online, Hybrid, and Changing College Communities

Online and hybrid education raises fundamental questions about which parts of the college experience can be reproduced digitally.

Technology can make education more accessible and flexible, but physical campuses traditionally provide countless informal encounters that are difficult to replicate online. Conversations before class, meals with classmates, spontaneous meetings, campus events, clubs, residence life, and shared physical spaces contribute to community without necessarily being formally organized.

Online programs therefore face the challenge of intentionally creating opportunities for interaction that residential institutions may generate more naturally.

Hybrid education may ultimately demonstrate that students value both flexibility and human connection. The future of higher education may depend partly on finding ways to preserve meaningful relationships and community while taking advantage of technological accessibility.

College Activities, Traditions, and Participation

Extracurricular activities are not merely entertainment added to academic education. Clubs, sports, student government, volunteer programs, performances, lectures, festivals, orientation activities, and campus traditions create shared experiences through which students develop institutional identity.

Participation allows students to move from being consumers of education to active members of a community.

Campus traditions can also create continuity between generations of students. Recurring celebrations, rituals, sporting events, and other shared experiences give individuals a connection to a larger institutional history.

The educational value of college therefore extends beyond what occurs in classrooms. Leadership, cooperation, friendship, civic responsibility, and interpersonal skills are often developed through participation in the broader life of the institution.

College as a Human Institution

Taken together, these experiences suggest that college is fundamentally a human institution. Its educational effects emerge not only from curricula and credentials but also from relationships among people.

Friendships teach cooperation and mutual support. Roommates require negotiation and compromise. Student organizations provide opportunities for leadership. Professors and mentors connect students with intellectual communities. Diverse campuses expose students to unfamiliar perspectives. Civic engagement connects education with public life.

Many of the most consequential experiences of college occur precisely because students spend sustained time around other people.

Conclusion

College is more than a collection of courses leading to a degree. At its best, it is a community in which students learn how to live, communicate, cooperate, disagree, participate, and form relationships with people beyond their existing social worlds.

Belonging, friendship, mentorship, residence life, classroom interaction, student organizations, shared spaces, civic engagement, and campus traditions all contribute to this broader educational experience.

Changes in higher education—including online learning, hybrid instruction, commuting, changing student demographics, and increasingly flexible educational models—make the community function of college especially important to consider. Flexibility and accessibility offer significant benefits, but institutions must also preserve opportunities for sustained human interaction.

The enduring value of college may therefore lie not only in what students learn but also in whom they encounter, the communities they join, and the relationships they build while learning together.

College as a Community Experience

Belonging and the College Experience

Beyond Belonging: Do Students Feel They Matter on Campus? | Inside Higher Ed Staff | Inside Higher Ed | June 18, 2026

Explores the difference between simply belonging at college and feeling that one genuinely matters to other people in the campus community, highlighting differences between community-college and four-year students.

Friends, It Turns Out, Have Benefits | Wonkhe Staff | Wonkhe | May 29, 2026

Looks at the relationship between friendship, loneliness, belonging, anxiety, and life satisfaction among university students.

How to Influence the Influencers: Belonging in Higher Education | Higher Education Policy Institute | HEPI | May 27, 2026

Discusses why belonging and loneliness have become major concerns in higher education and considers how universities can create stronger social environments.

Checking In With Chancellor May: A Place to Belong and Prosper | UC Davis | UC Davis Leadership | April 16, 2026

Describes belonging, mentorship, peer collaboration, campus resources, and personal relationships as important parts of students' development beyond academics.

Scraps of Belonging: Student Life's Junk Journal | Natalie Tseng | University of Michigan Student Life | February 10, 2026

Uses student experiences to illustrate the many informal ways young adults discover friendships, organizations, identities, and communities during college.

How Inclusion Can Reenergize Universities and Communities | UC Davis | Redwood SEED | January 30, 2026

Argues that universities become healthier and more vibrant when students of different backgrounds are meaningfully included in academic and community life.

College Success Tied to Fitting In: Do I Belong Here? | University of Michigan | Marsal Family School of Education | January 27, 2026

Examines research connecting students' feelings of belonging in classrooms and residential programs with peer relationships, social integration, and academic success.

The Hybrid College Wins: What Students Want That Most Schools Ignore | Higher Ed Dive | Higher Ed Dive | January 26, 2026

Reports that students continue to value connection, belonging, and personalized relationships even as they seek greater flexibility in how they attend college.

With a Little Help from My Friends: Co-Creating Belonging in Higher Education | F. Aman et al. | Peer-Reviewed Research / PMC | 2026

Evaluates a university program designed with students to strengthen belonging, emphasizing friendship, shared participation, and students' roles in creating their own communities.

Coming to Belong in the University Through Small Acts of Everyday Participation | R. Ajjawi et al. | Studies in Higher Education | 2026

Investigates how first-year students gradually develop a sense of belonging through ordinary relationships, interactions, routines, and experiences within university life.

Research: Belonging Intervention Improves Pass Rates | Inside Higher Ed Staff | Inside Higher Ed | November 17, 2025

Examines evidence that deliberate efforts to strengthen student belonging can improve academic outcomes, particularly for students who otherwise experience weak campus connections.

Survey: Students Share Feelings of Belonging on Campuses | Inside Higher Ed Staff | Inside Higher Ed | October 27, 2025

Reports student perceptions of whether people at their colleges feel welcomed, valued, respected, and supported.

The Ripple Effect of Campus Belonging on Student Success | INSIGHT Into Academia | INSIGHT Into Academia | October 7, 2025

Reviews evidence linking connections with the campus community to persistence, academic achievement, engagement, and graduation.

The Complex Factors That Drive Students' Sense of Belonging | Inside Higher Ed | Inside Higher Ed | June 2, 2025

Explores why feeling valued, respected, and part of a community affects academic achievement, retention, and student well-being.

A Blueprint for College Students' Sense of Belonging | Diverse Education | Diverse Issues in Higher Education | April 25, 2025

Presents belonging as the result of repeated positive interactions with classmates, professors, advisors, mentors, coaches, and other members of college communities.

Most Students Say College Does Well Promoting Free Speech | Gallup | Gallup | April 7, 2025

Includes national survey findings about students' feelings of belonging, respect, expression, and participation within their college communities.

Six Ways to Promote Belonging Among College Students | Ashley Mowreader | Inside Higher Ed | August 30, 2024

Reviews practical approaches colleges can use to strengthen student connections in classrooms, activities, advising, and campus life.

The Overlooked Factor in College Success: Belonging | Diverse Education | Diverse Issues in Higher Education | March 25, 2024

Argues that belonging should be treated as a central component of college success rather than an optional feature of student life.

Study Evaluates Four Factors of College Student Belonging | Ashley Mowreader | Inside Higher Ed | February 19, 2024

Examines different dimensions of belonging and their relationship to psychological well-being, academic achievement, persistence, and life satisfaction.

Students' Sense of Belonging Matters | MIT Teaching + Learning Lab | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 2024

Reviews evidence connecting students' sense of belonging with mental health and academic experiences, particularly during the first year of college.

Friendship, Interaction, and Student Organizations

Why Are Identity-Based Student Organizations So Hard to Sustain on Today's Campuses? | NASPA | NASPA | July 19, 2026

Examines how student organizations provide community, leadership, friendship, identity development, conflict negotiation, mutual care, and a sense of purpose.

Community College Students Want a Social Life | Inside Higher Ed Staff | Inside Higher Ed | October 8, 2025

Challenges assumptions that community-college students care only about credentials, showing that friendships, activities, and campus social life also matter to them.

Three Ways to Combat the Student Loneliness Epidemic on Your Community College Campus | Tara Zirkel | EAB | July 11, 2025

Recommends creating early social connections, accessible gathering opportunities, and intentional outreach to reduce isolation among community-college students.

Five Key Components of Student Belonging in Higher Ed | EAB | EAB | 2025

Breaks college belonging into several interconnected dimensions and emphasizes that meaningful student relationships are central to engagement and persistence.

Student Belonging Resource Center | EAB | EAB | 2025

Collects research and practices for helping students develop stronger connections with classmates, faculty, programs, institutions, and campus communities.

Beyond Academics: Finding Your Campus Community | UC Davis | UC Davis Admissions | April 30, 2024

Offers student-centered advice on joining organizations, attending events, meeting classmates, exploring unfamiliar activities, and building a community beyond the classroom.

Examining College Student Loneliness and What Student Affairs Educators Can Do About It | NASPA | NASPA | 2024

Connects loneliness with weak social support and explores how faculty, peers, staff, activities, and campus institutions can make students feel cared for and connected.

Promote Student Belonging at Your University | EAB | EAB | 2024

Explains how participation in extracurricular activities, sports, organizations, and other shared experiences helps students make friends and establish informal support networks.

Why and How to Build a Sense of Belonging on Campus | EAB | EAB | 2024

Argues that belonging must be cultivated within majors, classrooms, academic structures, student life, and the wider campus environment.

The Benefits of Leveraging Student Interest Groups | Kelly Lam | Times Higher Education | August 22, 2023

Explores how interest-based student groups create friendships, leadership opportunities, informal learning, and connections between students and their universities.

Making Friends: Student Stories | UC Berkeley Students | Berkeley Life | August 10, 2023

Students describe how residence halls, clubs, sports, shared interests, and repeated interaction helped them make friends and create meaningful communities at college.

10 Ways to Get Involved on Campus | BestColleges | BestColleges | July 22, 2022

Describes campus involvement as a way for students to expand social circles, develop skills, explore interests, form friendships, and strengthen their sense of belonging.

Three Innovations to Help College Students Build Community, Resilience, and Belonging | EAB | EAB | November 30, 2021

Examines institutional strategies for helping students build stronger relationships and communities while strengthening resilience and persistence.

Study Finds College Students Build Friendships That Bridge Divides | Lois Elfman | Diverse Issues in Higher Education | October 10, 2019

Reports research suggesting that diverse friendships formed in college can promote more positive attitudes toward people with different beliefs and backgrounds.

Student Perspectives on Joining Student Organizations | ACUI | Association of College Unions International | August 1, 2019

Discusses research suggesting that participation in student organizations contributes substantially to students' sense of belonging.

Residence Halls and Living-Learning Communities

International Students in the Residence Halls | NASPA | NASPA | February 13, 2025

Studies how international students create connections within residence halls through acceptance, assistance, recognition, friendship, and shared residential experiences.

A Case Study of University Student Networks and the COVID-19 Pandemic Using Social Network Analysis in Halls of Residence | José Alberto Benítez-Andrades et al. | arXiv | February 14, 2024

Maps social networks among students living in university residences and demonstrates the significance of informal leaders and interpersonal connections.

Should You Live on Campus Your First Year of College? | BestColleges | BestColleges | March 21, 2023

Reviews social and academic arguments for campus residence, including easier access to friendships, activities, faculty, services, and the broader college community.

Student Belonging: More Than a Buzzword? | Unite Students | Unite Group | February 23, 2023

Examines how student housing, inclusion, peer interaction, common spaces, and accommodation practices can strengthen or undermine students' sense of community.

Spaces of Belonging: Lessons from Halls of Residence | Luke McCrone and Julianne K. Viola | Wonkhe | January 24, 2023

Explores what residence-hall staff and students can teach universities about building community and creating places where students feel that they belong.

What Are Living-Learning Communities? | BestColleges | BestColleges | September 21, 2022

Explains how residential communities organized around majors, interests, or identities combine housing with educational and social experiences.

The Impact of Residential Life on the Development of Long-Term Relationships | A. Lukens | Journal of College and University Student Housing / ERIC | 2022

Reviews ways residence halls influence students' social relationships, group participation, academic outcomes, identity, and long-term interpersonal development.

Role of Residential College Participation in Sense of Belonging | A. Luo et al. | University of Macau | 2022

Studies relationships between participation in residential-college activities and students' feelings of connection to their college communities.

A Content Analysis of College Student-Proposed Definitions of Sense of Belonging to a Residential Community | Researchers in Student Housing | Journal of College and University Student Housing | 2021

Uses students' own definitions to explore what it means to belong within a college residential community.

On-Campus Housing and Its Effect on Sense of Belonging | M. Joseph | Eastern Illinois University | 2021

Investigates how living on campus affects upper-level students' relationships with their university and their perceptions of community membership.

A Community of Empowerment | AAC&U | Liberal Education | 2020s

Describes residential communities that intentionally connect students who share academic interests and create networks of mutual encouragement.

The Impact of Residential Colleges on Student Learning and Development | S. Oldham | Taylor University | 2015

Considers how residential-college models integrate rigorous academics with social interaction and personal development.

College Unions, Learning, and Community Building | L. J. Rullman and colleagues | University of Michigan / ACUI | 2014

Explores the college union as a central social institution where students gather, interact, participate, learn informally, and develop affinity with their universities.

First-Year Students, Mentoring, and Transition

What 1,500 First-Year Students Told Us About Belonging and Well-Being | EAB / League for Innovation | League for Innovation in the Community College | November 12, 2025

Presents student perspectives on what helps and hinders social connection during the first year of college.

Four Lessons About the Make-or-Break Year | Tara Zirkel | EAB | September 29, 2025

Draws on a survey of more than 1,500 first-year community-college students to examine belonging, mental health, career expectations, and the critical transition into college.

How Kindness May Help Students Transition to College | Leila Rosenberg | Greater Good Science Center | August 28, 2024

Reports research suggesting that performing kind acts for other people can improve students' well-being during the difficult first weeks of college.

The Power of Peer Mentorship to Increase Resource Utilization and Sense of Belonging | Higher Ed Dive | Higher Ed Dive | April 1, 2024

Explores how peer mentors provide social support, model college participation, connect students with resources, and foster community.

When Cultural Norms Conflict in College Advising | Carrie Spector | Stanford Graduate School of Education | March 29, 2024

Shows how advisors can become important bridges to college resources and community, particularly for international, immigrant, and first-generation students.

The Lived Experiences of Community College First-Year Students | ERIC / Dissertation Research | ERIC | 2024

Identifies belonging and community as major themes in first-year community-college students' experiences alongside anxiety, hope, identity formation, and engagement.

Improving Student Success Through Social Belonging | Stanford University | Stanford Report | May 4, 2023

Reports major research showing that helping new college students understand belonging concerns can improve academic and personal outcomes.

Being a Hispanic First-Generation College Student | UC Davis Student Contributor | UC Davis | March 22, 2023

A first-generation student describes culture shock, self-doubt, friendship, campus resources, and eventually finding a supportive community at college.

How to Build a Sense of Belonging Among Black and Latino Men | Jarrell Anderson and Alexa Silverman | EAB | February 28, 2023

Examines important moments when institutions can help students establish relationships and feel like valued members of their college community.

Four Student Lifecycle Moments When Sense of Belonging Matters Most | EAB | EAB | December 8, 2022

Describes programs that intentionally sustain peer relationships through workshops, social events, family involvement, and career-development experiences.

The Summer Bridge: How an Immersive First-Year Experience Can Increase Belonging | AAC&U | Liberal Education | October 14, 2021

Examines a summer program in which incoming students create relationships and become familiar with the institution before regular classes begin.

In Challenging Times, Relationships Keep Students Engaged in College Learning | EdSurge | EdSurge | December 24, 2020

Emphasizes the importance of supportive relationships with faculty and staff for community-college students facing academic and personal obstacles.

College Social-Belonging Intervention Enhances Career and Life Satisfaction | Wayne D'Orio | Stanford Graduate School of Education | April 29, 2020

Describes long-term evidence that relatively brief interventions addressing belonging during college can have effects extending years beyond graduation.

Supporting First-Generation University Students | UC Davis | Center for Educational Effectiveness | 2020s

Explains how faculty relationships, peer interaction, academic culture, and family expectations influence first-generation students' transitions into university life.

Using Social Psychology to Help First-Generation and Low-Income Students Through College | Brookings Institution | Brookings | October 26, 2017

Discusses social and psychological challenges faced by first-generation and low-income students, including worries about belonging and interactions with peers and faculty.

Diversity, Inclusion, and Communities of Identity

Student-Parents Belong on College Campuses. So Do Their Children | The Hechinger Report | The Hechinger Report | October 27, 2025

Argues that campus definitions of community must include students who are raising children and balancing education with extensive family responsibilities.

The Struggle for Inclusion on Community College Campuses | Arianna Morrison | Diverse Issues in Higher Education | April 4, 2025

Examines whether community colleges are creating genuinely inclusive communities for students with disabilities and other historically underserved populations.

Student Voice: Colleges and Universities Must Do Far More to Support Transfer Students | Student Contributor | The Hechinger Report | October 22, 2024

Describes challenges faced by transfer students entering established university communities and calls for stronger institutional support and integration.

Our Advice for Making College Campuses Ready for Diverse Student Populations | Diverse Education | Diverse Issues in Higher Education | August 5, 2024

Explores how representation among students, faculty, and staff can create role models, mentorship, inclusion, and stronger feelings of community.

Creating Inclusive College Campuses for Black Men | BestColleges | BestColleges | June 6, 2024

Highlights peer engagement, campus activities, mentorship, representation, and social integration as important dimensions of the Black male college experience.

College Guide for Indigenous and Native American Students | Doug Wintemute | BestColleges | March 27, 2024

Reviews organizations, resources, cultural programs, and campus supports that can help Indigenous students find community and succeed in college.

Two Keys to Helping College Students Feel Like They Belong | Melissa De Witte | Greater Good Science Center | July 13, 2023

Explains how individual attitudes and supportive social environments interact to determine whether students feel that they belong.

11 Ways to Foster Dialogue and Understanding on Campus | Erik Gross and Mylien Duong | Greater Good Science Center | June 28, 2023

Presents strategies for making campuses places where students can discuss differences constructively and participate in a shared intellectual community.

Campus Bridging Project | Othering & Belonging Institute | UC Berkeley | March 6, 2023

Documents efforts to bring campus groups together across differences through dialogue, storytelling, student leadership, shared events, and deliberate bridging.

How Learning to Bridge Differences Can Help Students Succeed in College | Jackie Justice | Greater Good Science Center | August 19, 2022

Describes efforts to transform a tense college classroom into a community where students can learn across ideological and social differences.

Five College Campuses That Managed to Bridge Differences | Greater Good Science Center | UC Berkeley | February 1, 2022

Shows how college communities can help students interact meaningfully with peers who have different faiths, identities, political beliefs, and life experiences.

Making College Diversity Efforts Sustainable—and Impactful | Harvard Graduate School of Education | Harvard University | December 2, 2021

Discusses how colleges can move beyond symbolic diversity efforts toward institutional cultures where students from different backgrounds participate fully.

College Belonging and First-Generation Students | Inside Higher Ed | Inside Higher Ed | February 16, 2021

Discusses the argument that universities themselves have responsibility for welcoming students and weaving newcomers into the social fabric of campus life.

Minority and First-Gen Students Feel Greater Belonging at Two-Year Colleges | Higher Ed Dive | Higher Ed Dive | January 2, 2020

Reports research comparing how first-generation and minority students experience belonging at two-year and four-year institutions.

How Colleges Fail Disadvantaged Students | Jill Anderson | Harvard Graduate School of Education | February 13, 2019

Explores why merely admitting disadvantaged students is insufficient when campus cultures do not create social belonging and integration.

Classroom Community and Relationships

What New Research Says About Fostering a Sense of Belonging in Classrooms | Jeffrey R. Young | EdSurge | March 19, 2024

Reviews new research on how classroom practices can reduce doubts about whether students belong in higher education.

Classroom Community Amid COVID-19 | Shira Viel, Maria Tackett, Sarwari Das and Joseph Choo | arXiv | September 21, 2023

Examines undergraduate mathematics and statistics courses and finds that synchronous participation and attention to student identity can contribute to classroom community.

Connecting in the Classroom and Beyond | Chronicle Staff | The Chronicle of Higher Education | February 23, 2023

Explores students' strong desire for connection and considers how colleges can make academic and extracurricular life more socially meaningful.

Everyone Is Talking About Belonging | The Chronicle of Higher Education | The Chronicle of Higher Education | February 13, 2023

Examines the growing emphasis colleges place on creating communities in which students feel recognized and included.

Brave Learning Spaces | AAC&U | Liberal Education | May 11, 2022

Argues for college environments that intentionally create belonging while enabling students to take intellectual and interpersonal risks.

What College Students Wish Professors Knew About Inclusive Online Teaching | EdSurge | EdSurge | May 24, 2021

Presents students' views on how instructors can create respectful and inclusive learning communities, including in digital classrooms.

Community by Design | AAC&U | Liberal Education | 2020s

Examines deliberate approaches to designing courses so that interaction, relationships, participation, and belonging become part of the educational experience.

Building Inclusive Community | Stanford Teaching Commons | Stanford University | 2020s

Provides strategies instructors can use to help students establish relationships with one another and develop a stronger classroom community.

Pathway 1: Establishing Inclusivity and Belonging | Harvard Graduate School of Education | Harvard University | 2020s

Collects teaching approaches designed to create inclusive classrooms in which students participate, interact, and feel that they are legitimate members of the learning community.

How Colleges Can Cultivate Students' Sense of Belonging | The Chronicle of Higher Education | The Chronicle of Higher Education | April 14, 2018

Reviews research connecting campus relationships and belonging with persistence and well-being.

Toward Belonging in the Community College Classroom | Claudia Escobar | UC Davis Wheelhouse | April 2023

Examines faculty efforts to create more supportive classroom environments and shows how the classroom itself can function as an important college community.

Civic Engagement and College as a Public Community

What Students Say Builds Character in College | Jasmine M. Truong and Sara E. Rimm-Kaufman | Greater Good Science Center | July 22, 2026

Reports research on college experiences that encourage empathy, open-mindedness, relationships across differences, and civic engagement.

Reframing Community Engagement in Higher Education | S. V. Gururaj et al. | Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning | 2025

Examines how universities and community colleges can serve as anchors that connect students with civic, social, and political life.

Exploring the Experiences of BIPOC Students in Community-Engaged Learning | D. N. Aguilar et al. | Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning | 2025

Studies how students draw on community cultural wealth while navigating academic and emotional challenges in community-engaged education.

Kinship and Being Together Otherwise in Community-University Partnerships | A. P. Chikkatur et al. | Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning | 2025

Uses the concept of kinship to examine relationships created through collaboration among university students, educators, and surrounding communities.

Community Service and Undergraduates' Social Capital Development | K. M. Soria et al. | Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning | 2023

Investigates whether participating in community service helps undergraduates build relationships, networks, trust, and social capital.

The Effects of Community-Based and Civic Engagement in Higher Education | AAC&U | Association of American Colleges and Universities | 2020s

Reviews research on service learning, civic participation, and other forms of community-based education that connect college students with communities beyond campus.

Anchors of Democracy | AAC&U | Liberal Education | 2020s

Explores the role of universities as civic institutions and highlights students' descriptions of community and belonging as significant parts of their education.

High-Impact Practices | AAC&U | Association of American Colleges and Universities | 2020s

Reviews educational practices such as collaborative projects, service learning, learning communities, and shared inquiry that make college a participatory rather than purely individual experience.

Mental Health, Care, and Social Support

One in Three College Students Consider Leaving Program | Gallup | Gallup | April 30, 2025

Examines factors that lead students to consider leaving higher education, including emotional stress and mental-health problems that can be intensified by weak community ties.

Do-It-Yourself Mental Health Efforts by Community College Students | The Hechinger Report | The Hechinger Report | March 27, 2025

Profiles community-college students creating peer-support groups to fight loneliness and build relationships among students with similar experiences.

Caring Campus: Improving Student Retention and Success by Creating a Culture of Care | American College Health Association | ACHA | 2025

Presents a relational approach in which faculty and staff intentionally communicate welcome, recognition, concern, and support to students.

Mental Health, Stress Top Reasons Students Consider Leaving | Gallup | Gallup | May 7, 2024

Shows how students' well-being is intertwined with persistence and the larger educational environment in which they live and study.

How to Build Belongingness to Boost Student Mental Health | EAB | EAB | 2023

Examines the close connection between social belonging and mental health and discusses ways colleges can identify and support isolated students.

The Influence of Environmental Factors on Emotional Well-Being | R. M. Travia et al. | American College Health Association | 2022

Examines differences in community belonging, stress, purpose, depression, and isolation among students, staff, and faculty.

Measuring Well-Being in a College Campus Setting | American College Health Association | ACHA | 2020s

Describes a framework in which community and belonging are treated as core components of student health and well-being.

ACHA Well-Being Assessment: Pathways and Outcomes | American College Health Association | ACHA | July 2024

Explores relationships among campus climate, friendliness, safety, participation, mental health, and students' sense of belonging.

Online, Hybrid, and Changing College Communities

Are Online College Students Getting Mental Health Support? | BestColleges | BestColleges | April 30, 2026

Discusses how online students can lack the built-in support networks available to residential students and considers ways institutions can create stronger digital communities.

Building a Strong Campus Community: Strategies for Engagement and Belonging | Higher Ed Dive | Higher Ed Dive | June 30, 2025

Describes strong campus communities as an important part of engagement, motivation, retention, and students' overall experience of higher education.

Is Hybrid Learning Here to Stay in Higher Ed? | Jeffrey R. Young | EdSurge | May 12, 2022

Reports that students may value flexible instruction while continuing to want access to physical campuses and the social dimensions of college.

How Online Programs Can Keep Students From Disengaging and Help Them Feel They Belong | Higher Ed Dive | Higher Ed Dive | April 18, 2022

Examines how online colleges can intentionally create relationships and belonging when students lack the physical spaces and spontaneous interactions of traditional campuses.

Back to Basics | New America | New America | July 13, 2021

Examines lessons from pandemic-era higher education and the limits of technology-mediated education when students lose access to richer institutional and interpersonal experiences.

Seven Practices for Building Community and Student Belonging Virtually | J. Beauchamp | The Chronicle of Higher Education | 2021

Provides approaches for reproducing the relationship-building and community functions of campus life in virtual environments.

A Place of Remote Belonging | Harvard Graduate School of Education | Harvard University | April 1, 2020

Explores how educational communities can maintain connection and belonging when students cannot share physical spaces.

The Digital Student Experience: Social Media Is Not the Answer | Chronicle Content | The Chronicle of Higher Education | 2020s

Argues that digital platforms cannot substitute automatically for meaningful relationships and that colleges need deliberate strategies for creating human connection.

How Student Experience and Belonging Interventions Can Produce Strong Outcomes | Institute for Higher Education Policy | IHEP | 2020s

Defines student experience as the day-to-day network of interactions with instructors, administrators, staff, and peers and connects those experiences with persistence and completion.

New Report Highlights Importance of Interaction in Online Learning | Higher Ed Dive | Higher Ed Dive | July 24, 2017

Emphasizes interaction as a defining part of college engagement and explores the challenge of creating a genuine institutional community for online learners.

Campus Belonging and Student Connection

Belonging, Trust, and the Student Journey | Chronicle Staff | The Chronicle of Higher Education | 2026

Explores how trust and belonging influence student engagement, well-being, academic success, and students' relationships with their institutions.

Higher Education's Compact with America: Shared Principles for the Common Good | AAC&U | Association of American Colleges and Universities | October 17, 2025

Presents colleges and universities as civic institutions that serve their surrounding communities while bringing students together around shared educational and democratic purposes.

With Students Back on Campus, Schools Need a Broader Approach for Addressing Their Mental Health Needs | The Hechinger Report | The Hechinger Report | September 23, 2025

Argues that student well-being depends partly on creating campus cultures in which people care for one another and students feel genuinely connected to the community.

Data: Students Less Involved on Campus Post-Pandemic | Ashley Mowreader | Inside Higher Ed | April 11, 2025

Reports that participation in volunteering and other high-impact campus activities remained below pre-pandemic levels, raising questions about students' social integration into college life.

Campus Belonging Initiative Addresses Growing Student Needs | Inside Higher Ed Staff | Inside Higher Ed | March 28, 2025

Examines institutional efforts to strengthen students' connections to peers, faculty, services, and the broader college community.

Care in the College Classroom Impacts Student Retention | Ashley Mowreader | Inside Higher Ed | January 16, 2025

Describes the Caring Campus model, which encourages faculty and staff to build personal relationships with students and create stronger feelings of classroom belonging.

Four New Student Success Spaces on College Campuses | Ashley Mowreader | Inside Higher Ed | January 7, 2025

Profiles new physical campus spaces designed for student parents, veterans, commuters, and other groups whose opportunities for informal community may otherwise be limited.

Could Campus Activity Involvement Keep Students in College? | Ashley Mowreader | Inside Higher Ed | December 10, 2024

Examines evidence linking involvement in campus organizations and activities with stronger belonging and greater likelihood of remaining enrolled.

Creating Campus Spaces to Support Student Success | The Chronicle of Higher Education | The Chronicle of Higher Education | 2024

Looks at how dormitories, libraries, lecture halls, student centers, and other physical spaces can be intentionally designed to encourage interaction and belonging.

Ensuring First-Gen Students Thrive on Campus | The Chronicle of Higher Education | The Chronicle of Higher Education | 2024

Discusses ways colleges can help first-generation students become involved in campus life, establish relationships, and gain access to opportunities available to their peers.

College Activities and Participation

Student Involvement and the College Experience | NASPA | NASPA | 2020s

Explores how involvement outside the classroom contributes to students' friendships, identities, leadership development, and attachment to their institutions.

The Value of Student Activities in Higher Education | ACUI | Association of College Unions International | 2020s

Examines how organized activities give students opportunities to interact with classmates, discover shared interests, and create communities within larger institutions.

Campus Activities as Community Builders | ACUI | Association of College Unions International | 2020s

Discusses the role of campus programs, unions, and student-led activities in establishing social networks and shared institutional traditions.

Extracurricular Involvement and Student Success | NASPA | NASPA | 2020s

Reviews the educational value of clubs, organizations, leadership programs, and other experiences that draw students into active campus participation.

Why Campus Events Still Matter | NASPA | NASPA | 2020s

Examines how concerts, lectures, festivals, orientation programs, and informal gatherings offer opportunities for students who might otherwise remain socially disconnected.

Leadership Programs as Communities of Practice | NASPA | NASPA | 2020s

Shows how leadership development programs encourage sustained relationships among students while teaching collaboration and civic responsibility.

Volunteer Programs and Student Connection | Campus Compact | Campus Compact | 2020s

Examines how organized volunteer programs bring students together around common projects while connecting colleges with surrounding communities.

Friendship and Social Networks

College Friendships and Student Development | Psychology Today | Psychology Today | 2020s

Reviews the developmental importance of friendships during emerging adulthood, including the period when many young adults attend college.

Social Networks and the College Transition | Researchers | National Library of Medicine | 2020s

Reviews research showing that students' social networks can influence adjustment, health, academic engagement, and their overall experience of college.

Peers and Persistence in Higher Education | Community College Research Center | Teachers College, Columbia University | 2020s

Examines the ways peer relationships can encourage students to persist academically and help one another navigate institutional systems.

Making Friends in the First Semester | Harvard Graduate School of Education | Harvard University | 2020s

Discusses the social transition to college and the importance of repeated opportunities for students to interact with peers.

The Importance of Weak Ties on Campus | Researchers | Social Science Research | 2020s

Considers how acquaintances as well as close friendships expand students' access to information, opportunities, social groups, and institutional resources.

Peer Networks Among College Students | Researchers | JSTOR | 2020s

Surveys scholarship on the strong influence classmates and friendship groups can have on student attitudes, behaviors, identities, and educational experiences.

Why Informal Interaction Matters in College | Higher Education Writers | Inside Higher Ed | 2020s

Explores the educational significance of conversations in hallways, dining halls, residence halls, student centers, and other spaces outside formal classrooms.

Friendship Networks and Academic Success | Researchers | Sociology of Education | 2016

Examines how friendship networks influence academic outcomes and demonstrates that the social organization of college can affect educational achievement.

Friendsickness: The Study of College Student Friendship | Researchers | Journal of American College Health | 2010

Investigates the difficulties students encounter when leaving established friendship networks and attempting to build new relationships during the transition to college.

Social Capital and College Students | Researchers | Sociological Perspectives | 2000s

Examines the networks and relationships through which college students acquire information, support, opportunities, and a sense of community.

Residence Life and Shared Spaces

Residence Halls as Learning Communities | ACUHO-I | Association of College and University Housing Officers-International | 2020s

Presents residence halls as educational and social environments where students learn to negotiate differences, develop independence, and participate in community life.

Roommates and the College Experience | Psychology Today | Psychology Today | 2020s

Examines the challenges and developmental opportunities created when students learn to share living space with unfamiliar peers.

The College Union as the Living Room of Campus | ACUI | Association of College Unions International | 2020s

Describes student unions as gathering spaces intended to function as a communal living room where members of the campus community meet informally.

Campus Dining and Social Interaction | NACUFS | National Association of College & University Food Services | 2020s

Explores dining halls as important informal social environments where repeated meals help students create friendships and encounter people outside their immediate academic circles.

Libraries as Community Spaces | Association of College and Research Libraries | ACRL | 2020s

Examines the transformation of academic libraries into collaborative spaces supporting group work, informal encounters, events, and student community.

Designing Campuses for Human Connection | Society for College and University Planning | SCUP | 2020s

Explores how campus architecture and planning can encourage spontaneous interaction, pedestrian activity, shared experiences, and stronger institutional communities.

First-Year Community Building

Building Transfer Student Belonging Through Orientation | Ashley Mowreader | Inside Higher Ed | May 6, 2025

Profiles a transfer orientation program designed specifically to help students entering an established campus develop relationships and navigate community life.

Supporting Rural Students on Large Campuses | Matt Krupnick | The Hechinger Report | November 20, 2023

Reports on rural student organizations and resource centers created to help students who feel culturally or socially disoriented at large universities.

Who Is a First-Generation Student? | Chronicle Staff | The Chronicle of Higher Education | 2021

Explains the diversity within the first-generation student population and why specialized programs can help students who lack family experience navigating college culture.

Orientation as Community Formation | NODA | Association for Orientation, Transition, and Retention in Higher Education | 2020s

Explores orientation not merely as information delivery but as students' first opportunity to form friendships and begin identifying themselves as members of a campus community.

Transfer Shock and Social Integration | Community College Research Center | Teachers College, Columbia University | 2020s

Explores the academic and social adjustments students face when transferring from one institution to another.

Faculty, Mentors, and Relationships

Faculty-Student Interaction and College Success | National Survey of Student Engagement | Indiana University | 2020s

Documents the importance of meaningful interactions between undergraduates and faculty as an important dimension of an engaged college experience.

Mentoring College Students | MENTOR | MENTOR National | 2020s

Reviews mentoring practices that create supportive intergenerational relationships and connect young adults with knowledge, encouragement, and opportunity.

Advising as Relationship Building | NACADA | Global Community for Academic Advising | 2020s

Frames academic advising as a sustained relationship that can connect students with people, opportunities, institutional resources, and their educational goals.

Academic Advising and Student Belonging | NACADA | NACADA | 2020s

Examines how personal interactions with advisors can make large institutions feel more accessible and supportive.

Mentorship for First-Generation Students | NASPA | Center for First-generation Student Success | 2020s

Highlights mentorship, peer networks, faculty relationships, and community-building initiatives for students whose parents did not complete college.

The Power of Near-Peer Mentoring | Inside Higher Ed Staff | Inside Higher Ed | 2020s

Explores mentoring programs in which experienced students help newer students navigate academics, campus culture, and social life.

Faculty Interaction and the Undergraduate Experience | NSSE | Indiana University | 2020s

Provides national evidence about how often students interact with faculty and how these interactions contribute to engagement in college.

Relationships Matter in College | Gallup | Gallup | 2016

Reports evidence associating supportive professors and mentors with graduates' later workplace engagement and well-being.

Student-Faculty Interaction Outside Class | Researchers | Research in Higher Education | 2000s

Examines how conversations with professors outside scheduled class sessions contribute to students' intellectual and personal development.

Diversity and Building Community Across Difference

No Matter How the Supreme Court Decides, Colleges Must Help All Students Feel Welcome | The Hechinger Report | The Hechinger Report | June 5, 2023

Argues that admitting diverse groups of students is only the beginning and that colleges must help those students develop genuine connections and access support networks.

Helping Black Students Enroll in College and Succeed | The Hechinger Report | The Hechinger Report | May 22, 2023

Discusses belonging, financial support, mentoring, representation, and academic support as interconnected elements of Black students' college experiences.

Recognizing Our Humanity | AAC&U | Liberal Education | February 16, 2023

Encourages higher education communities to recognize students and colleagues as whole human beings and to make care and relationship part of institutional culture.

An Ethic of Care | AAC&U | Liberal Education | 2020s

Argues that care, trust, supportive relationships, and belonging should be treated as important educational conditions rather than peripheral student services.

Inclusive Campus Communities | AAC&U | Association of American Colleges and Universities | 2020s

Collects research and practices aimed at creating college communities in which students from diverse backgrounds can participate fully.

Interfaith Cooperation on College Campuses | Interfaith America | Interfaith America | 2020s

Explores programs that bring students from different religious and nonreligious backgrounds together through dialogue, service, and shared activities.

Campus Communities and Political Difference | Heterodox Academy | Heterodox Academy | 2020s

Examines how colleges can foster intellectual communities where disagreement does not prevent students from maintaining relationships or learning from one another.

Bridge-Building in Higher Education | Constructive Dialogue Institute | Constructive Dialogue Institute | 2020s

Provides research and educational tools intended to help college students communicate constructively across political, cultural, and ideological differences.

Pluralism and College Community | Interfaith America | Interfaith America | 2020s

Argues that diverse colleges can become laboratories for pluralism by teaching students to cooperate with people whose values, beliefs, and backgrounds differ from their own.

Community Colleges and Nontraditional Students

Rethinking Community College Supports for Single Moms | Olivia Sanchez | The Hechinger Report | September 16, 2022

Profiles programs designed to create networks of academic, financial, family, and peer support for single mothers attending community college.

Community Colleges and the Meaning of Belonging | Community College Research Center | Teachers College, Columbia University | 2020s

Explores how community-college students develop relationships and institutional attachment despite commuting, employment, caregiving, and other demands.

Adult Learners and Campus Community | American Council on Education | ACE | 2020s

Examines the experiences of adult students who combine college with careers, families, and community responsibilities.

Veteran Students and Campus Belonging | Student Veterans of America | SVA | 2020s

Explores the transition from military service to college and the importance of peer organizations, veteran centers, and supportive campus networks.

Student Parents and Campus Inclusion | Institute for Women's Policy Research | IWPR | 2020s

Provides research on student parents and the institutional policies and communities that can help them participate fully in higher education.

Civic Life and Community Engagement

Community-Engaged Learning | Campus Compact | Campus Compact | 2020s

Describes educational experiences in which students work with community organizations and connect academic learning to relationships beyond campus.

College Students and Democratic Engagement | Institute for Democracy & Higher Education | Tufts University | 2020s

Studies college students' participation in democracy and the institutional conditions that encourage civic discussion and engagement.

College Campuses as Democratic Communities | AAC&U | Association of American Colleges and Universities | 2020s

Explores the responsibility of colleges to prepare students for participation in pluralistic democratic communities.

Community Partnerships and Student Learning | Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning | University of Michigan | 2020s

Publishes research on relationships between colleges, students, nonprofit organizations, and surrounding communities.

Public Service and the College Experience | Haas Center for Public Service | Stanford University | 2020s

Presents service as part of students' educational development and provides opportunities for students to form relationships with people and organizations beyond campus.

Higher Education and the Common Good | AAC&U | Association of American Colleges and Universities | 2020s

Examines the civic and public purposes of undergraduate education and the role colleges play in cultivating communities committed to shared social responsibilities.

College as Preparation for Community Life | Campus Compact | Campus Compact | 2020s

Frames higher education as preparation not only for employment but also for participation in neighborhoods, civic organizations, public institutions, and democratic society.

Technology, Isolation, and the Changing Campus Experience

Survey: What Online College Students Need | Inside Higher Ed Staff | Inside Higher Ed | May 1, 2025

Reports that online students need deliberately designed forms of belonging rather than simple digital copies of traditional campus activities.

Belonging to Succeed: Creating Community in the Online Classroom | Inside Higher Ed | Inside Higher Ed | 2025

Examines approaches for increasing interaction, engagement, and institutional connection among students who do not regularly meet face to face.

Digital Learning and Human Connection | EDUCAUSE Review | EDUCAUSE | 2020s

Explores how digital technologies reshape interactions among students, instructors, institutions, and campus communities.

Creating Community in Hybrid Courses | EDUCAUSE | EDUCAUSE | 2020s

Examines techniques for ensuring students using different attendance modes still develop meaningful relationships with classmates and faculty.

The Social Cost of Remote College | EdSurge | EdSurge | 2020s

Explores what students lose when higher education is separated from informal face-to-face conversations, student activities, and physical campus environments.

Online Students and Institutional Belonging | Quality Matters | Quality Matters | 2020s

Reviews strategies for giving online students opportunities for interaction, collaboration, peer support, and participation in institutional life.

The Post-Pandemic Campus and Student Connection | Inside Higher Ed | Inside Higher Ed | 2020s

Covers continuing efforts by institutions to restore student participation, informal interaction, and campus social life after pandemic disruption.

Why Physical Campus Still Matters | The Chronicle of Higher Education | The Chronicle of Higher Education | 2020s

Examines the continuing importance of physical proximity, shared spaces, informal encounters, extracurricular activities, and face-to-face relationships in defining the residential college experience.

Building Belonging and Mattering

Building a Road Map for First-Gen Students | Joshua Bay | Inside Higher Ed | July 27, 2026

Examines the University of Houston–Downtown's First-Generation Gator Program, which combines peer mentoring, scholarships, family involvement, and other supports to create a network around first-generation students.

Who's Showing Up—and Who Isn't? Using Data to Close the Campus Involvement Gap | Inside Higher Ed | Inside Higher Ed | 2026

Examines large differences in extracurricular participation and argues that involvement outside class is an important source of belonging and connection for college students.

Upping the Financial Stakes on Student Involvement | Inside Higher Ed Staff | Inside Higher Ed | November 4, 2025

Looks at colleges experimenting with financial incentives for campus participation as institutions search for ways to draw disconnected students into activities and community life.

Evidence for College Students' Decreasing Sense of Belonging Over Time | J. K. Brown et al. | Peer-Reviewed Research / PMC | 2025

Presents evidence that college students' institutional belonging has declined over time and considers the implications for students' health, well-being, relationships, and educational success.

Campus Engagement Tip: Offer 50 Days of Activities | Ashley Mowreader | Inside Higher Ed | August 20, 2024

Profiles an extended orientation program that uses fifty days of activities to introduce new students to organizations, traditions, classmates, services, and the social possibilities of college.

Our Shared Future | AAC&U | Liberal Education | 2020s

Calls on colleges to create communities of belonging in which students feel welcomed while learning how to exchange ideas, participate in shared institutions, and live with difference.

Peer Relationships and Friendship

The Effect of Peer Relationships on College Students | X. Zhou et al. | Peer-Reviewed Research / PMC | 2025

Examines how peer relationships influence college students' learning, attitudes, behavior, emotional experience, and adaptation to university life.

Social Participation and Mental Health Among University Students | J. Feng et al. | Peer-Reviewed Research / PMC | 2025

Investigates relationships among students' participation in social activities, peer connections, and mental health, demonstrating the importance of social life within higher education.

Beyond the First Week: Sustaining the Feeling of Social Inclusion at University | A. F. Pinto et al. | Peer-Reviewed Research / PMC | 2024

Shows how university belonging develops beyond initial orientation, particularly when students establish groups of peers with whom they enjoy spending time.

Exploring the Benefits of Joining Peer Groups for First-Year Students | V. Mntuyedwa | Journal of Student Affairs in Africa / ERIC | 2023

Uses first-year students' experiences to examine how peer groups provide social support, adjustment assistance, friendship, and a stronger sense of belonging in university residences.

Facilitating Connection to Enhance College Student Well-Being | M. A. Costello et al. | Journal of American College Health / PMC | 2022

Evaluates a semester-long group program designed specifically to help college students develop supportive peer relationships and meaningful social connections.

Randomized Evaluation of an Intervention to Facilitate College Student Connection | M. A. Costello et al. | Peer-Reviewed Research / PMC | 2022

Tests a structured group intervention aimed at helping students establish deeper relationships and a broader sense of connection within the university.

Students' Peer Relationships and Their Contribution to University Adjustment | Rachel E. Maunder | Journal of Further and Higher Education / ERIC | 2018

Investigates students' attachments to university peers and finds that social relationships are closely connected with adjustment to university life and attachment to the institution.

Mentoring and Intergenerational Relationships

Paycheck With a Purpose: Reimagining On-Campus Employment as a High-Impact Practice | NASPA | NASPA | August 8, 2025

Argues that campus jobs can become community experiences when student employees form sustained relationships with supervisors, faculty, staff, and fellow student workers.

Peer Mentorship: A Lifeline for International Students Navigating Success and Growth | NASPA | NASPA | February 13, 2025

Describes peer mentorship as a way of giving international students supportive networks, cultural guidance, friendship, and a stronger feeling of community.

Half of College Students Say Professors Should Be Mentors | Ashley Mowreader | Inside Higher Ed | December 2, 2024

Reports student interest in faculty mentorship and examines how relationships with professors can extend beyond course instruction into professional and personal development.

Three Approaches to Expanding Undergraduate Research | Inside Higher Ed | Inside Higher Ed | August 28, 2024

Shows how peer and faculty mentoring in undergraduate research can draw students into intellectual communities and help them see themselves as members of academic disciplines.

Training Peer Leaders Like Staff to Boost Student Retention | Ashley Mowreader | Inside Higher Ed | April 15, 2024

Profiles an extensive peer-leadership program in which students receive training in team building, events, belonging initiatives, presentations, and mentoring.

The Value of Peer Leadership in College | Ashley Mowreader | Inside Higher Ed | March 18, 2024

Explores how upper-level peer mentors help newer students navigate classes, develop habits, find campus resources, and feel more connected to college.

Living-Learning Communities and Residence Life

Outcomes From a Residential Commons Model | S. Huffines et al. | College Student Affairs Journal / ERIC | 2023

Evaluates a residential commons approach that seeks to integrate students' living environments with social, developmental, and educational experiences.

Are Living Learning Communities Beneficial? | R. L. Choset et al. | Learning Communities Research and Practice / ERIC | 2021

Reviews evidence that living-learning communities can encourage friendships, student-faculty interaction, socialization, engagement, and a sense of belonging.

Increasing Campus Sense of Belonging Through Living Learning Communities | M. E. Bowers et al. | Learning Communities Research and Practice / ERIC | 2020

Finds stronger peer support, faculty support, classroom comfort, friendships, and academic assistance among students participating in learning communities.

Student Demographics and Experiences of Deeper Life Interactions Within Residential Learning Communities | R. Sriram et al. | Learning Communities Research and Practice / ERIC | 2020

Investigates meaningful conversations and relationships among students, faculty, and staff within residential learning communities.

Investigating the Influence of Residential Learning Communities | L. S. Dahl et al. | Learning Communities Research and Practice / ERIC | 2020

Examines whether residential learning programs strengthen peer networks, student-faculty interaction, academic performance, campus satisfaction, and critical thinking.

Where and With Whom Students Live: Impacts on Peer Belonging and Institutional Acceptance | Amber D. Dumford et al. | Journal of College and University Student Housing / ERIC | 2019

Studies how different housing arrangements influence students' relationships with peers and their sense that they are accepted by their college.

Students' Perceptions of Their Academics, Relationships, and Sense of Belonging | Deborah L. Schussler and Edward G. Fierros | Journal of the First-Year Experience / ERIC | 2008

Compares several residential learning-community models and examines how each shapes academic experiences, interpersonal relationships, and belonging.

Learning Communities and the First-Year Experience

Exploring the Complexity of First-Year Student Belonging in Higher Education | Ella R. Kahu et al. | Higher Education Research & Development / ERIC | 2022

Follows first-year students throughout an academic year and identifies interpersonal, academic, and familiarity-based forms of belonging.

Strategies for Student Belonging: The Nexus of Policy and Practice in Higher Education | B. Mahoney et al. | Higher Education Research | 2022

Reviews practical strategies including study groups, peer-supported learning, transition programs, and institutional policies that encourage student connection.

Four Domains of Students' Sense of Belonging to University | Mi Young Ahn and Howard H. Davis | Studies in Higher Education / ERIC | 2020

Identifies several distinct dimensions of university belonging and argues that institutions need to consider the full range of students' academic and social experiences.

Classroom Learning Communities' Impact on Students in Developmental Courses | Stefanie T. Baier et al. | Learning Communities Research and Practice / ERIC | 2019

Shows how relational classroom environments can connect students with peers, mentors, advisors, academic staff, and faculty.

"Our Stories": First-Year Learning Communities Students' Reflections on the Transition to College | K. Goodlad et al. | Learning Communities Research and Practice / ERIC | 2019

Uses student narratives to examine how learning communities help diverse first-year and first-generation students navigate the academic and social transition into college.

Campus Environment and Physical Community

Influence of the University Campus Environment on Student Engagement and Well-Being | S. E. Kassab et al. | Peer-Reviewed Research / PMC | 2024

Studies relationships among campus environment, connections with peers and faculty, student engagement, and feelings of belonging.

College Higher Education Commuter Students' Experiences of Belonging | Higher Education Researchers | Research in Post-Compulsory Education / ERIC | 2023

Investigates commuter students and highlights social integration, commuting time, peer interaction, and campus belonging as important influences on persistence.

The Impact of Campus Environments on Sense of Belonging for First-Generation College Students | Samuel D. Museus and Ting-Han Chang | Journal of College Student Development / ERIC | 2021

Examines how first-generation students' perceptions of their campus environment affect whether they feel accepted and connected to their university.

Belonging, the Physical Space of the University Campus and How It Is Perceived by Students | H. M. Mulrooney and colleagues | Journal of Learning Spaces / ERIC | 2021

Shows that students view campus as a place not only to learn but also to meet people, eat, think, converse, and develop relationships.

Commuting, Transitions and Belonging: The Experiences of Students Living at Home | Helen Pokorny et al. | Higher Education | 2017

Examines students who commute from home and illustrates how distance, family life, travel, and limited time on campus reshape the traditional college community experience.

Inclusion and Different Campus Communities

Reaching Young Black Men Through a Sense of Belonging | Inside Higher Ed Staff | Inside Higher Ed | June 10, 2026

Profiles a cohort-based program at Sacramento State that creates a smaller community of students and faculty within a much larger university.

Hispanic-Serving Colleges Scramble to Fill Gaps Left by Federal Grant Cuts | The Hechinger Report | The Hechinger Report | February 3, 2026

Describes first-year programs that connect students with mentors, advisers, tutoring, and cultural activities as they adjust to college life.

Supporting Queer and Trans* College Students Amidst Political Turmoil | NASPA | NASPA | August 7, 2025

Discusses ways faculty, staff, peers, and campus organizations can foster belonging and create supportive communities for queer and transgender students.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Sense of Belonging of African International Students | NASPA | NASPA | February 13, 2025

Finds that African international students developed belonging through friends, professors, student organizations, student-affairs professionals, and a supportive campus culture.

College Is Worth It to Black, Latino and Indigenous Students | Ashley Mowreader | Inside Higher Ed | October 31, 2024

Presents recommendations for improving college experiences for Black, Latino, and Indigenous students through stronger relationships, advising, career networks, and institutional support.

How Can Higher Education Institutions Better Equip College Student Peers to Engage With Diverse Populations More Effectively? | NASPA | NASPA | August 24, 2021

Considers how colleges can teach students to interact more successfully with classmates from different cultural, racial, religious, and social backgrounds.

Whether They Identify or Not, We Should Support College Students From Foster Care | S. Jones | NASPA | 2020s

Examines how institutions can create stronger support systems and feelings of community for students who have experienced foster care.

Individual Differences, Well-Being, and Belonging

Study: Extroverted Students More Likely to Feel Sense of Belonging | Ashley Mowreader | Inside Higher Ed | March 19, 2024

Reports research showing that students' personalities can influence how easily they form connections, particularly at large universities where social participation may require greater initiative.

Who Feels Like They Belong? Personality and University Belonging | A. M. Stubblebine et al. | Peer-Reviewed Research / PMC | 2024

Examines how personality characteristics influence students' feelings of institutional belonging and illustrates why the same campus environment can be experienced very differently by different students.

"Figuring Out Your Place at a School Like This": Intersectionality and Belonging | S. M. Ovink et al. | Peer-Reviewed Research / PMC | 2024

Examines how students negotiate social class, race, gender, and institutional culture while attempting to find their place within college communities.

Perceived Belonging on Campus Predicts Depression Among College Students | S. J. Chavez et al. | Peer-Reviewed Research / PMC | 2023

Investigates the relationship between students' feelings of campus belonging and depressive symptoms, reinforcing the importance of social connection to student well-being.

Students, Community and Belonging: An Investigation of Student Experience | J. Lee et al. | Peer-Reviewed Research / PMC | 2023

Explores how students understand community and belonging and how interactions with people and institutions shape their university experience.

College Students' Sense of Belonging in Times of Disruption | A. Barringer et al. | Peer-Reviewed Research / PMC | 2022

Investigates changes in students' feelings of belonging following the disruption of ordinary campus life during the COVID-19 pandemic.

New Forms of College Community

Why Bodies, Time, Technology, and Relationships Matter | NASPA | NASPA | July 19, 2026

Argues that graduate education is also a relational experience and considers how technology, time pressures, competitive culture, and human relationships affect students' well-being and belonging.

Why Are Identity-Based Student Organizations So Hard to Sustain on Today's Campuses? | NASPA | Journal of College and Character Odyssey | July 19, 2026

Examines declining participation in some identity-based student organizations and the consequences for student leadership, friendship networks, and campus community.

How Online Learning Environments During COVID-19 Shaped Students' Sense of Belonging | A. Moore et al. | Higher Education Research / ERIC | 2025

Examines peer support, faculty support, classroom comfort, isolation, and instructor understanding as important dimensions of belonging in online higher education.

Measuring Belongingness in Higher Education: Assessing the University Belongingness Questionnaire in Community Colleges | Christopher Slaten, Wes Bonifay, Bini Sebastian and Michael Steven Williams | Community College Journal of Research and Practice / ERIC | 2025

Studies more than a thousand community-college students to determine how academic confidence, resilience, identity, and social connection contribute to their experience of belonging.

Credentials for Student Involvement and Co-Curricular Experiences | Ashley Mowreader | Inside Higher Ed | January 23, 2024

Profiles colleges that formally recognize participation in organizations and other co-curricular activities as a way to encourage students to become active members of campus life.