Learning Communities and Students' Sense of Belonging to Their University: First Results From a Longitudinal Study

• In Event: 29.042 - Sense of Belonging in College

Abstract

This study investigates sense of belonging among a contemporary cohort (n=533) of students living in a learning community at three different college campuses. Preliminary data analysis indicates students’ background characteristics and college experiences explained 57.7% of the variance in students’ sense of belonging to their respective college campus. Financial Stress and motivation for college were statistically significant in the first model. In the full model, attending the larger flagship campus and students’ sense of belonging to their learning community were significant predictors of increasing students’ sense of belonging to their university campus. There were significant interaction effects for respondents’ sense of belonging to their learning community when examining a student’s race, gender, and income.

Authors

• Darnell G. Cole, University of Southern California

• Christopher B. Newman, University of San Diego

• Marissiko M. Wheaton, University of Southern California