A Third of College Students Aren’t Getting Involved

Research links students’ involvement in life beyond the classroom—in extracurriculars such as clubs and in co-curriculars such as service learning—to their overall success. So it’s concerning that over a third of students (36 percent) haven’t participated in a single extra- or co-curricular activity, according to new data from Inside Higher Ed’s main annual Student Voice survey of more than 5,000 two- and four-year students with Generation Lab.

The nonparticipation rate surges to 64 percent among community college students, versus 27 percent for their four-year college peers. In last year’s survey, 25 percent of four-year students said they’d participated in no activities in college, and 60 percent of two-year students said the same, suggesting a slight uptick in nonparticipation this year. That’s despite efforts at many institutions to promote new opportunities for peer connection as a means of addressing the ever-complex issue of student mental health—and despite a growing emphasis across higher education on experiential learning opportunities.

Here’s what else to know from this year’s Student Voice findings on students’ levels of involvement, sources of campus pride, preferences for campus communications and reasons for being on campus in the first place—and how that all might be related:

1. While a majority of students participate in campus life beyond the classroom in some way, certain student groups have high levels of nonparticipation.

Most students are involved to some degree, with 39 percent indicating that they’re very involved in at least one activity. On quality versus quantity, students don’t have to be involved in many activities to reap the benefits, as experts say meaningful participation in even one activity can help students thrive. An additional 24 percent of students say they’re somewhat involved in some activities. Most of the remainder have not participated in any activities.

Beyond community college students, the following groups of students in the survey have elevated nonparticipation rates: adult learners (65 percent, n=967), students who work 30 hours or more per week (55 percent, n=1,088) and first-generation college students (49 percent, n=1,965). The same goes for students who have stopped out of college for a semester or more but returned (63 percent, n=557) and those who’ve never stopped out but have seriously thought about it (43 percent, n=1,204). By race, Hispanic students report higher rates of nonparticipation than other peers, at 48 percent. And public institution students, two-year and four-year together, are significantly more likely to be uninvolved than their private nonprofit counterparts (41 percent versus 6 percent, respectively).

Time and financial concerns are likely at play: Students who have participated in no activities are more likely than other peers to cite paying for college and balancing academics with other obligations, including work, as top stressors in college. For example, 59 percent of students with no campus involvement report balancing academics and other obligations as a top stressor, compared to 46 percent of students who are very involved in a few activities.

2. Students say email is the best way to reach them with important information.

Previous Student Voice surveys have found have many students don’t know about opportunities for involvement on campus. Asked this year what’s the best way to communicate with them about important news and services, students overwhelmingly say email. In a potential misalignment between student preferences and institutional perceptions, student success administrators in Inside Higher Ed’s annual survey of that group were most likely to say the best way to reach students is via text. Yet even 84 percent of students who haven’t participated in any activities prefer email.

3. Students express the most institutional pride in academics and faculty, while leadership and athletics rank lower.

Asked to rate their levels of pride in various aspects of campus life, students are most likely to express high pride in their academic department or program: 59 percent rate their pride a four or five on a five-point scale, with five meaning extremely proud. Pride in their institution’s faculty is also relatively high (54 percent). This is especially true for private nonprofit institution students.

Student levels of pride in their institution’s values, leadership and athletics teams are all lower.

These numbers may be instructive for institutions looking to increase participation by building more opportunities for involvement linked to academics and faculty.

The findings may also have implications for efforts to increase trust within institutions and in higher ed more broadly. In last year’s main Student Voice survey, students were most likely to indicate high trust in faculty, among various campus groups, and least likely to trust presidents and other executive-level leaders. So these results suggest campus leaders still have work to do on gaining students’ confidence.

4. Students attend college with careers in mind.

The top three reasons students attend college are to pursue a specific career or profession (55 percent say this is a top reason), to gain knowledge and skills (50 percent), and to increase their earning potential (40 percent). Exploring interests and passions ranks lower (26 percent), as does having the “college experience,” as exemplified by social life and independence. This is relatively consistent across two-year and four-year students. Institutions might leverage these motivations by organizing more opportunities for involvement that appeal to students’ professional goals—and drawing a clear link between participation and students’ future success.

In Inside Higher Ed’s recent student success leader survey, these administrators estimated that 40 percent of students at their institution participate in no extracurricular activities. This jumped to 67 percent among community college administrators. All leaders were most likely to say involvement would increase if students saw a clear connection between activities and their career goals, and if they didn’t have to work off campus.

5. Students choose their majors based on personal interest.

If students enroll in college with professional aspirations, their personal interests tend to drive their major choice once there. Personal passion or interest in the topic is the top-ranked reason students choose a major (56 percent cite this as a top driver). Institutions might leverage this additional information by situating more opportunities for involvement within programs of study.

The Involvement Imperative

Why does involvement matter? A few examples: Students at the University of California who participate in extracurriculars have higher retention rates and grade point averages than those who don’t. In a separate study, employers rated hypothetical candidates who had been at least minimally involved in co-curricular activities as more hirable than those who were not involved at all, and highly involved students as more career-ready than other peers. And involvement is otherwise linked to feelings of belonging and well-being.

Lauren Schudde, an associate professor of educational leadership and policy at the University of Texas at Austin and editor in chief of Research in Higher Education, said that campus involvement—from interactions with faculty members outside the classroom, even by attending office hours, to participating in study groups and clubs—positively predicts student retention. Schudde’s own research involving data on two-year students has shown that involvement, especially going to office hours, is associated with better outcomes, including higher grade point averages.

One prior Student Voice survey of U.S. adults who had stopped out found that three in five reported not participating in any activities, research or paid or volunteer work while in college. That’s much higher than the overall average for current students. And in that same survey, just 15 percent of stop-outs reported having been very involved in at least one activity on campus.

Given that there are known disparities in levels of involvement, Schudde said, “It’s important for colleges to recognize that there can be economic barriers to participation in campus life” and suggested offsetting financial barriers students might face for joining college clubs. If there are fees associated with some clubs, for example, she said, “Are there ways to offer reduced rates or free participation as necessary, or to make fees donation-based?”

Living or needing to work away from campus also factor in.

“Colleges need to contend with the realities of those experiences if they hope to encourage participation,” Schudde said. “That means addressing potential financial barriers or finding opportunities that could allow commuter students to engage in campus life.”

Awareness of available opportunities is another challenge—as is making students understand why involvement matters.

Makenzie Kelly, a 19-year-old second-year student studying psychology and political science at Purdue University, who serves as a leadership intern with Active Minds and its national Mental Health Advocacy Institute, said the Student Voice data on involvement “was so shocking to me, because despite being really pressed for time, extracurricular involvement has been the hallmark of my collegiate experience. It has led me to skills and opportunities and relationships that I am confident I would not have been able to develop in a classroom or research setting.”

Makenzie Kelly

College, she explained, can be a “really weird place: You’re in a new environment with new people and very hefty expectations, so it is really essential that students carve out a community for themselves and they find connection with their peers.”

Agreeing with Schudde that many students are constrained by time and finances, Kelly said it’s on institutions to better understand why students aren’t participating and offer solutions. Students, including first-generation learners, might not know just how to get involved in certain activities, for example. And colleges’ messaging about extracurriculars “needs to put more emphasis on the data that we do have to support the fact that being involved generally creates better outcomes academically and professionally.”

She added, “One of the biggest issues in messaging to college students is that it’s not very data-driven, yeah? Because they think that college students don’t care or will not understand the data. And that is just blatantly untrue. Most of us are so honed in [sic] on making sure that everything we do feeds into this future professional success that we want to achieve.”

Delivery also matters, Kelly said, suggesting the data-driven case for involvement be infused into orientation and classroom spaces: “If professors are advisers for a club, or if they know of a club that connects to classroom content, they could say, ‘Hey, by the way, there’s a call out for this.’”