Lonely on Campus: Are Universities Failing Their Students?

“A college campus should be one of the least lonely places in America. Students pack lecture halls, dormitories, dining halls, football games, and coffee shops every day. There are clubs, recreational sports, study groups, and seemingly unlimited activities. Yet somehow, many students still feel alone. College sells students and parents on the promise of community and lifelong friendship. But a Trellis Strategies report suggests otherwise. They surveyed nearly 44,000 college students and found that nearly 60 percent of students reported feeling lonely, while only 15 percent said they never did. These findings question the assumption that simply being on a college campus creates community. If students are surrounded by thousands of peers and still feel isolated, what is causing it, and do colleges have a responsibility to address the problem? If many students are lonely, it may be because the campus feels isolating. --> Universities shouldn’t treat student loneliness as something outside their control. They design the spaces students live in and the schedules they follow. If many students are lonely, it may be because the campus feels isolating due to decisions universities make about class size, housing, campus culture, and more. Loneliness doesn’t just make college less fun; it can impact academic performance and enrollment numbers. Universities market themselves as vibrant communities where students learn and connect with others, so they should take responsibility for student well-being and overall student experience. Also, students are paying a lot of money to be there. The least colleges can do is make sure students aren’t paying for a degree while feeling disconnected the whole time. Universities can take steps towards improving student mental health, but not through pouring money into guidance counselors and questionable mental health practices. They can foster more in-person interaction through small classes, relying less on online learning, and creating more small-group freshman seminars that help students build relationships early on. Overreliance on online resources like AI and Zoom is likely hurting students. --> The overreliance on online resources like AI and Zoom is likely hurting students. Staring at a screen all day for classes, then scrolling through social media during downtime, isn’t healthy. For many students, college is increasingly transactional, with less time for extracurriculars. With rising inflation and tuition costs, many students are focusing more on return on investment, which isn’t a bad thing, but can lead students to put less time and effort into friendships. Many students are also commuters living off campus, which can make it feel like they’re not really part of the broader college community. The number one way to combat a chronically online generation is to push students towards clubs, sports, study groups, and anything that encourages face-to-face interaction. Freshman year is when students are figuring out campus, building their friend groups, and trying to settle into a completely new environment, so it really matters that they have real chances to connect. Since most of their time is spent in the classroom, smaller, discussion-based classes would go a long way toward helping students talk to each other and form friendships— instead of sitting silently in big lectures and heading out when it’s over. If so many are struggling to find connection in a place built for it, then something deeper is going wrong. College is supposed to be one of the most formative and social periods of one’s life, not the most isolating. Reagan Allen is the North Carolina reporter for the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. The post Lonely on Campus: Are Universities Failing Their Students? appeared first on The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal .

Summary generated from the RSS feed of James G. Martin Center. All article rights belong to the original publisher. Click through to read the full piece on www.jamesgmartin.center.