Students Question If They Matter on Campus
Most students say at least one person on campus knows them in a meaningful way. But a quarter of them aren’t sure if anyone really knows them, or say they feel invisible, according to a new Student Voice flash survey on connection and mattering in college.
Peter Felten, executive director of the Center for Engaged Learning at Elon University, has written extensively about how relationships and mattering affect student success. He said belonging depends on feeling you fit into a particular environment. Mattering, he explained, is different — it’s rooted in feeling valued and known, and having something to contribute.
“Every student can and should feel like they matter in college,” Felten said. Unlike belonging, he noted, mattering is theoretically attainable for all students, regardless of age or other factors that might challenge a sense of fitting in.
Felten called the survey results “mixed.” He expressed concern for the 9 percent of students who feel wholly unseen — those who said no one on campus knows them in a way that signals they matter. “That’s a failure on our part,” he said, referring to faculty and staff who work in higher education. “Those of us who teach and work in higher education need to create conditions where all students feel they matter. That’s key for student well-being, learning and persistence.”
The survey, conducted in May, drew responses from 1,038 two- and four-year students at 203 public and private nonprofit institutions. It was produced with Generation Lab and supported by the Gates Foundation.
Most students say they’ve been helped to explore life’s bigger questions
Nearly two-thirds of students say their college has helped them at least somewhat explore questions about what kind of person they want to be, what gives their life meaning, or how they want to contribute. Felten said these “deeper life interactions” also play a major role in student well-being.
“Colleges and universities tend to promise students that their education will be transformative,” he said. “Yes, we’ll prepare students for a career, but we’ll also prepare them for life.” To deliver on that promise, he added, institutions must create opportunities for students to critically explore those questions.
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About 32 percent of students said their college has helped them a great deal with those questions. Another 33 percent said it helped them somewhat. But 10 percent said their college hasn’t helped them at all — and that they’ve had to pursue those questions on their own. Just 4 percent said those questions aren’t relevant to them.
Students at private nonprofit institutions are significantly more likely than their public institution peers to say they’ve been encouraged to explore these issues a great deal — 44 percent versus 29 percent. That difference can’t be explained entirely by the fact that two-year colleges, with their more focused curricula, make up a large share of the public institutions surveyed.
Sense of mattering varies widely by campus and student type
When asked directly about mattering — not just belonging — 36 percent of students said at least several people on campus know them in a way that signals they matter. That includes peers who rely on them or faculty who would notice if they were struggling. Another 33 percent said maybe one or two people know them that way. Nearly 1 in 10 said no one knows them that way and that they feel invisible.
The gap between four-year and two-year students is stark. About 40 percent of four-year students said at least several people on campus know them in a meaningful way. At two-year colleges, that figure drops to 19 percent. Some 14 percent of community college students said they feel invisible, compared to 5 percent of four-year peers.
Age also plays a role. One in five students over 25 said they’re known meaningfully by at least several people — about half the rate of students aged 19 to 24. A recent Student Voice survey found that 64 percent of community college students have not participated in any extra- or co-curricular activities, which could affect their sense of mattering.
Students give their colleges mixed grades on well-being
If students had to grade their college for how well it supports overall well-being — including mental health, purpose, and social connection — 49 percent would give it a B. One in five — 20 percent — would give it an A. Just 2 percent say it’s failing. Despite two-year students’ lower marks on mattering, they award their colleges an A at a much higher rate (31 percent) than four-year students do (18 percent).
On technology’s role in connection, the plurality of students — 32 percent — are neutral about whether their phone, social media, and AI use makes them more connected or more isolated. About 28 percent feel somewhat more connected, and 24 percent feel somewhat more isolated. Men and nonbinary students are less likely than women to say technology makes them feel at least somewhat more connected.
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When it comes to campus culture, 55 percent of students say it “partially” feels like everyone has a role in supporting student well-being. Another 23 percent say their institution feels like everyone shares responsibility for student well-being. Just 5 percent say well-being feels like an afterthought. Two-year students are more likely than four-year students to say everyone on campus appears to take responsibility for well-being — 30 percent versus 21 percent.
Students want more mental health support and awareness
The single biggest thing institutions could do differently, based on student write-in comments, is provide more mental health counseling — that represents about one in every five comments. Building more awareness of available resources is also popular, as is creating more opportunities for community and social connection. Reducing academic stress and improving affordability are recurring themes.
Rachel Forsyth, a senior educational developer at Lund University in Sweden who has researched mattering and trust in higher education, said the findings show the importance of involving students directly in shaping their experiences. She called technology something of a “red herring” in discussions about social disconnection, noting that students inhabit a middle ground on AI.
“AI and social media may have their places in all parts of our lives, but what place should that be, and how do students make informed decisions?” she said.
Philip N. Cohen, a sociology professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, added that phones don’t directly make people lonely or depressed. The more important question, he said, is what activities technology may be replacing — and how colleges can create more opportunities for meaningful human connection.
“If phones are displacing in-person social behavior like eating together or playing sports,” he said, “think about how to promote those more prosocial activities.”
Levi Shanks, assistant vice president at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, said the findings reflect “meaningful progress.” Public and land-grant universities have expanded their focus beyond academic achievement to include well-being, engagement, and helping students connect their education to a larger sense of purpose, he noted. APLU plans to release its own framework on student success based on these ideas. The future of education may hinge on such institutional shifts toward holistic support.
