Students have an overwhelming desire to connect and belong — with their peers, their faculty members, and their institutions. While that need is instinctive, knowing how to connect is not. Many more colleges are exploring creative new ways to help students feel they belong, both inside and outside the classroom. Each interaction with a student carries weight in an era of growing enrollment concerns.

Reimagining the Student Experience explores the many forces affecting the student experience: the projected enrollment cliff, demands from parents and lawmakers, the changing student demographics, and new expectations from the racial-justice movements. The pandemic highlighted what mattered most about the campus experience and college leaders are looking for changes and innovations that are likely to last.