Colleges and universities play a critical role in shaping intergroup dynamics in an era of increasing racial tensions in the United States. Diversity courses may serve as one important approach for preparing college students for participation in an equitable and just society, since this coursework holds a unique position at many institutions to…

To promote learning and academic success among undergraduates, many colleges and universities offer or require students to participate in high-impact practices, which include first-year seminars, learning communities, writing-intensive courses, service-learning, diversity/global learning, internships, and capstone projects. However, the research…

Scholars and the public alike have questioned the benefits of obtaining an undergraduate education. Although research has extensively examined short-term outcomes associated with college experiences, relatively few studies have investigated non-economic outcomes beyond graduation. This paper explored the link between college experiences and…

Background/Context: The role of race in the university continues to be a contentious issue. Proponents of college diversity often cite the importance of fostering a diverse and deliberative democratic society, but the link between student experiences and postcollege citizenship has received limited attention. Purpose/Objective: This study explores…

Attending a selective college or university has a notable impact on the likelihood of graduation, graduate school attendance, social networks, and career earnings. Given these short-term and long-term benefits, surprisingly little research has directly explored the factors that might promote or detract from equitable admissions decisions at these…

To achieve many outcomes promoted by student affairs educators, students need the internal capacity to author their knowledge, identities, and relationships. This study examined the link between students' entering self-authorship capacity and their experiences and outcomes in their first and fourth years. Findings from 214 participants indicate…

This article considers whether the socioeconomic diversity of the undergraduate student body and experiences with cross-class interaction (CCI) are significantly related to cross-racial interaction (CRI) and engagement with curricular/co-curricular diversity (CCD) activities. Individual students who reported higher levels of CCI had significantly…

This chapter summarizes how diversity experiences influence college students' educational outcomes and offers recommendations for practice to maximize these benefits on all campuses.

Given the substantial lack of racial diversity within the U.S. legal profession, it is important to understand how to improve the representation of racially minoritized students at law schools. This study uses panel data from the 2010s to consider several types of factors that may shape the number and percentage of incoming law school students…

Recent legal challenges to race-conscious college admissions processes have called into question what constitutes a sufficient level of diversity on college campuses. Previous research on the educational benefits of diversity has examined the linear relationship between diversity interactions and student outcomes, but multiple theoretical…

Racial/cultural awareness workshops constitute a salient form of co-curricular diversity engagement in higher education. Although these workshops are generally quite short in duration (often no more than two hours), previous research suggests that workshop participation is associated with undergraduate civic growth. The current study uses…

College diversity experiences have been praised not only for their role in promoting student growth but also for contributing to future engagement with diversity. However, the evidence supporting this latter claim is quite limited, often relying on cross-sectional analyses. This study examines whether and how students' first-year diversity…

Recent legal and political actions have challenged the use of race-conscious college admissions policies. Earlier research offers mixed evidence about the link between an institution's racial/ethnic composition (i.e., structural diversity) and the formation of close interracial relationships, so the present study examines this topic directly for…

Higher education researchers and practitioners have emphasized the educational benefits of fostering meaningful interracial interaction on college campuses. The link between cross-racial interaction and student growth has received considerable empirical attention, but far less is known about whether and when interracial friendship predicts student…

The current study enhances the understanding of campus climate for religious and worldview diversity by examining how non-Muslim college students perceive Muslims and Islam and what predispositions, environmental factors, and experiences predict their attitudes toward Muslims. Results indicate that informal engagement with diverse peers,…