Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to highlight the value of university social responsibility (USR) by investigating its impact on student-university identification and student loyalty. It also examines the mediating effect of student-university identification and the moderating effect of the perceived importance of USR. A comparative study is also conducted between students from two diverse cultural backgrounds. Design/methodology/approach: An online questionnaire was administered to students of universities in two different emerging markets economies (Lebanon and Colombia). The collected data were tested by applying descriptive techniques, cluster analysis and partial least square structural equation modeling with multi-group analysis using SmartPLS3.0 software. Findings: The findings revealed that USR affects student loyalty both directly and indirectly through student-university identification. Research limitations/implications: Assessing the model through a more varied sample population from different cultural backgrounds would entail more universal results and the ability to generalize the causality relationship between USR and student identification and loyalty. Originality/value: This study is a valuable addition to the scarce literature on USR and its interplay with student-university identification. It presents USR as a vital marketing tool to achieve student identification and loyalty, being key factors that impact student enrollment and retention. It also translates into a competitive advantage for higher education institutions to overcome the fierce competition in the educational market. Additionally, this research can be considered a laboratory for theory testing and theory building due to its unique context and original primary data.