What College Students Are After and Why

References

• Astin, A. W., Astin, H., Lindholm, J. A., & Bryant, A. N. (2005). The spiritual life of college students: A national study of college students’ search for meaning and purpose [Report]. Higher Education Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles. https://spirituality.ucla.edu/docs/reports/Spiritual_Life_College_Students_Full_Report.pdf
   Google Scholar
• Atherton, O. E., Grijalva, E., Roberts, B. W., & Robins, R. W. (2021). Stability and change in personality traits and major life goals from college to midlife. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 47(5), 841–858. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167220949362
   Google Scholar
• Bok, D. (2020). Higher expectations: Can colleges teach students what they need to know in the 21st century? Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691212357
   Google Scholar
• Bringing Theory to Practice. (2013). The well-being and flourishing of students: Considering well-being, and its connection to learning and civic engagement, as central to the mission of higher education. https://www.naspa.org/images/uploads/kcs/WHPL_Canon_WB_BTtoPWellbeingInitiative.pdf
   Google Scholar
• Brocato, N., Isler, M. R., Hix, L., Pryor, J. H., & Rue, P. (2018). Turning wellbeing data into effective programming. NASPA. http://wp-cdn.aws.wfu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/320/2018/01/08031406/WFU-NASPA-2018-Turning-wellbeing-data-into-effective-programming-03-05-18.pdf
   Google Scholar
• Bronk, K. C. (2014). Purpose in life: A component of optimal youth development. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7491-9
   Google Scholar
• Bundick, M., Andrews, M., Jones, A., Mariano, J. M., Bronk, K. C., & Damon, W. (2006). Revised youth purpose survey. Stanford University Center on Adolescence. https://doi.org/10.1037/t10273-000
   Google Scholar
• Bundick, M., Remington, K., Morton, E., & Colby, A. (2019). The contours of purpose beyond the self in midlife and later life. Applied Developmental Science, 25(1), 62–82. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2018.1531718
   Google Scholar
• Burnett, B., & Evans, D. (2016). Designing your life: How to build a well-lived, joyful life. Alfred A. Knopf.
   Google Scholar
• Colby, A. (2020). Purpose as a unifying goal of higher education. Journal of College and Character, 21(1), 21–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/2194587X.2019.1696829
   Google Scholar
• Colby, A., Bundick, M., Remington, K., & Morton, E. (2020). Moral flourishing in later life through purpose beyond the self. In L. Jensen (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of moral development: An interdisciplinary perspective (pp. 440–458). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190676049.001.0001
   Google Scholar
• Corbin, J., & Strauss, A. (2014). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Sage.
   Google Scholar
• Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. SAGE.
   Google Scholar
• Dalton, J. C., & Crosby, P. C. (2011). Core values and commitments in college: The surprising return to ethics and character in undergraduate education. Journal of College and Character, 12(2), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.2202/1940-1639.1796
   Google Scholar
• Damon, W. (2008). The path to purpose: How young people find their calling in life. Free Press.
   Google Scholar
• Fischman, W., & Gardner, H. (2022). The real world of college: What higher education is and what it can be. MIT Press.
   Google Scholar
• Hill, P., Burrow, A., & Bronk, K. C. (2014). Persevering with positivity and purpose: An examination of purpose commitment and positive affect as predictors of grit. Journal of Happiness Studies, 17(1), 257–269. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-014-9593-5
   Google Scholar
• Hill, P. L., Burrow, A. L., O’Dell, A. C., & Thornton, M. A. (2010). Classifying adolescents’ conceptions of purpose in life. Journal of Positive Psychology, 5(6), 466–473. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2010.534488
   Google Scholar
• Krettenauer, T., & Curren, R. (Eds.). (2020). Self-determination theory, morality, and education [Special Issue]. Journal of Moral Education, 49(3), 275–281. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2020.1794173
   Google Scholar
• Leppel, K. (2005). College persistence and student attitudes toward financial success. College Student Journal, 39(2), 223–241. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ725568
   Google Scholar
• Malin, H., Liauw, I., & Damon, W. (2017). Purpose and character development in early adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46(6), 1200–1215. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-017-0642-3
   Google Scholar
• Morton, E., Colby, A., Bundick, M., & Remington, K. (2018). Hiding in plain sight: Older U.S. purpose exemplars. Journal of Positive Psychology, 14(5), 614–624. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2018.1510022
   Google Scholar
• Payscale 2017 College ROI Report. April 25, 2017. https://www.payscale.com/about/payscale-2017-college-roi-report
   Google Scholar
• Roberts, B. W., O’Donnell, M., & Robins, R. W. (2004). Goal and personality trait development in emerging adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(4), 541–550. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.87.4.541
   Google Scholar
• Roberts, B. W., & Robins, R. W. (2000). Broad dispositions, broad aspirations: The intersection of personality traits and major life goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26(10), 1284–1296. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167200262009
   Google Scholar
• Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2001). On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1), 141–166. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.141
   Google Scholar
• Ryff, C. (2016). Eudaimonic well-being and education: Probing the connections. In D. W. Harward (Ed.), Well-being and higher education: A strategy for change and the realization of education’s greater purposes (pp. 37–48). Association of American Colleges and Universities.
   Google Scholar
• Ryff, C. D. (2013). Psychological well-being revisited: Advances in the science and practice of eudaimonia. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 83(1), 10–28. https://doi.org/10.1159/000353263
   Google Scholar
• Schrum, J. (2020, June 23). A father learns the true reward of taking a free online happiness course with his son. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/a-father-learns-the-true-reward-of-taking-a-free-online-happiness-course-with-his-son/2020/06/22/d3fd5c76-b4b5-11ea-a8da-693df3d7674a_story.html
   Google Scholar
• Shapiro, M. O. (2005 September). Review of “College choices: The economics of where to go, when to go, and how to pay for it.” Journal of Economic Literature, 43(3), 837–838. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4129491
   Google Scholar
• Sharma, G., & Yukhymenko-Lescroart, M. (2018). The relationship between college students’ sense of purpose and degree commitment. Journal of College Student Development, 59(4), 486–491. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2018.0045
   Google Scholar
• Stolzenberg, E. B., Aragon, M. C., Romo, E., Couch, V., McLennan, D., Eagan, M. K., & Kang, N. (2019). The American freshman: National norms. Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA. https://www.heri.ucla.edu/monographs/TheAmericanFreshman2019.pdf
   Google Scholar
• Sullivan, W. M. (2016). Liberal learning as a quest for purpose. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190499242.001.0001
   Google Scholar
• Twenge, J. M., Campbell, W. K., & Freeman, E. C. (2012). Generational differences in young adults’ life goals, concern for others, and civic orientation, 1966-2009. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(5), 1045–1062. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0027408
   Google Scholar
• Yukhymenko-Lescroart, M. A., & Sharma, G. (2020). Sense of purpose and progress towards degree in freshman college students. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/1521025120975134
   Google Scholar