Predictors of Purpose Among Young Adults in College: An Exploratory Analysis of the Importance of Relational Supports and Experiential Learning

Abstract

College is an important context for young adults to cultivate developmental assets, solidify vocational plans, and nurture meaningful relationships. National data from Gallup have highlighted key experiences that positively impact a student’s experience while at college and their life after graduation. These “Big Six” experiences, including relationships with faculty and mentors and participation in high-impact practices, predict student success. Similarly, both theory and research underscore the importance of relationships, active engagement, and exploration in cultivating purpose and long-term aims. Little work has examined the cumulative and relative value of the “Big Six” experiences in explaining purpose development in college. The present cross-sectional and exploratory study sought to address this gap. Specifically, this study utilized hierarchical linear regression to examine the impact of different experiences and relationships on college student purpose at a small, liberal arts university in the Southeast region of the United States (n = 758). The results indicated that a greater number of “Big Six” experiences were predictive of a stronger purpose. Furthermore, experiences centered on relationships mattered relatively more in fostering purpose among college students than participation in high-impact practices. The findings are discussed in the context of the literature and recommendations for higher-education institutions are made.

1. Introduction

Young adults are experiencing historically high levels of emotional distress, including alarming rates of anxiety and depression [1]. Attending college is an important protective and promotive context for young adults to cultivate developmental assets, solidify vocational plans, and develop meaningful relationships [2]. Yet, unexpectedly, according to a recent nationwide study, young adults enrolled in four-year undergraduate colleges reported equally low rates of meaning and purpose as young adults not enrolled in college [1]. And this absence of meaning, purpose, and direction is a key contributor to the rising rates of mental health challenges among young adults [1]. These findings suggest that, in its current state, college does not adequately support young adults in developing purpose and, in turn, graduates’ lack of purpose is negatively associated with their mental health. The growing plight of young adults constitutes a call to action to further explore factors associated with thriving both during and beyond college.

National data from the Gallup–Purdue index highlighted key experiences that positively impact a student’s experience while at college and in their life after graduation [3]. Specifically, an analysis of data collected via the web in 2014 from 30,000 Americans with bachelor’s degrees yielded six most impactful college experiences. These “Big Six” experiences are (1) completing an internship, (2) being engaged in extracurricular activities, (3) having a professor who cares about you as a student, (4) having a professor who makes you excited to learn, (5) working on semester-long projects, and (6) having a mentor who pushes you to reach your goals [3]. Together and individually, these factors have a relationship with positive long-term life outcomes. Gallup’s research suggests that with each additional factor a college student experiences, the more likely they will be to graduate on time and the more prepared they will be for thriving in life after graduation [3]. Similarly, having purpose is associated with thriving during and after college (e.g., [4,5,6,7]). Yet, little work has examined the cumulative and relative value of these “Big Six” experiences in explaining purpose development while in college. The present study examined the predictive value of the “Big Six” for the development of purpose among college students. In particular, we examined both the combined impact of these experiences and their unique predictive value on purpose. By disaggregating these high-impact experiences in our analyses, we demonstrate which ones matter most for cultivating purpose during college. We hypothesize that purpose development may be meaningfully impacted by the “Big Six” and thus explain, in part, the relationship between these undergraduate key experiences and subsequent post-graduate thriving [3].

1.1. Pursuing Purpose in College

Purpose is a long-term aspiration, in which one is actively engaged, that is personally meaningful and is intended to contribute to something larger than oneself [8,9]. Purpose can also be understood as an internal compass that drives one’s day-to-day decision making as well as one’s overarching development and sense of self [10,11]. Young adulthood is not only an opportune time for engaging in purpose exploration and solidifying purpose commitment, but the college context also holds abundant potential for supporting student purpose development [2,11,12].

Supporting young adults in fostering purpose is valuable because research indicates that purpose is associated with well-being and resilience across the lifespan. Specifically, purpose is positively associated with life satisfaction, hope, well-being [12], grit [6], and even life expectancy [13]. Purpose is also correlated with relationship satisfaction [2], social support from friends and partners [14], academic performance, persistence in attaining a college degree [7,15], and income/net worth [5]. Given the promotive power of purpose coupled with its relative scarcity among young adults [1], researchers have sought to better understand and document conditions that foster purpose development.

Purpose is thought to develop iteratively across time through ongoing engagement in influential relationships and experiences as well as through comprehensive reflection on self and context [4,11,16,17,18]. The college setting is uniquely conducive to the development of purpose because of the novel opportunities, experiences, and relationships available [2]. Indeed, the same “Big Six” experiences that predict post-graduate thriving are also associated with purpose development. Thus, it is warranted to both review the “Big Six” within the college context as well as to consider their unique connections to purpose.

1.2. Relationships That Matter: Influential Professors and Mentors

Half of the “Big Six” experiences are similar insofar that they each involve meaningful relationships for college students. Specifically, having a caring professor, a professor who stimulates excitement about learning, and a motivating mentor are all relational experiences that contribute positively to a student’s college experience and life after college [3]. Relationships with professors can greatly impact student experiences and outcomes. For example, one study involving over 300 undergraduates found that students who reported higher levels of rapport with their professors also reported higher levels of academic motivation [19]. Similarly, having a close and recurrent relationship with a professor can contribute to students’ academic self-concept, motivation, and achievement, as well as their overall satisfaction with college life and aspirations for future careers [20]. Experiencing supportive relationships with professors has also been correlated with high levels of purpose. Specifically, undergraduates who utilized college advising to discuss their life goals and consider how to connect their strengths to needs in the world were more likely to qualify as highly purposeful than to be in a lower-purpose category [21]. Indeed, given the profuse positive outcomes associated with supportive relationships with professors, scholars have identified connecting undergraduate students with mentors as a “national priority” in promoting degree completion and in combating inequity in higher education [22] (p. 7).

Beyond just rapport, mentorship involves a more experienced individual offering guidance, support, and encouragement to facilitate the development of competence and character within a less experienced mentee [23,24,25,26]. Professors, older students, bosses, internship supervisors, athletic coaches, and others can all serve as mentors within the college context. As outlined by Nora and Crisp [26], effective mentorship includes emotional support, career guidance, academic support, and role modeling, all of which are essential for transitioning into and thriving in college.

Not surprisingly, mentoring relationships can contribute significantly to purpose development [4,25]. For example, in a study across three different colleges in the United States, undergraduates who reported having at least one mentor were more likely to report higher levels of purpose compared to those without mentors [6]. While mentoring directly impacts college student purpose development, other social relationships also shape the overall development and well-being of college students. For example, a recent study found that high-quality relationships with peers played a pivotal role in bridging the gap in purpose commitment between first-generation college students and their counterparts [27]. Other research has demonstrated that emotional support from peers contributes to the development of purpose and mastery during young adulthood [28]. Importantly, relationships do not emerge in isolation; instead, students often form these connections within the unique experiences available in the college context. These experiences (e.g., extracurricular activities, internships, and semester-long projects) foster purpose development in their own right and also connect young adults with purpose-cultivating relationships.

1.3. Experiences That Matter: Internships, Semester-Long Projects, and Extracurriculars

The other three “Big Six” experiences involve rich opportunities for undergraduates to engage in experiential learning. Specifically, semester-long projects (e.g., capstone projects, culminating group projects, student research), internships, and extracurriculars (e.g., team sports, affinity groups, student clubs) all offer students opportunities to learn in vivo. Experiential learning (EL) involves engagement in hands-on activities wherein knowledge is created through the learner’s practice of integrating their here-and-now experience with novel situational information [29,30]. The experiential learning theory puts forth that all learning is a continual process that is rooted in experience, and educational settings can best promote learning by accompanying students through iterative and deepening cycles of experiencing, acting, reflecting, and thinking [30]. Importantly, when performed well, this active and iterative process results in new skills, insights, and knowledge for learners [31,32].

In recent decades, EL has grown in popularity in higher education due to robust evidence of its positive impact on student learning outcomes across disciplines [31,33,34]. For example, experiential learning has been shown to contribute to student success by accelerating graduation and increasing the likelihood of attending graduate school or securing employment after graduating [35]. Experiential learning not only helps young adults gain a greater understanding of academic material but also allows students to explore and discover their interests while cultivating a sense of self. Experiential learning opportunities can provide students the opportunity to understand how their skills and education contribute to a community or real-world problems, further enabling them to develop a purpose beyond themselves. Indeed, purpose also develops through iterative cycles of experiencing, acting, reflecting, and thinking [11,17]. For example, a recent study that explored associations between specific college experiences and levels of purpose found that engaging in courses that included service learning and field experience (i.e., experiential learning) significantly predicted the highest levels of purpose among participants [21]. Thus, purpose development may be deeply intertwined with experiential learning.

Importantly, given the breadth of experiences that qualify as semester-long projects, internships, or extracurriculars, some may not all involve formal experiential learning [29]. However, returning to the significance of meaningful relationships, many of these experiences provide students with the opportunity to build meaningful relationships and connections. These relationships can support personal and professional development, offering students social support systems and mentoring opportunities [29]. As with purpose development, experiences and relationships work together to foster development for college students [11]. Distinguishing the role of these consequential experiences from the relationships they foster can be challenging, as they are deeply intertwined. Nevertheless, we aim to consider the cumulative and unique impact of each of these experiences on purpose development.

1.4. Present Study

The present study examined the predictive value of several high-impact experiences and relationships with faculty and mentors for developing purpose among college students at a small, liberal arts university. Following the work of Seymour and Lopez [3] on success after college, we examined the “Big Six” experiences as predictors of purpose to see if these experiences also confer benefits (i.e., increased purpose) among students while still in college. That is, we examine the combined impact of these experiences and their unique predictive value on purpose. Given the relative novelty of exploring college experiences alongside purpose development [21], we took an exploratory approach in the present study. We made no hypotheses about the relative importance of each predictor in explaining purpose given existing literature that highlights the developmental benefits of each of the “Big Six” experiences.

2. Materials and Methods

The present study drew data from an annual survey of students at a small, liberal arts university in the Southeast region of the US. This university has historical ties to a faith tradition and has a large student-athlete population. The survey was administered online via Qualtrics at the end of the spring semester in 2022 and included questions regarding campus experiences and psychosocial development. It is noteworthy that since its inception, the survey has included measures of student purpose, relationships with mentors and professors, co-curricular participation, and engagement in various experiential learning opportunities. All undergraduate students were invited to participate via email and were eligible for a prize drawing if they completed the survey (e.g., a Bluetooth speaker). Participation in this study was voluntary and over 1 in 4 students participated (n = 758).

2.1. Meaning in Life Questionnaire

We used the Meaning in Life Questionnaire [36] to examine commitment to purpose. This questionnaire contains a 5-item subscale on commitment to purpose. A sample item from this subscale is “My life has a clear sense of purpose”. The internal consistency of this subscale was excellent (α = 0.86). This subscale has been used in previous studies on purpose among young adults and college students (e.g., [6]).

2.2. “Big Six” Experiences: Relational and Experiential Variables

As noted above, Gallup identifies the following as “Big Six” experiences: (1) completing an internship, (2) being engaged in extracurricular activities, (3) having a professor who cares about you as a student, (4) having a professor who makes you excited to learn, (5) working on semester-long projects, and (6) having a mentor who pushes you to reach your goals [3]. In our study, we extracted items from different parts of the student survey to create this measure. Students completed three separate “yes” or “no” questions regarding whether they had a mentor, completed an internship, or completed a semester-long project. Students completed Likert-scale questions on whether their professors care about them as a person and whether they make them excited about learning with response categories ranging from “Strongly Agree” to “Strongly Disagree”. Similar to the methodology employed in national polls [3], two new dummy variables were created with students who responded “Strongly Agree” to these questions receiving a “1” or “yes” and students who indicated lower levels of agreement (i.e., “Agree” to “Strongly Disagree”) receiving a “0” or “no”.

Students also indicated their participation (“yes” or “no”) in various extracurricular activities on campus, including academic clubs or honor societies, religious organizations, Greek organizations, intramurals, and student government. Students that participated in any of these organizations received a “1” or “yes” on the extracurricular activity variable, whereas those who did not participate in any of the activities on campus received a “0” or “no”. Approximately half of the sample reported participating in at least one activity (51.1%).

Scores were summed across dummy variables for the “Big Six” experiences to create an index with scores ranging from 0 to 6. However, only 3.8% of the sample reported that they completed an internship and, consequently, we focused on the other five experiences and created a “Big Five” index. Student participation was low due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a limitation discussed later in this report.

2.3. Student Demographic Variables

We collected student demographic data on a number of variables, including race/ethnicity, student-athlete status, year in school, first-generation college student status, and gender. We included these demographic variables in our study as previous research has indicated that participation in various high-impact experiential learning opportunities varies by student characteristics (e.g., [37,38]). Moreover, this work also demonstrates variability in mentoring and faculty relationships as a function of demographics.

3. Results

3.1. Descriptive Statistics

The sample in the present study is primarily White (69.5%) and female (58.7%). Furthermore, approximately 3 in 10 of the sample (29.5%) reported that they were the first in the family to go to college and were in the first year of college (30.3%). About half of the respondents (50.7%) also reported that they were student-athletes. Over half of the students (57.1%) reported at least two of the “Big Five”, whereas only 6% percent of students had all five experiences and 5% of the students had none. In comparison, national data [3] reported that only 3% of students had all “Big Six” experiences.

3.2. Inferential Statistics

We conducted two hierarchical linear regression models to examine the independent and cumulative impact of the predictors on students’ sense of purpose. We examined the distribution of residuals and outliers to check for assumptions of normality. We did not find any violations and proceeded with our two regression models. In each model, student demographic characteristics were entered as control variables as previous research has demonstrated variability in access to “Big Six” experiences as a function of student demographics (e.g., [38]) and developmental differences in purpose development [21]. In Model 1, we entered a total “Big Five” score after control variables to examine the combined impact of these experiential and relational predictors. The results indicated that higher scores on the index were predictive of a greater purpose (β = 0.260, p < 0.001), controlling for student demographics (

Table 1. “Big Five” Total Scores as a Predictor of Purpose Among College Students ^a.

		Unstandardized Coefficients		Standardized Coefficients
Model		B	Std. Error	Beta	t	Sig.
1	(Constant)	24.044	1.826		13.170	<0.001
	Non-White	−0.718	0.564	−0.053	−1.272	0.204
	Sophomore	−0.548	0.698	−0.037	−0.786	0.432
	Junior	0.065	0.672	0.005	0.096	0.923
	Senior	0.246	0.749	0.016	0.328	0.743
	First-Gen Student	0.436	0.566	0.032	0.771	0.441
	Student-Athlete	−1.064	0.557	−0.085	−1.910	0.057
	Female	0.338	0.563	0.027	0.601	0.548
	“Big Five” Score	1.376	0.211	0.270	6.514	<0.001

^a. Dependent Variable: Commitment to Purpose.

).

In Model 2, we entered each relational and experiential learning variable as a separate predictor in this model. As with Model 1, we controlled for student demographic variables. These results, in general, indicated that relational variables were more powerful predictors of purpose (

Table 2. “Big Five” Experiences as Independent Predictors of Purpose Among College Students ^a.

		Unstandardized Coefficients		Standardized Coefficients
Model		B	Std. Error	Beta	t	Sig.
1	(Constant)	23.648	1.858		12.730	<0.001
	Non-White	−0.620	0.566	−0.046	−1.097	0.273
	Sophomore	−0.516	0.699	−0.035	−0.739	0.460
	Junior	0.199	0.676	0.014	0.295	0.768
	Senior	0.448	0.761	0.029	0.588	0.557
	First-Gen Student	0.317	0.586	0.023	0.559	0.577
	Student-Athlete	−1.016	0.561	−0.081	−1.811	0.071
	Female	0.382	0.566	0.030	0.675	0.500
	Excited by Professors	1.189	0.843	0.070	1.412	0.159
	Semester-Long Project	0.566	0.530	0.045	1.068	0.286
	Cared for by Professors	1.613	0.697	0.113	2.315	0.021
	Mentor	2.468	0.617	0.166	3.998	<0.001
	Extracurricular Activity	1.212	0.536	0.093	2.261	0.024

^a. Dependent Variable: Commitment to Purpose.

). Specifically, having a mentor (β = 0.166, p < 0.001), having a professor who cares about you (β = 0.113, p = 0.021), and participating in extracurriculars with peers (β = 0.093, p = 0.024) all significantly predict purpose in life. On the other hand, semester-long projects (β = 0.045, p = 0.286) and being excited by professors (β = 0.070, p = 0.159) were positively associated with purpose, but not at statistically significant levels.

4. Discussion

A key contributor to thriving during and after college is having a purpose [1,2]. Fortunately for students, the college environment can provide numerous experiences and opportunities that foster purpose development [2]. Indeed, a growing body of literature highlights the benefits of relationships and high-impact experiences as predictors of purpose. Our exploratory study sought to empirically examine two questions on the college experience and thriving. First, do the key experiences for thriving after college also predict purpose among current college students? Second, which of these predictors matter most in fostering purpose? Our study demonstrated that these experiences help account for purpose among college students and that, of the “Big 6” experiences, the biggest contributor for college student purpose development was having at least one mentor.

National polls highlight the value of key aspects of the college experience for success in adulthood [3]. These experiences include both meaningful relationships and curricular and extracurricular activities. Our study extends this work by demonstrating the benefits of these experiences for students while still enrolled in college. A key developmental task for young adults, many of whom are pursuing higher education, is to discern their purpose. Opportunities to cultivate purpose permeate the college experience [2]; yet, our study suggests that some are more impactful than others.

More broadly, each of the Big Five experiences examined in the present study positively predicted purpose. We speculate that purpose may be the mechanism that explains why these experiences have such significant impacts on graduates’ long-term degree satisfaction. Indeed, a more recent study conducted by Gallup [39] found that college graduates who engage in internships and have someone who supports their dreams/goals are subsequently more likely to experience high purpose in their work. In turn, those individuals are tenfold more likely to also endorse high well-being when compared to their low-purpose counterparts [39]. The present results further strengthen the pathway from formative experiences through purpose to job satisfaction and well-being.

Yet, despite this pathway as well as recent college graduates’ desire to experience purpose at work (80% indicate it as a priority), a minority actually experience purpose in their work [39]. This so-called “purpose gap” is receiving growing attention from university leadership around the country [39,40]. Specifically, education leaders and positive-development scholars call for post-secondary institutions to better attend to purpose cultivation of their undergraduate students [2,40]. In the context of finite resources, clarity is needed regarding how best to cultivate college student purpose.

4.1. Recommendations for Universities

The present results contribute significantly to the call for this shift in university focus as they both strengthen the link between purpose and factors of thriving during and after college and highlight the relative importance of relationships in cultivating purpose among undergraduate students. Prior research has shown that purpose development can be catalyzed by important relationships and pivotal experiences (e.g., [4,25,27,41,42]). The present results further this research by demonstrating the relative importance of relationships in fostering purpose compared to other predictors of purpose and thriving. These findings may offer important implications for how universities and faculty might direct their limited resources. Because relationships may be most influential in undergraduate purpose development, universities are encouraged to focus on cultivating meaningful relationships among their undergraduate students.

Given these findings, we support Colby and colleagues’ [40] call for universities to structurally shift by focusing more on attending to human thriving. This can include shifting career and counseling services to more holistically meet students’ needs, offering classes focused on cultivating purpose and meaning, and offering rich extracurricular programming [39,40]. But, based on the present results, it is most pressing that universities encourage student relationships with professors and mentors. Mentoring relationships in particular have been shown to predict better academic adjustment, higher GPAs and graduation rates, purpose, and persistence in college [25,43,44,45]. The present results extend these findings by articulating the relative importance of having relationships with professors and mentors on purpose development. Therefore, we encourage colleges to better prioritize student–professor relationships and the mentoring of their undergraduate students. This could include improving academic advising programs; offering a range of mentoring programs (e.g., major or identity-specific); training professors, faculty, and senior students in mentorship and classroom community cultivation best practices; and prioritizing smaller class sizes [22,26].

It is also vital that post-secondary institutions acknowledge the value that mentors and advisors offer to students via appropriate recognition and compensation for their work. Due to the frequently informal nature of student mentorship, professors and others (e.g., staff and coaches) often go unrecognized for their efforts or even incur professional disadvantages as a result of the time they commit to mentorship [46]. Not only does this disincentivize mentorship but it can lead to mentor burnout and disengagement. Moreover, this relational work is disproportionately carried out by female faculty and faculty of color [46,47,48]. Given the importance of relationships in cultivating student purpose and future thriving, universities are encouraged to better recognize those currently mentoring as well as to more equitably distribute mentoring responsibilities among all professors. Similarly, underrepresented and minoritized college students have been shown to face unique and impactful relational challenges at college (e.g., stereotyping and microaggressions from peers and faculty) and conversely may uniquely benefit from mentorship in the college context [49,50,51]. Thus, professors and universities should also work to build relationships with all students—not just those who proactively reach out or are inequitably selected as mentees.

While the present study suggests that relationships may be the most meaningful in fostering purpose among college students, these results do not demonstrate that experiential learning opportunities (e.g., internships and semester-long projects) are meaningless. As noted above, prior research has demonstrated the importance of internships for engagement in purposeful work after graduation [39]. Additional research should examine the value of these learning opportunities and attempt to disentangle the benefits conferred in these experiences (e.g., skill development, goal formation, and relational support). Yet, it is likely that formative relationships are often cultivated within formative experiences and the “Big Six” experiences likely incur benefits interdependently and iteratively over time.

4.2. Limitations and Future Directions

This study intended to explore the impact of Gallup’s “Big Six” experiences on college student purpose. However, only five of the “Big Six” experiences were incorporated into the data analysis due to low student participation in internships during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is recommended that future research considers the relationship between internships and purpose. Indeed, given that these data were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic (Spring 2022), it is important to acknowledge the potential impact that this influential contextual factor may have on the present findings. For example, mentorship may have been uniquely impactful during the pandemic because of individuals’ heightened desire for connection. Nonetheless, uncertainty and isolation continue to impact undergraduates. Therefore, mentorship may persist as the strongest predictor of purpose. We recommend that future research continues to explore the cumulative and distinct impact of the “Big Six” on undergraduate purpose. Moreover, while data collection during the pandemic represents a limitation, it may also provide a unique window into the experiences and relationships that contribute to thriving during other disruptive events (e.g., natural disasters). In turn, the present study’s findings may be useful to administrators seeking to preserve student thriving amidst various challenging circumstances. These findings also highlight the benefits of other “Big Six” experiences besides internships, which is critically important given the limited access that many students have to internship opportunities [38].

Additionally, while the findings indicated that mentors were the most significant predictors of purpose among the “Big Five” experiences, qualitative inquiry would be valuable to further understand the nuanced impact of these interconnected experiences and relationships. Namely, mentors are often gained through engaging in experiences that matter (e.g., internships, semester-long projects, and extracurriculars), and caring professors often, though not always, serve as mentors. In the present study, as well as in Gallup’s work, the measurement of mentors did not examine the type of mentor (e.g., professor, staff, coach, or other), nor did it examine relational qualities of this relationship and the contexts within which this mentoring relationship unfolded (e.g., as an advisor–advisee or as a player–coach). Qualitative studies would provide additional insights into how mentorships are initiated and maintained which, in turn, might inform how to best support mentorship in colleges. This work would do well to examine the mechanisms through which mentors engage with students and the contexts in which they are situated (e.g., undergraduate research, office hours, extracurricular activities).

Moreover, the present study was cross-sectional; conducting a longitudinal study would provide valuable insights into the impact of mentoring and the other “Big Six” experiences over time on purpose development. Indeed, future longitudinal work that examines the temporal ordering between the “Big Six” experiences and purpose formation would be beneficial. Moreover, experimental work that examines the impact of particular high-impact experiences (e.g., semester-long projects) may better illustrate the value of these opportunities in cultivating purpose. Another limitation related to the cross-sectional nature of the present study is that we cannot determine causality nor disprove reverse causality. For example, highly purposeful students might be more likely to seek out meaningful relationships with mentors. Participation in this study was also voluntary, which may contribute to a selection bias in our results. It stands to reason that students who volunteered to complete the survey may have been more engaged in their collegiate experience and, in turn, would have higher “Big Five” scores and higher purpose scores than those who did not complete the survey. However, the study participants did generally represent the larger student body (e.g., primarily White and female). Specifically, this study was conducted at a private liberal arts university in the Southeast of the United States with historical ties to a faith tradition. The institution, and our sample, also has a higher percentage of White and female students. Moreover, this university has a significant number of first-generation college students and student-athletes which was also mirrored in our study. Future research should be carried out with a more diverse sample to examine the generalizability of these findings.

Despite its limitations, this study offers meaningful insights into the relationships and experiences that foster college students’ purpose development. Along with other research (e.g., [21]), our study provides guidance for universities on efforts to support student formation and, in turn, thriving after college. As mounting evidence documents the growing mental health concerns among young adults as well as the protective role of purpose against maladjustment [1], institutions that serve and support young people should seriously consider their responsibility in cultivating promotive environments. Relationship-rich opportunities within the college context may serve as a significant promoter of student mental health before and after graduation. Moreover, relationships and high-impact experiences may not only foster purpose during college and beyond, but may also address rising concerns about students’ sense of disconnection and dissatisfaction with their collegiate experience and contribute to the discourse regarding the value of college.