Shaping Students’ Civic Commitments: The Influence of College Cocurricular Involvement

Drawing on social capital theory, this study examines the extent to which several college cocurricular involvement experiences during college contribute to students’ civic commitments toward social and political involvement at the end of college. Results are based on longitudinal data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education and control for a host of potential confounding influences. Both students’ participation in religious groups and peer education groups were observed to have a positive and sizable influence on cultivating students’ civic commitments toward social and political involvement.