College Graduates Have More Important Social Connections With Others

Loneliness has been declared an epidemic here in the United States, according to the U.S. Surgeon General of the United States. This was laid out in a widely circulated report in 2023 entitled “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation.” It’s not hard to debate this, if you pay attention to the news or get on social media. Children, teens, and adults are all feeling more lonely and socially isolated.

I came across a very interesting report recently about social connections, and the results have been running around in my head ever since. It’s called “Disconnected: The Growing Class Divide in American Civic Life” and it’s a remarkable look into how we are, and are not, connected in today’s world. It’s also about who is connected and who is not.

This study looked at the ways people have been, and can be, connected. Do you take advantage of public parks in your community? How about the public library? A religious group? Restaurants? Do you get out and walk in your neighborhood? Have conversations with your neighbors? Volunteer? Have guests in your home?

Then, what might happen that is connected to these types of social interactions? How many close friends do you have? Do you have someone who could take you to a doctor’s appointment? Loan you $200? Watch your kids for a few hours?

Do you have someone whom you could listen to your problems and support you?

Remarkably, all these categories have something in common: it is much more likely that college graduates experience these at a higher rate than people who did not graduate from college.

College graduates are more likely to go to a public park or garden (60%) than those who did not graduate from college (41%). They are more likely to go the library at least a few times a year (45% vs. 27%). They are more likely to meet people for coffee (49% vs. 34%) and walk around in their neighborhood at least once or twice a month (43% vs. 18%). People out walking in the neighborhood are more likely to have conversations with neighbors they don’t know very well and they are more likely to say they can generally trust people.

So, college graduates are more likely to be socially engaged in their communities and neighborhoods. Seemingly as a result of this, they are more trusting of people and are more likely to have people they can rely on. Nine out of ten college graduates have at least one close friend, compared to only 76% of those who did not graduate from college. Tellingly, college graduates were more likely to have someone who would listen to their problems and support them than non-graduates (75% vs. 57%).

This is a survey and a correlational study, so it would be going beyond the data to say that college graduation causes all these more positive interactions. But it’s not far to speculate that the college experience might influence the college graduate’s experience interacting in new social situations and understanding of why it is important to get involved in the community. After all, that is one of the first things we tell college students: get involved! Research that I and my colleagues at UCLA and Gallup and other researchers across the country have found time and time again that students who get involved with the college community have better experiences in college and better outcomes such as wellbeing and engagement with their jobs.

What if another benefit of the college experience was being less lonely and isolated? I’d say that is something we should get behind.